Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (3 page)

Before they got back to his home, Man casually made a comment. 
“When I introduced myself as a m
arshal, I saw your faces.
 
Care to tell me why
being in law enforcement startled you?”

Neither of the young men made a comment.  Man let it ride for a few minutes or so, before he tried again.  “If there’s anything you want to tell me, I’
ll listen.  If there’
s a problem, I may be able to help.”

Roy
spoke in almost a whisper.  “Our mother made us promise we wouldn’t tell anybody.”

“Is somebody bother
ing or hurting her?” he asked.

“We can’t tell you,” Roy
said.

“If it’s something serious that won’t go away, maybe your mother would like to talk to Kate.  You know, woman to woman.
 
Discuss it
with your mom tonight and if we can help, bring her with you tomorrow.  She and Kate can
visit and your mother
may need a friend.”

The two boys exchanged glances, but didn’
t say
anything.

When they got to the house, they unloaded the building
materials.  Kate came out dressed in her field working skins
and
went with Man
to haul hay to the barn.

Man told her
about the incident with
Roy
and Dan.  “I don’t know what’
s worrying the two boys, but something is definitely bothering them.”

The
next morning he saw the two boys
coming on their old mule.  He waited by the barn and fed the mule a ration of oats and hay.  The nutritious food was already having an effect on him.  His ribs no longer showed through his hide.  He looked healthier and younger.

Roy
stood looking at the grou
nd, kicking at the dirt with the heel of his
boot
.  Man faced
him and waited.

“Tell him,” Dan
said.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Roy
said.

“And it’s very private,” Dan
put in.

Then let’s
go inside
and drink a c
up of coffee
while we talk.  Since
it involves your mother, Kate needs to hear it
,
as well.”

Kate served them a hot cup of coffee and sat beside Man on the other side of the table.

Roy
took a sip, and then looked at Kate for a moment before speaking.  “Our dad and a man named Robert
Engledow were
neighbor
s
.  Our dad died last year and Mr. Engledow helped us through it.”  He looked up, took a deep bre
ath and another sip of coffee.

“Go on,” Kate said, speaking softly.

“Last spring, Mr. Engledow’s wife was found dead at the bottom of a cliff.  From what we heard, she went out looking for a calf and fell.  Mr. Engledow is a night watchman at a mine and gets home about sunup.  That afternoon when he woke, she was gone.  He went looking for her, but didn’t find her.  He went to the police.  They found her body the next day.”

“A
fter that, Mr. Engledow changed,
”
Dan said.

“How did he
change?” Kate asked.

The two boys glanced at the other.  “Mom
told us we could tell them,” Dan
said.

“Mr. Engledow
comes to our home in the afterno
on when we’re gone working,” Roy
said.

Man and Kate knew the rest of the story, but wanted the two boys to go on.

“Mr. Engledow had a paper that said our dad owed him
two hundred dollars and unless M
om did what he wanted, well, he would foreclose and take our house away.”

“Our dad never borrowed any money from anybody,” Roy blurted out.  “He always said, if you can’t pay cash, you don’t need it.”

“Mom is afraid of Mr
.
Engledow,” Roy said.
 
“
We’ve seen bruises on
her arms and face.   He showed M
om the paper and it had our dad’s signature a
t the bottom, but D
ad didn’t sign the paper.”

“How do you know he didn’t sign it?” Man asked.

“He couldn’t read or write,” Dan said with
his
head down looking at the coffee cup.

“When M
om told him that, he s
aid it was his word against her
s
and the law would take his
word over hers.”

“Is that true?  Will you take his word over hers?” Roy asked.

“Not necessarily,” Kate said.  “We need to see the paper and talk to Mr. Engledow.  We have ways of determining the truth.  We deal with liars all the time.”

“How often does Mr. Engledow visit your mother?” Kate asked.

“We don’t always know,” Roy
said.  “Mom is embarrassed about it, but usually we can tell when we get home.”

“We think a
bout twice a week,” Roy said.  “On days we’
re not working and the mule is in th
e barn, we have seen him ride in front of our house
and turn around and leave.  Our home is the last house on that road.”

“We think when he do
esn’t see the mule, he stops.  We’re old enough to know why,
”
Roy said.

“I need to talk to your mother,” Kate said.  “I know we can stop him visiting her without her permission.”

“We’ve been
saving every penny we earn,” the older boy
said.  “We eat only beans and bread.  Mom does sewing for
extra money.  We hope to earn the two
hundred and pay Mr. Engledow.”

“Mom said maybe that would stop the visits, but we have our doubts,” Roy said.  “He uses that paper
to make M
om do what he wants
.  B
ut if we pay him, we don’t think that will stop him.”

The two boys
looked at each
other.  “We’re afraid for her.  W
e think he murdered his
wife.  We’
re scared he may
hurt M
om if she ever crosses him.”

“Why do you think he murdered her?” Man asked
.

“For one thing, he kept the calf in the lot and turned the cow out to graze during the day.  The cow would always come back at night with the calf bawling.  We went over that afternoon she was missing and the calf was in the lot.  The cow was outside wanting inside where her calf was located.  But, he told the police she went looking for the calf.
  That was a lie.
”

“We know he hit his wife
,” Roy said.  “We saw the same kind
of marks on her we’ve seen on M
om.  We think he killed her and dropped her body off the cliff.  That accounted for the marks on her face.  Since nobody saw what happened, well, there was no way to prove he murdered her.”

“I want to visit with your mother
as soon as possible,” Kate said.  “From what you told us, your mom may be in real danger.  We need to know the truth.  Ask her if I can visit her tomorrow.”

Both boys nodded agreement.  “I told you they would help,” Roy said.

The next morning, Man was in the barn feeding the animals when he saw a buggy coming.  He went back to the house and called Kate.  She came outside and stood by his
side
as the buggy got close enough
for them to see the occupants.

“It’s Roy and a woman in front
,
and Dan
is in the back,” she said.

The buggy stopped beside them and Roy jumped out first and helped the woman out.  Dan stepped out and stood beside the woman.  “This is our mother
, Lucille Shobert,” Roy
said.

Kate
nodded and smiled at
the woman. 
Lucille kept her sandy-brown hair pulled back in a tight bun on the back of her neck and wore a neat handmade blue dress. 
Her hazel eyes seemed to sparkle even after all she’d been through recently.

“I’m Kat
e Manchester.
Deputy Marshal Kate,
”
she said as she gripped the woman’s hand.  “
My husband, Marshal Manchester.  W
elcome to our home.  Shall we go ins
ide and let the men get to work?
”

“It’s
nice to meet you,” Lucille said.
  She took Kate’s offered hand and t
he women went inside
. 
Man led the mule toward the barn.  The two boys watched their mother disappear inside the house, and then hurried to help Man with the buggy.

Kate gest
ured toward the table.  “Coffee?
” she asked as she put two cups on the table.

Luci
lle nodded.  “Please.  I
t’s been a long while since I had coffee.  We can’t afford to buy it now.”

“You have two fine sons,” Kate said.  “Both are good workers and polite.”

Lucille smiled.  “That’s always nice to hear.  I’m doing my best since their father
died.”

They made small talk about the weather and how
much longer it
would be before the first snow came.  “With Roy and Dan’s
help, we hope to get the porch enclosed and then
my husband
has two other jobs in mind.”

“My two boys enjoy working for Man, as they call him.  I told them to say Mr. Manchester, but they said he insisted they use only Man.”

“That’
s all anybody calls him, including me,” Kate said.  “He picked that nickname up on the Oregon Trail.”

“That’s h
ow we got here,” Lucille said.
“I came with my parents.  We were on one of the first trains coming west.”

“I came onl
y three years ago,” Kate said.

She decided to get into the
reason for the visit.  “
Roy
and Dan
told us an alarming account about a man named Robert Engledow.”

Lucille spilled a little coffee on her hand
as she jerked at that statement or hearing the name Engledow.

“I didn’t mean to alarm you,” Kate
said.  “I need to hear it first
hand from you
.  W
e can put a stop to him bothering you.
”

“They said they told you the whole sordid story,” she said.  She clutched the cup with both hands.  “Bob comes to our home once or twice a week and does horrible things to me.  If I try to refuse, he hits me.”

“That will stop as of today,” Kate said.  “That I assure you.  I want to be there when he visits the next time.”

“If he sees our mule and I’m sure if he saw any other animal there, he wouldn’t barge in.”

“When was the last time?” Kate asked.

“Monday, the day the boys started to work for you.  He may come today, but I won’t be there.  He gets off work at daylight and sleeps until mid-afternoon, and then comes to see me before going to work.”

“Tomorrow may be a good day for me to be there
waiting
,” Kate said.

“I don’t know,” L
ucille said.  “Bob is a big man.  H
e’s awful strong.  I would hate
for you to get hurt and there’
s no telling what he would do to us.
”

Kate smiled.  “Let me worry about that
.  I have something that’
s stronger and more powerful than Mr. Bob Engledow.”

“But
he’s over six foot tall and must weigh two hundred pounds.  You’re tall for a woman, but you can’t weigh more than one twenty-five.”

Kate stood and went to the bedroom
.  She
came back with her twin Walker Colt pistols on her hips and her Winchester rifle over her shoulder.  “
The four
of us can handle Mr. Engledow.”
  She gestured to
the weapons.

Chapter 2

As soon as Lucille left with her sons, Man came in the house.  “How did it go?”

Lucille said he was blackmailing her over the debt.  He comes to her home in the afternoon before he goes to work.  The two boys wer
e accurate on what’
s happening.  I told her I would put a stop to it.”

“What are you planning?” Man asked.

“She said if he sees their mule in the barn
or any other animals there he won’t come.  Can you take me and drop me off?
  We
could go while he’
s asleep.
I would think soon after
noontime
.  The last time he came was Monda
y, so he may be eager today
with the weekend coming
, when the boys will be at home. 
I think today is the ideal time.”