Chapter Twenty-nine
After the meeting Duff, Meagan, Elmer, and Vi had dinner at the Cattle Stampede Restaurant.
“Ha,” Elmer said. “Did you see the look on Houser’s face when he come into the meetin’ ’n seen all of us there? He looked like he had just chewed up a whole hot pepper.”
“Why was he so upset?” Vi asked. “Didn’t you invite him?”
“Yeah, Duff invited ’im, but that was the thing. He said we didn’t have no right to invite nobody, on account of he was chairman of the group ’n he was the onliest one who could do the invitin’.”
“How did you handle it?” Meagan asked.
“Oh, I told him it was nae an official meeting, but was only a wee gathering of friends and neighbors,” Duff replied.
“A wee gathering,” Elmer said with a laugh. “We had nigh on to a hundred people there.”
“Well, you would have had one more if I hadn’t been working on Mrs. Trotter’s new dress,” Meagan said. “She wants it by Wednesday.” She reached over to put her hand on Duff’s arm. “But I know I was well represented.”
“You got that right. We was all represented real good with Duff, ’cause he pretty much wound up givin’ Houser pure ole dee hell.”
“Be careful of that man, Duff. There’s something about him, something in his eyes.”
Meagan remembered sharing a table with him at Tacky Mack’s, and she had a sudden thought.
“Duff, you don’t think . . . ?” Meagan started, then she stopped as if not wanting to complete the question. “I mean, the Hanlons, Jenny and Asa, you don’t think . . . no, it couldn’t be.”
“I know the question you fear to ask, Meagan, and I surely hope that Houser has nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t put it past ’im,” Elmer said. “I ain’t got a lot of book learnin’ like some people, but there’s somethin’ I learned a long time ago, ’n that’s how to see evil in a person. ’N I see it in Houser.”
“Aye,” Duff agreed. “He does have a touch o’ the sulfur about him, that’s for sure.”
* * *
When Duff and Elmer returned home, they were met by Emerson. “Boss, we’ve got a puzzle here,” Emerson said.
“And what would the puzzle be?”
“You know all them cows that was gone when I went over to Percy’s ranch to take them provisions to Sam?”
“Aye.”
“Well, they ain’t gone no more.”
“Are ye for telling me, Steven, that the cattle have been returned to Percy’s ranch?”
“No, sir, I ain’t a-tellin’ you that at all, ’cause that ain’t what’s happened to ’em. They ain’t back in Percy’s ranch, on account of them cows is all right here at Sky Meadow.”
“What?” Elmer asked. “Are you sayin’ we have all of Percy’s cattle?”
“Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I’m sayin’,” Emerson replied. “They’re all mixed in with the Sky Meadow herd. It was Calhoun that seen ’em first, ’n he pointed ’em out to me. I started countin’ em, ’n I done seen near a hundred of ’em. ’N here’s the thing, Percy didn’t have no more ’n a hundred ’n fifty head on his whole ranch.”
“Now, how in Sam Hill do you think all them cows get here from Percy’s place?” Elmer asked.
“We was talkin’ ’bout just that same thing,” Emerson said. “’N ’bout the onliest thing we can come up with is figurin’ that maybe when the house caught on fire, that maybe the cows all got scared ’n run over here.”
“That don’t seem likely a-tall,” Elmer said. “I mean, the whole herd just comin’ over here?”
“We are the closest ranch to Percy’s ranch,” Emerson said. “’N what we got here is Angus cows, just like what Percy has. ’N remember, a lot of Percy’s cows come from our herd to begin with. It could be that when them cows got scared they just wanted to come back to someplace they remember. And them that didn’t come from here, just sort of natural followed the rest of ’em that did.”
“Yeah,” Elmer agreed. “I reckon maybe that could be.”
“Have you separated Mr. Gaines’s cattle from our herd?” Duff asked.
“Yes, sir, I got ’em all in the brandin’ corral now. We’re lookin’ now to see if there’s any more.”
“Good. We’ll keep them here until Mr. Gaines returns.”
“What is it he’s goin’ to be comin’ home to? He ain’t got no house, no more,” Elmer said.
“Yes, sir, ’n I got somethin’ to say about that, too,” Emerson said. “I been talkin’ to some of the other fellers, ’n we got us an idea, that is, if you’ll go along with it, Mr. MacCallister.”
“What is your idea?”
“Well, sir, you might know that me ’n Percy was just real good friends all the time he was workin’ here, ’n even after he started his own ranch, why, we was still good friends.”
“Aye, I’m aware of that.”
“What I was thinkin’ is, after Percy gets back maybe me ’n the others could go help him build hisself another house. All the others is willin’ to go along with that, but we’d need you to say we can do it, seein’ as it might mean a few days off from our regular work. You wouldn’t have to worry none, though, ’cause we’d keep some people back here.”
Duff smiled. “I think that would be an excellent idea, ’n ’tis a good mon you are, Mr. Emerson, for to be thinking of such a thing.”
* * *
Two days later, an item of interest to everyone in the Valley of the Chug appeared in the Chugwater Defender newspaper.
AN OPEN LETTER.
To Whom It May Concern:
I, BRAD HOUSER, owner of the TWIN PEAKS RANCH, by these presents make this public pronouncement.
I have filed a claim with the General Land Office and now hold deeded possession of the Pine Flats, as well as all water access on the previously open range land along Blue Elder Creek, Fox Creek, and Horse Creek. As a result of a change of status in the property herein described, and to which I hold exclusive title, no one shall be allowed to water their cattle at the aforementioned places without my specific consent.
Any livestock that may, whether under control, or by free migratory, violate this restricted area, shall be subject to seizure and acquisition by Twin Peaks Ranch.
Two days after the announcement appeared in the newspaper, Jim Spivey and his brother-in-law, Cecil, moved 118 head of Hereford down to Horse Creek.
“Look at ’em drink,” Cecil said. “They’re a bunch of thirsty little devils, ain’t they?”
“Yes. I don’t understand how the Wahite Ditch has dried up,” Spivey said. “In all the time I’ve been here, it ain’t never been dry.”
“Damn, Jim, that’s why,” Cecil said. “Look over there.”
The object of Cecil’s attention was a dam, built across the Wahite Ditch, just as it branched off from Horse Creek.
“Who the hell would do somethin’ like that?” Spivey asked.
“I’ll get it tore down just real quick,” Cecil said, taking his rope from the hook on his saddle.
“Cecil, wait,” Spivey called. “There’s a bunch of men comin’.”
Cecil, with his rope in hand, rode back to be alongside Spivey.
“I wonder what they want,” Spivey said.
“That feller in the lead is Harris. I’ve seen ’im in town. He’s supposed to be some kindly of a sheriff or somethin’.”
“What are you men doing here?” Shamrock asked gruffly.
“Hell, it ought not to be that hard for you to figure out,” Spivey said. “I’m waterin’ my cows.”
Shamrock smiled, though there was no humor in it. “Uh-uh. You’re waterin’ Twin Peaks cows.”
“What do you mean, Twin Peaks cows?” Spivey said angrily. “Check the brands, you’ll see that they are my cows.”
“You’ve brung ’em onto Twin Peaks land, ’n my brother has done put a notice in the paper saying that any cows that come onto his land can be confiscated,” Shamrock said.
“This isn’t Twin Peaks land, this is open range.”
“Not ’ny more it ain’t. This land has been filed on ’n now belongs to Twin Peaks.”
“You can’t just claim land ’n say it’s yours. You have to improve upon it,” Spivey said. “I know that, ’cause that’s how I got my own land.”
Shamrock pointed to the dam that had stopped water from flowing through the Wahite Ditch.
“There’s the improvement, right there,” he said with a cackling laugh.
“Improvement? What kind of improvement is that? You’ve stopped all the water from going to my land!” Spivey said angrily.
“Yeah, we have, haven’t we? But, like I said, these ain’t your cows no more, so you don’t actual have no need for water now.”
“All right, I’ll take my cows ’n leave, but you ain’t goin’ to get away with this.”
“I told you, they ain’t your cows no more.” Shamrock pointed to the badge on his shirt. “’N seein’ as I’m a captain in the governor’s territorial deputies, we’ll be takin’ ’em now.”
“The hell you will !” Cecil shouted, reaching for his pistol.
Shamrock and two of the men with him were ready for just such a reaction, and all three off them shot Cecil, knocking him from the saddle.
“Cecil!” Spivey shouted.
Shamrock made a motion with his pistol. “Pick ’im up, ’n get ’im outta here.”
* * *
Sheriff Sharpie shook his head. “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about it, Jim,” he said to Spivey. “There are four witnesses who swear that Cecil drew first. Is that true?”
“Well, yeah, he did draw first, but he was just trying to protect our property. Harris stole my entire herd, Sheriff.”
Sheriff Sharpie sighed. “I’m lookin’ into that. I’ve checked the land claims, and they are legitimate. And there was a notice put in the paper that any trespassing livestock was subject to seizure. Harris, bein’ a governor’s deputy ’n all, is authorized to confiscate any cows that come onto the land.”
“That ain’t in no way fair, Sheriff,” Spivey said.
“I admit that it don’t seem fair,” Sheriff Sharpie said. “But, Jim, this is somethin’ that you should fight out in court, not the way Cecil did. Look what happened. He got himself killed, and you lost a friend as well as your herd.”
* * *
Jim Spivey wasn’t the only one to lose his herd. Ed Chambers lost his herd as well. Of all the ranches in the valley, Sky Meadow was the most favorably situated, as it was watered by Bear Creek, Little Bear Creek, and the Chugwater River itself. Duff let it be known to any rancher who had a need for water, that they could bring their cattle onto Sky Meadow for water.
Ethan Terrell’s ranch, the Diamond T, was also on the Chugwater River, and Terrell let it be known that he would allow others to use his ranch as well.
None of the larger ranches had been hurt by Houser’s acquisition of the open range, for the same streams that flowed through his land, also flowed through theirs.