The Glenmore's: Caught (14 page)

They were sitting on stools at the bar in the saloon drinking whisky and trying to decide what to do next. They’d been throwing ideas at each other all morning.

“We could steal some more of their cows” Bill suggested. “If we released enough of ‘em and get them Mexican fellas to take ‘em away we’d be able to send her broke and then she’d sell”

Squeaky and Bill had been mining partners for more than ten years and for the past three years they had been pulling enough gold out of the stream on Justine’s property to make a fair living. They had threatened Mason they would harm Millie if he stopped them or told anyone. Mason was terrified of the two big men and what they might do so he’d done as they asked and kept quiet. The problem now was Squeaky and Bill hadn’t pulled out any gold for almost three months and they were getting desperate. They’d been told that if they dammed the stream; the gold would gather at the dam instead of being washed further downstream and into the river.

When Mason had passed away Squeaky and Bill had seen the opportunity to buy the property and dam up the stream permanently. They hadn’t known about Justine until their offer was refused; to say the two big men were disappointed
and angry was an understatement!

Squeaky, whose real name was unknown, and Bill are big men that stand over 6feet tall. Squeaky has greasy brown hair that looks in need of a good wash
, like the rest of him, and a matching unkempt beard. Bill has filthy hair and the colour is presumed to be blonde; the same as his straggly beard. They both have large bellies that hang over their belts; a testament to their love of rotgut whisky!

“Naw, we cain’t do that again Bill. They got men watchin’ now and
them Glenmore fellas is helpin’ ‘em” Squeaky complained. “I heered tell that gal is real sweet on that young Glenmore fella. Maybe?....” Squeaky scratched his crotch and burped while he thought.

“Maybe what Squeaky?” Bill asked as he sat forward on his stool.

“I’m just thinkin’ if’n we got hold of that young fella we might be able to force her to sell”

“We can do that; huh Squeaky?” Bill was ‘slow’ and looked up to Squeaky
. Anything Squeaky did or said was gospel as far as Bill was concerned and he’d do anything for his hero!

Squeaky suddenly got down off his stool. “C’mon Bill; let’s get goin’.” Bill got down off his stool and followed him out.

They pushed out through the doors of the saloon and ran straight into Dan and James. Squeaky paled at the sight of the sheriff and his deputy and Bill gave him a worried look.

Squeaky finally composed himself and greeted the pair of lawmen. “Sheriff, Deputy”

“Just the gentlemen we was lookin’ for” Dan said. “How about ya mosey up to our office with me and James here so we can have a chat?”

“We would like to sheriff but we
was on our way out to run an errand” Squeaky said as he attempted to duck down the side of James.

James put his arm out to stop him. “Not so fast Squeaky; ya can come with us first” James took hold of Squeaky’s arm and began leading him down the street to their office. Squeaky grumbled and muttered but decided to co-operate and go with him. Bill followed without a problem.

They entered the office and Dan pointed to two chairs in front of his desk. “Sit down” he growled. Dan sat in his chair behind the desk and James perched himself on the corner.

“What do ya know about some missin’ cows from Justine Saunder’s property?” Dan asked.

Bill looked at Squeaky and raised his eyebrows. Bill was slow but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut and let Squeaky do the talking.

“Who’s Justine Saunders?” Squeaky asked innocently. He was trying to buy some time so he could think.

“Ya know she’s Mason’s granddaughter so quit acting like ya don’t know” James railed.

“Oh, okay; yeah I know now. We don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no cows do we Bill?”

“No Squeaky; don’t know nothin’ ‘bout cows” Bill agreed.

James and Dan knew the two weren’t telling the truth but they also knew without any evidence there was nothing they could do. They were the stupidest, wanna be criminals James and Dan had ever met but James had a gut feeling they could still be dangerous.

“Alright, ya can go but if ya go anywhere near Justine’s property or If I find out ya had anythin’ to do with those missin’ cows; you’ll be back here in my jail so fast it’ll make ya heads spin” Dan told them both seriously.

Squeaky and Bill
nodded and left the office as fast as they could.

“What do ya think Dan?” James asked after they’d left.

“Josh is right; they’ve got somethin’ to with it but what I cain’t figure out is why?”

“Yeah I reckon they’re involved somehow too. I’ll ride out there tomorrow and talk to Josh. I’m a bit worried about what they might try next”

“Sounds like a good idea. Let Josh know and he can be on the alert” Dan agreed

********

Ben saddled up Dancer ready to ride over to Justine’s. He was looking forward to seeing her again. Even though they’d seen each other just a few hours ago; Ben hated being away from her.

“C’mon Dancer; let’s take a ride” Ben mounted up.

The ride to Justine’s wasn’t far and as he approached he noticed two men headed for the stream on her property. He turned Dancer around to follow. “C’mon girl; let’s go see what they’re up to”

Dancer responded when Ben urged her forward and they covered the ground quickly. Ben dismounted a short distance away and began looking around. As he neared the embankment his world went black and he crumpled to the ground.

Squeaky had hit Ben on the back of his head with a rifle and the hard blow had knocked Ben unconscious. “Ha ha; that was sure easy Squeaky!” Bill laughed.

“Get the ropes from the saddle bags Bill” Squeaky ordered and Bill ran off to where they’d left their horses. As Bill ran past; Dancer got spooked and galloped away. She headed back towards the ranch. Bill got the
ropes as instructed, grabbed the reins of their horses, and ran back to where Squeaky stood guard over Ben.

He handed the ropes over and Squeaky began tying Ben’s ankles and wrists. “His horse ran off” Bill told Squeaky as he watched.

“Damn; we’re gonna have to get outta here Bill” Squeaky finished tying Ben up and then tied the end of the rope tying Ben’s wrists to the back of his saddle. Both men then mounted up.

“We cain’t lift him Bill and we got no other way to move him. We’re gonna have to walk
slowly, if we drag him too fast we’ll kill him and then he’ll be no good to us. If we injure him some though they’ll see we’re serious” Squeaky laughed and Bill joined in.

They walked off in the direction of a deserted hunting cabin up on a ridge about a mile away. Ben was dragged behind Squeaky’s horse over brush and rocks that ripped at his pants and broke open his skin.
Fortunately for Ben he remained unconscious and oblivious to any pain.

When they arrived at the cabin; Squeaky untied the rope holding Ben to his saddle. Bill and Squeaky dragged Ben inside and dropped his head onto the floor with a
thunk.

“What are we gonna do now?” Bill asked.

“I want ya to take a note for me once it’s dark; be real careful. I don’t want anyone to see ya”

“Okay Squeaky, just tell me where ya want me to go” Bill said eagerly.

********

Joseph was out in the barn with George attending to a horse who’d thrown a shoe earlier when Dancer galloped in
; it was just on dusk.

Joseph dropped the horse’s foot to the ground
, gave George a puzzled look and went to get Dancer. “What ya doin’ here girl; where’s Ben?” Joseph asked as he patted the horse’s muzzle.

“Not like Ben to get thrown pa, do ya think he’s in trouble?” George asked.

“I don’t know son but let’s go look. Ask the men to come saddle up. I’ll unsaddle Dancer and put her in a stall. Make it quick George; we’re runnin’ outta daylight”

George took off to the bunkhouse. “Men!” he shouted and Nobby poked his head out of the door.

“Trouble boss?” Nobby asked.

“Not sure Nobby. Ask the men to saddle up fast. We gotta find Ben”

“Okay boss” Nobby turned back into the bunkhouse and as George walked away he heard Nobby yell. “Men saddle up”

The hands all came running and George raced back to the barn with them.

Joseph had almost saddled his horse and George and the men quickly saddled theirs before mounting up and waiting in the yard for instructions.

“I want ya to spread out and check as much area as ya can between here and Mason’s ranch. Joseph instructed. “Ben was goin’ to see Justine. I’m gonna go over there and see if she’s seen him and I’ll catch up with ya”

“Pa; we haven’t told ma yet” George reminded his father.

Joseph ran his hand through his hair before he dismounted. “I’ll go and tell her; you get goin’.”

George and the men rode off while Joseph walked into the house. “Ginny, where are ya” Joseph called out. “In the parlour Joe” she responded.

Joseph walked into the parlour where Virginia and Nellie were sitting, talking and sewing.

“What’s wrong Joe?” Virginia asked when she saw the worried look on his face.

“We just had Dancer gallop back into the yard without Ben. We’re worried Ben might be hurt”

“He was goin’ to see Justine”

“I know darlin’. George and the men are coverin’ the area between here and Justine’s now. I gotta go and let her know Ginny”

Virginia stood up to hug and kiss Joseph. “Go Joe; I’ll be fine”

Joseph raced out of the house and mounted up. As he galloped off to Justine’s; he prayed he was worried about nothing.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Squeaky and Bill sat in the cabin drinking whisky and Squeaky was writing a note for Bill to deliver.

It was quite dark now and Ben was still unconscious. Squeaky wanted the cover of darkness to protect Bill while he delivered the note. The cabin was only a mile from Justine’s so Bill would be able to go on foot.

“We’ll wait until it
s real dark Bill so ya won’t be seen. I want ya to sneak onto the porch and push the note under the door. Then ya have to get away as quick as ya can and get back here; okay?”

“Yeah Squeaky; I can do that. Are we gonna kill him when I get back?”

“No, we ain’t killers Bill; we just wanna scare ‘em so we get that land”

“But won’t the sheriff arrest us when he gets told what we did?”

“No he won’t ‘cause no-one will tell him it was us”

Bill didn’t understand how that would be possible but he trusted Squeaky and he went back to drinking his whisky while Squeaky finished the note.

Ben began to moan from the corner where he’d been dragged; his head and back were now propped against the wall. His head was pounding and he struggled to open his eyes. Every time he attempted to open and focus them; the light from the lamp caused him so much pain he was forced to close them again.

“He’s wakin’ up Squeaky” Bill informed his partner.

“Get him some water to drink Bill” Squeaky walked over and kneeled in front of Ben. He blocked out the light from the lamp and Ben was finally able to open his eyes.

“What do you want?” Ben whispered. He looked down and saw his wrists and ankles had been tied with ropes. He noticed his pants had been shredded and he thought his shirt had been too; he could feel his bare back resting against the log wall. He was
stiff and moved slightly to get more comfortable; he groaned again. He hurt like hell and when he moved his legs he could see the blood on the floorboards.

“Well ya see Mr Glenmore; we was sure we was gonna get old man Mason’s land when he passed. We didn’t know he had a granddaughter so we
was pretty mad when we found out she had our land” Squeaky told Ben.

“But why do ya want it?” Ben already had a pretty good idea but he wanted Squeaky to tell him so he’d be sure.

“Gold! We been pannin’ for three years now and gettin’ plenty out; been makin’ us a right good livin’. We told old Mason if he didn’t let us take it and he told anyone we was gonna hurt Millie; the old man never said a word! We need to dam that stream now ‘cause we ain’t had nothin’ out for near on three months”

Ben shook his head and swallowed back the bile that threatened to erupt due to the stench
from Squeaky’s rotten breath. “Did ya take the cows?”

“We thought if we took her cows she’d go broke and then she’d sell to us. When
them men started watchin’ we couldn’t do that no more so we came up with this idea”

Squeaky was telling Ben everything he needed to know; Ben thought either they were going to kill him or they really were as stupid as everyone in town said they were. Right now though; Ben knew he was in a hell of a predicament and he needed to find a way out.

“What are ya gonna do with me?” Ben asked.

“We’re gonna use her to get her to sell” Bill told him.

“But when ya let me go the sheriff will lock ya up and then ya won’t have the land anyway”