Longarm and the Skull Mountain Gold, page 5
Longarm saw the way of it now. “And so, Ned, you saw his gold nugget and had a heart-to-heart talk with your father.”
“That’s right.” Ned smiled sadly. “My father has heard so many gold strike stories that I knew he’d never believe a word of what Bixby had to say unless the old prospector showed him the nugget.”
“Which he did?”
“Joshua gave me the nugget to show to my father. At the same time he drew me a map of the strike he’d made on Skull Mountain. Only I knew my father would just say the whole story was a lie and then he’d want to keep the nugget for himself.”
“So you said nothing to your father?” Lila asked.
“That’s right,” Ned told them. “My father isn’t what you would call an honest man. I’ve learned that through some hard and painful lessons.”
“Then,” Longarm suggested, “you must still have the nugget and the map that Joshua Bixby drew up before he died.”
“I do,” Ned said. “I stayed with Joshua until the end, and I have to tell you, I heard some wild stories. The old man died drunk and in his sleep, just like he wanted. He was warm and dry and I cared for him to the end and then made sure that he’ll have a decent burial when the ground thaws next spring.”
“And was the nugget pure gold?” Lila asked.
“I think so. Want to see it?”
“Sure!” Lila told him.
Ned looked around secretively, then reached into his pocket and drew out a clean white handkerchief. He placed it on the table between them and slowly unfolded it to reveal the gold nugget. “See,” he whispered, “big as a robin’s egg.”
Longarm reached out and hefted the nugget. Without a doubt it was heavy and solid gold.
“What do you think it’s worth?” Ned blurted.
Longarm shrugged his broad shoulders and looked to Lila, who also shrugged.
Ned looked disappointed. “No idea?”
“If I had to guess,” Longarm said, choosing his words carefully, “I’d say it’s worth about five or six hundred dollars.”
“That’s what poor Joshua told me the day before he died.”
Longarm was impressed. “Well,” he said, “it appears that you might be on to something more than just another hoax.”
“Sure I am!” Ned exclaimed. “And I’ve got Mr. Bixby’s map, but it isn’t a good one. Not good at all. The old man was dead drunk and dying when he drew it for me, and even though I pleaded for him to be accurate, I doubt that he was. Joshua’s hand shook, and he was forgetting at the time.”
“So what are you going to do?” Lila asked.
Ned threw up his hands and said, “I’m going to go to Skull Mountain and spend however much time I need to find Mr. Bixby’s gold strike. Then I’m going to file a claim and become a very rich man.”
“Well,” Longarm said, giving the nugget back to the newspaperman, “I hope you pull it off.”
“Me, too,” Lila said.
“Thank you.” Ned cleared his throat. “But I can’t do it alone, and that’s where you both come into it.”
“Us?”
“Why not?” Ned Corey asked. “Custis, you’re a lawman, and I’ll need protection both for my person and for the rich mining claim I intend to file somewhere on Skull Mountain. And you, Lila, know the lay of the land and can provide the horses and things we’ll need to hunt for and locate Joshua Bixby’s gold mine.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Longarm said. “I’m on vacation, and Lila is . . .”
“Is interested,” she said, giving Longarm a determined look. “Ned, I’ll be very honest with you, since you’ve been the same with us. The sad truth is that my family is about to lose our ranch and maybe this . . . this gold find is exactly the miracle we need to get through these tough times. But there’s something that you won’t like hearing.”
“And that would be?”
“Custis and I would expect to be equal partners with you.”
“Equal partners?”
“That’s right,” Lila told him. “Without us, you don’t have a prayer of finding the gold, and even if you did you’d never live to spend your mining fortune.”
“You sure are asking me to make a hard bargain,” Ned complained.
“It’s a hard world,” Lila said. “And I’m trying to save my dear father and mother from being evicted from a ranch they worked for most of their lives. And Custis is due to find a new profession.”
Longarm said nothing. He didn’t believe in forcing a man into a hard decision such as Ned was now facing.
“Waiter!” Ned called out. “Bring us another round of brandies!”
Ned wrung his soft hands that were stained by printer’s ink. He stared out the window until the drinks arrived and then he sighed heavily.
“Ned,” Longarm told him, “you can’t do this without help, and I’m sure that there are plenty of people in Grants who will tell you that they’ll take far less than an equal share.”
“There probably are,” Ned agreed. “But could I trust them?”
“That’s the risk you’d have to take,” Lila told the man.
“Well,” Ned decided, “it’s a risk I’d rather not take. Custis, you’re a good man with a gun, I take it?”
“I can handle any trouble that would come our way.”
“And you, Lila. Your family is in bad financial straits and you were looking for a miracle in order to save your ranch?”
“That’s the long and short of it,” Lila said.
“All right then,” Ned told them, coming to a sudden decision. “If you will join me in this venture, we’ll see if we can find Joshua Bixby’s gold mine and all become wealthy.”
“Let’s drink to that,” Longarm said.
And so they did, and the deal was done with a toast and handshakes all around the table.
Chapter 5
It was well past midnight when Longarm, Lila, and their new partner, Ned Corey, climbed down from the train in Grants, New Mexico. The night was filled with stars and a big, golden crescent moon.
“We can stay the rest of this night at the Pinto Pony Hotel,” Lila said as Longarm and Ned gathered their traveling suitcases and bags. “I know the owner and he won’t mind if we just pick a key off the board and leave him a note. We can settle the bill tomorrow morning.”
“How much will it cost?” Ned asked. “I mean, I could just sleep in the lobby for the rest of the night. I’m an early bird and I really need to save every penny I can.”
“I’m sure that will be fine,” Lila told the young newspaperman. “The hotel owner’s name is Homer Monroe and he’s a good friend of my family. When my father was a United States Marshal, he did a few favors for Homer and the man has always been good to us and our friends. He’ll give you a very reasonable room rate tomorrow night, Ned.”
“I’m glad to hear that. How soon can we get started for Skull Mountain?”
“How about the day after tomorrow?” Lila suggested. “That will give Custis and me time to get to the ranch and get things put together for the journey.”
“How much in the way of provisions will we be needing?” Ned asked. “I was hoping it won’t cost too much.”
“Let’s pack for a week on Skull Mountain,” Lila said. “We’ll bring you a saddle horse and I’ll also bring a couple of pack animals with food, blankets, and grain for the animals. If we don’t find anything after a week, we can decide then if we want to come back here, re-provision, and then go back out.”
“I’ll want to,” Ned told them. “There’s a fortune to be found on Skull Mountain and we shouldn’t give up, even if it takes all summer.”
“We’ll see,” Longarm told the earnest young newspaperman.
“We’ll need some prospecting tools,” Ned told them. “You know, picks and shovels and whatever else prospectors use to poke around for gold.”
“We’ve already got those at our ranch,” Lila told him. “Don’t buy anything like that or you’ll just raise suspicion. If anyone asks . . . and they will . . . tell them that you’re a reporter who is on vacation and wants to take a little packing trip up to Chaco Canyon to see the ancient Indian ruins.”
“There are Indian ruins up toward Skull Mountain?”
Lila nodded. “Some of the most extensive and interesting in the entire Southwest. Lots of people go up there to look at them and see the ancient writings on the stone walls. No one knows what they mean or even how long they’ve existed, but it’s fun to imagine the ancient Indian culture and the people who left so many ruins and stone writings, which the archaeologists call pictographs and petroglyphs.”
“If Skull Mountain isn’t too far away from Chaco Canyon, I’d kind of like to visit that place.”
But Longarm shook his head. “If we’re going to hunt for a fortune in gold, let’s stick to the business at hand. Ned, after we’re all rich, you can come back and see Chaco Canyon any time you want and do it in style.”
“He’s right,” Lila said. “There are even outfitters starting to take tourists up to the ruins at Chaco Canyon. What we want to do is to go up to Skull Mountain without raising any interest or suspicion. So whatever you do, don’t get drunk in a saloon and confide about old Joshua Bixby’s gold nugget and treasure map.”
Ned looked a bit hurt and offended. “I’m not a complete fool, Lila. Of course I’ll keep everything to myself.”
“That’s good to hear,” Longarm told the man as they walked up Grants’s dark and empty main street, which was mostly lined with cottonwood trees and businesses built of stone and adobe. Longarm had never before left the Santa Fe train to actually walk around this old railroad town, but now in the moonlight he had the impression that Grants, New Mexico, was neither thriving nor prosperous. To Longarm it appeared to be like dozens of other railroad towns that he’d seen, and had it not been on the busy Santa Fe Railroad line, it would probably have wilted and eventually faded away.
“I have to tell you that I’m too excited to sleep,” Ned said as they neared the Pinto Pony Hotel. “The idea of becoming rich . . . or even a little affluent . . . is something that I’ve always dreamed about but never really thought would happen.”
“Don’t spend that gold money in your mind,” Longarm advised. “You admitted that Joshua Bixby’s map was written as he was dying and is hardly accurate.”
“I know. I know,” the newspaperman said. “But I did question him very carefully and I took notes.”
“And you brought the notes with you?” Lila asked.
“Yes. But a lot of the main facts about what the old prospector said can only be found in my head. I thought that was the safest place for the most important details. I knew coming here that I was going to be taking a big risk, and I figured that someone might be able to steal the map and even the nugget, but they’d never be able to steal the critical details that I carry around in my mind.”
“That’s good thinking,” Longarm said. “My advice would be to stay as much to yourself as possible until we come for you ready to ride off. If anyone gets the slightest inclination that there’s gold on Skull Mountain, it’ll cause a gold rush, and that’s the very last thing the three of us need.
“This town is bigger than I thought,” Longarm said as they trudged up the darkened main street.
“It’s had quite a history,” Lila said. In the next few moments she told Longarm and Ned that the handsome two-story hotel where they were staying had originally been called the Santa Fe Hotel, but then it had burned to the ground twice. Not being an entirely stupid man, Homer Monroe had bought the fire-gutted hotel when it was just a heap of smoldering ashes. Because of its good location and proximity to the railroad, he’d rebuilt the hotel using fireproof sandstone and adobe mortar for its external walls. The sandstone and mortar had blended over the years, and because of hard snow and rains, the hotel now had a unique spotty appearance composed mostly of reds, yellows, and whites; so the building was renamed the Pinto Pony Hotel.
Now it was very well maintained and boasted an excellent restaurant, bar, and sixteen rooms catering to a much higher-class clientele than most of its newer competitors. The hotel’s lobby was decorated in keeping with its unusual name. The floor tiles were red, yellow, and white to match the outside walls. The hanging crystal chandeliers were impressive, and the big easy chairs and sofas that circled a massive rock fireplace were upholstered with the colorful hides of spotted Texas long-horn cattle. The fireplace was still glowing warm with smoldering logs and was inviting to late-night arrivals coming in off the railroad.
“Nice,” Ned said, looking around at the tasteful decor and handsome appointments. “Looks kinda expensive, though.”
“It won’t be for you,” Lila assured him. “If you want to stay tonight for free, I’d suggest you put your bags behind the registration desk and simply remove your shoes and stretch out on that big cowhide-covered couch nearest the fireplace.”
Just when she finished saying that, the grandfather clock in the lobby chimed one, causing Longarm to yawn. “Let’s get a room,” he said, tired of travel and conversation.
“All right,” Lila said, going around the registration desk and selecting a key. “Room 102 is empty and just down the hall.”
“I’ll take my own room,” Longarm told her in a voice plenty loud enough to be overheard by Ned Corey.
Lila gave him a questioning glance, but Longarm ignored it. This was Lila’s hometown, and she was well known and respected in Grants. If he and Lila shared the same room in this hotel tonight or any other night, Longarm was willing to bet that all of Grants would be buzzing with gossipers. And Longarm, always the gentleman, would not allow that to happen.
“You can have Room 201,” Lila said, selecting a key to a room obviously on the second floor. “That way no one can possibly gossip about us.”
“Sounds good.”
Ned was already removing his shoes. “I wonder what time Mr. Monroe or someone he employs will arrive this morning to open this place up for business.”
“I don’t know,” Lila told him. “I’ve never been down here in the lobby at that early of an hour.”
“Well,” the newspaperman said, also yawning, “I hope it isn’t too early.”
Longarm took his key and kissed Lila on the lips, saying, “Good night. See you in the morning for breakfast.”
“Aren’t you even going to be the gentleman and carry my suitcase to my hotel room door?” she said.
“Of course I will,” Longarm told her.
When they reached the door, Lila put her arms around his neck and gave him a much more passionate kiss. “Are you sure you can’t come in for just a few minutes?”
“I’d better not,” he decided. “You know that our young friend will still be awake and listening for my footsteps to climb those stairs.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. What do you think about all this gold business on Skull Mountain?”
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” Longarm told her. “We saw the nugget, but I’m sure you’re as aware as I am that he was not about to show us the prospector’s map.”
“No, he wasn’t. Can we trust him?”
“I think so.” Longarm leaned up against the wall, keeping his voice low so that Ned Corey couldn’t overhear this conversation. “The fact of the matter is that he really needs us, Lila. If we’re to believe him, the young man is almost broke. I don’t know how he thought he was going to go off to Skull Mountain without buying a horse and provisions.”
“Me neither,” she said. “And the other thing is that we hold most of the hole cards in this game.”
“Those being?”
“I have the horses and equipment and you have the savvy to keep someone from coming up and killing us for the gold . . . if we find it.”
“I’m going to need a Winchester repeating rifle,” Longarm said. “I was hoping that your father would have one I could borrow.”
“He has several and all the ammunition you’ll need. If it weren’t for my mother’s poor health, I’m sure he’d insist on coming along with us.”
“Might be better if he didn’t,” Longarm said. “This could be a tough hunt.”
“My father is still tough as an old leather boot.”
“I’m sure that he is,” Longarm said quickly, “but all the same, I think that the three of us are less likely to attract attention. Also, it will be good to have your father at the ranch as support . . . if things go sour.”
“How would they do that?”
Longarm shrugged. “Lila, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that out in wild country you had better expect the worst and hope for the best. If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.”
“My,” she said, “that’s a very pessimistic outlook, Marshal Custis Long. I’m surprised to hear such talk from a seasoned lawman like you.”
“I’ve survived on hunts because I’ve always expected the worst and been prepared for it. And to tell you the truth, I don’t trust young Ned to keep his mouth shut. He opened up to us after a few drinks and I think there’s every chance that he will do the same in some saloon tomorrow.”
“He’s smarter than that.”
“Oh,” Longarm said, “he’s smart enough. But the fact is that sometimes fellas who think they’re smarter than the next guy get outsmarted themselves. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.”
“I hope it doesn’t. There are some real tough men in this town. Men who would do most anything for a few dollars, let alone a fortune in gold.”
“That’s why I need a rifle.”
“I’ll bring one, too,” she told him. “I’m actually a very good shot.”
“I can believe that.”
“Good night,” she said, kissing him once more and then opening her door and disappearing.
Longarm headed up the stairs to his own room, calling out as the passed through the hotel lobby, “Good night, Ned.”
“Good night, Custis.”
“Hope you sleep well on that cowhide couch.”
“Me, too. But with this gold nugget in my pocket, I’m not likely to sleep much at all.”
“If you want, I’ll keep it safe for you tonight.”
