Ralph Compton Death Rides a Chestnut Mare (9 page)

Despite the mud, Tuck's expert handling of the teams managed to keep the wagon on high ground. He continued on until after sundown before unharnessing the tired mules.

“I figure we're not more than thirty-five miles from the ranch,” said Tuck. “If all goes well, we'll be there late tomorrow. Not bad, three days to Dallas and four back, returning with a loaded wagon.”

 

“Where
are
they, Ma?” Carrie complained. “They've been gone a week today.”

Mrs. Carlyle laughed. “Who are you missing? Tuck or Daniel?”

“I miss them both,” said Carrie. “The rest of the ranchers have gathered their five hundred head, and they're waiting on us.”

“They've also promised to help Tuck and Daniel with our herd,” Mrs. Carlyle said. “It shouldn't be more than a day, with so many riders.”

“There was a full night of rain to the south of here, night before last,” said Carrie. “The mud may be deep. They may still be three days away.”

“We'll just have to wait and see,” Mrs. Carlyle replied. “I'm sure they'll be here as soon as they can.”

 

 

It was late in the evening, sundown not more than an hour away. Despite the scolding of Mrs. Carlyle, Carrie stayed rooted to her spot, continuing to look to the south as far as she could see. Finally, on the horizon, a moving speck became visible. It eventually turned into two teams of mules and a wagon.

“They're coming, Ma! They're coming!” Carrie shouted, running for the house.

Mrs. Carlyle and Carrie were waiting on the porch when Tuck reined up the tired and sweating teams. He was alone on the wagon box.

“Where's Daniel?” Carrie inquired in a quavering voice.

“Oh, he met a girl in Dallas and decided to spend a few days with her.”

“No,” Carrie cried, bursting into tears.

“Tuck,” Mrs. Carlyle scolded, “don't tease your sister. Daniel's horse is still out there in our barn.”

The joke was over, and Danielle managed to squeeze out of the wagon, where she had concealed herself.

“Damn you, Tuck Carlyle, I hate you,” Carrie shouted.

“It was partly my idea,” said Danielle.

“Then I hate you too,” Carrie snarled.

“We got to find her a man somewhere, Ma,” said Tuck, apparently deadly serious, “else there's no tel lin' what will be takin' her to the hayloft.”

It was more than Carrie could stand. Speechless, her face flaming red, she ran into the house.

Chapter 4

 

“The first thing we'd better do,” Tuck said, “is get the word to Dumont, Baldwin, Chadman, and Flagg that we're back. If they'll help us gather our herd, we'll be on the trail to Abilene tomorrow.”

“They promised,” said Mrs. Carlyle.

“Maybe we'd better remind them we're ready to begin,” Danielle said.

“Then let's go,” said Tuck. “We're losing more time.”

Only Carrie said nothing, but stared vacantly out the window.

Tuck and Danielle weren't even off the Carlyle spread when they met Barney Dumont.

“I was just comin' to see if you'd made it back,” Barney said. “Pa said if you was back that I'm to take the word to Baldwin, Chadman, and Flagg. We can start your gather today, getting on the trail that much quicker.”

“We're ready,” said Tuck, “and we have the needed parts for the Colts, besides the wagonload of provisions and ammunition.”

“Then I'll tell the others to get on over to your place just as quick as they can,” said Barney.

“Bueno,”
Tuck said. “It's the moment of truth. We'll have to find out if we have cows enough to make the drive.”

 

At Upton Wilks's ranch, Wilks was receiving a report from Kazman, his
segundo
.

“They're gettin' ready for a drive,” said Kazman. “Four of the outfits has rounded up at least five hundred head. There's nobody left 'cept the Carlyles.”

“Why not the Carlyles?”

“Tuck and the young gent stayin' with 'em took off south a week ago, in old man Flagg's wagon. Today they come back. From the tracks, I'd say the wagon's loaded to the bows. They likely been to Dallas, buyin' food and ammunition.”

“Where the hell would they get the money?” Wilks demanded.

“Somebody staked 'em,” said Kazman. “Maybe that new gent that's stayin' with 'em.”

“Looks like we'll have to take care of him,” Wilks said. “Give 'em a couple of days on the trail, but before the herd becomes trail-wise and settles down, stampede the lot of them from here to yonder.”

“It'll be hell, finding them longhorns in Indian Territory,” said Kazman. “I was hopin' we could grab the herd and take 'em on to Abilene ourselves.”

“Maybe we can,” Wilks said, “but we'll need more riders. Not countin' you and me, we got eight riders. There's nineteen in that outfit, and every one of them, even including the women, can shoot. We'll wait until they're practically out of Indian Territory before we take the herd. Let them do most of the hard work.”

“I like it,” said Kazman. “Ambush?”

“Yes,” Wilks replied. “Shoot them all dead. Then when they default on their taxes, I'll take over all their ranches dirt cheap. Take a pair of riders with you and ride into Indian Territory. We'll need four or five more riders. No petty thieves. We want killers.”

Within the hour, riders began showing up at the Carlyle ranch. The Dumonts were the first to arrive, followed by the Baldwins. The Chadmans were next, followed closely by the Flaggs.

“I'll need daylight to repair your Colts,” Danielle said. “The rest of you begin gathering the cattle. When I'm done with the Colts, I'll join you.”

“It's important we have those Colts ready,” Tuck said. “Go ahead and fix them.”

Danielle spread out a blanket on the grass beneath a tree. She then began work on the half-dozen Colts, breaking them down one at a time. Finished with one, she started on the second one before Carrie joined her.

“I thought you hated me,” said Danielle mildly.

“I don't, really,” Carrie said. “I'm just disappointed in you.”

“I'm sorry to have disappointed you,” said Danielle, “but you knew when I first rode in that I was after my pa's killers. I won't find them settin' on my hunkers here.”

“I suppose not,” Carrie said with a sigh. With Danielle being busy, the conversation lagged, and Carrie wandered back to the house.

An hour past noon, the riders drove in the cattle they had gathered.

“More than two hundred head,” said Tuck proudly. “We got to gather the rest, run all the five herds together, and post guards. The rustlers could clean us all out in one night.”

After a hurried dinner, the riders went to finish the gather before dark, if they could. Danielle, having finished repairing the Colts, went with them.

“Most of the varmints are holed up in thickets where there's shade,” said Tuck. “We'll have to run them out of there.”

“I've never worked cattle,” Danielle said. “I don't know how much help I'll be, here or on the trail to Abilene.”

“The secret to trail driving,” said Tuck, “is keepin' the varmints bunched. Keep 'em on the heels of one another, so that every critter has a pair of horns right at her behind. It generally takes a few days—maybe a week—for them to get trail-wise and settle down.”

Danielle rode into the brush with the other riders and was amazed at all the longhorns they flushed out. Some of the riders circled the growing gather, seeing to it that none of the cattle made a break for the thickets. With many riders, the gather proceeded quickly.

“I think we got enough,” said Tuck, an hour before sundown. “Let's run a tally.”

“I count five hundred and thirty head,” Elmer Dumont said.

“I count five hundred and twenty-seven,” said Cyrus Baldwin.

“Five hundred and thirty-two,” Enos Chadman said.

“I count five hundred and twenty-five,” said Wallace.

“Our herds has got a few more than five hundred,” Elmer Dumont concluded. “We generally accept the lowest tally. Does that suit you, Tuck?”

“Yeah,” said Tuck. “I'm glad to see this many. I was afraid, with all the rustling, we'd have trouble finding five hundred.”

“You got lots of scrub thickets, especially near the spring runoff,” said Wallace Flagg. “I believe we could drag out another five hundred if we had to.”

“Let the others wait until spring,” Tuck said. “It's important to get our gather on the trail to Abilene as soon as we can.”

The gather was driven to the Carlyle ranch and herded in with more than two thousand of their kind.

“We got twelve men,” said Enos Chadman. “We got to keep watch. I think with the herd bunched right here near the barn, we can get by with six men and two watches.”

“It's always the men,” Carrie Carlyle said. “I can shoot as well as any man here.”

“No doubt you can, ma'am,” said Chadman, “and I expect you'll get a chance to prove it before we reach Abilene. Get yourself one last good night's sleep in a bed.”

 

 

The first day on the trail, the cattle were predictably wild, seeking to break away and return to their old grazing meadows and shaded thickets. At her own request, Danielle rode drag. The chestnut mare quickly learned what was expected of her. When a cow quit the bunch, the mare was after her. Danielle had little more to do than just stay in the saddle.

“I reckon we've come ten miles,” Enos Chadman said when they had bedded down the herd for the night.

“Lucky to do as well as that with a new herd,” said Cyrus Baldwin.

“Starting tonight,” Carrie said, “we'll need more than six on each watch. I'm offering to stand either watch.”

“So am I,” Katrina Chadman said.

“We may not need you,” said Tuck. “We have enough men for a first and a second watch. The rest of you can just sleep with your guns handy.”

“No,” Katrina said. “We've already decided the women will do the cooking, and I can ride better than I can cook.”

Her response brought a roar of laughter, and the question was finally resolved when it was decided that Carrie would join the first watch, and Katrina the second.

“You ladies ride careful,” said Enos Chadman. “If one of you gets spooked and shoots a cow, you'll end up washing dishes the rest of the way to Abilene.”

On the first watch was Danielle, Tuck, Katrina, Elmer Dumont and his son, Barney, Chadman's son, Eric, and Wallace Flagg's sons, Floyd and Edward. Carrie had hoped to be part of the first watch, and she watched Katrina Chadman with some envy. Katrina was a year older than Carrie, and Carrie wanted to prove herself in front of Danielle.

Supper was over, and it was time for the first watch to mount up. The cattle were restless, being on the trail for the first time, and the riders were kept busy by bunch quitters. Danielle's task was made simpler by the chestnut mare. The horse seemed to sense when a cow was about to break away, and was there to head her. There was a moon, and it was Danielle's first opportunity to see Katrina Chadman close up. The girl had long blond hair that she wore in a single braid, and she rode her horse like she was part of it. For a few minutes Tuck rode alongside her, the two of them laughing. Danielle suffered a new emotion. As she watched them, flames of jealousy rose up, threatening to engulf her.

“Damn you, Katrina,” said Danielle under her breath, “you haven't seen him jaybird naked in the creek.”

The cattle finally settled down, and by the time the second watch came on at midnight, there were no more bunch quitters. Breakfast was an orderly affair, with Anthea Dumont, Teresa Baldwin, Maureen Chadman, Tilda Flagg, and Audrey Carlyle doing the cooking.

“This is the best I been fed in ten years,” said Elmer Dumont. “A man could start to liking these trail drives.”

“A man generally don't have his women folks along to fix the grub,” said Tuck. “We all know it's hard times in Texas, and we didn't dare leave them there.”

“There's a stronger reason than that,” Maureen Chadman said. “Katrina and me haven't had a stitch of new clothes since before the war, and we're practically naked. Surely we'll get enough for the herd so we don't go home in rags.”