CHAPTER 20
Katy had some sewing to do with Easter, so she stayed at the ranch while Harp and Doug rode into Kerrville, arriving about mid-morning. Harp went straight to the bank where he saw his banker in his private office. They talked about his money needs, Harp explaining to Jim all that was happening and how he figured twenty thousand would get them there. He also told him he’d have enough steers not to have to buy any for the first herd; the second herd would be on consignment, and number three would be from the Diamond Ranch herd on shares.
Jim whistled a wow. Then he said he would run everything by his board, but he felt they would approve. Satisfied, Harp went to meet Doug at the diner.
“I have some news that might help us. The soldiers they recently moved to Texas found a large Comanche bunch, charged the camp, had a big fight, and their huge horse herd got scattered from hell to breakfast. A man said they were some great buffalo horses like you and Long ride among those loose horses.”
“Where did it happen?”
“They said west of here, forty miles on Pearl Creek.”
“We need to grab some hands, bedrolls, and packhorses, then run out there and find them. We’ve got time enough to break them.”
“How many hands?”
“Five.”
“I can get them. They are all afoot. They’ve got tack. We get them out to the ranch today, we can leave in the morning to find them.”
“How many horses did they scatter?” Harp asked, excited about the opportunity he needed.
“They said over a thousand.”
“Get those boys hired. Hire a wagon and meet me at the mercantile. I’ll get the supplies and we’ll load them and the boys and take it all to the ranch.”
“They’re all real good guys.”
“Sounds great. Once the banker gets the nod on the loan, we will be all right.”
Doug frowned at the notion of denial. “Hell, you ain’t no risk.”
“Money is very tight. In fact there is none in Texas at this moment, I bet.”
“You might be right. I’ll get the wagon rented, tell the boys we’re going to the ranch, and meet you at the store.”
“I’ll wait for you there.”
The young clerk waiting on him made a list of his wants and needs and said he’d have it in boxes on the porch in no time. Harp thanked him, then went for the mail at the post office across the street. He had several letters from ranch hands wanting work, plus the San Antonio newspaper that he subscribed to.
He had a cloth sack for it all. The wagon arrived and the ranch hands Doug hired shook his hand one by one and thanked him for the job. Next they loaded the supplies the clerk had placed on the front porch as promised. Harp got a teenage boy to help.
Before they left, Harp stopped the boy and gave him three silver dollars.
The youngster looked at them. “That’s a dollar more than I said I’d do it for.”
“I know it, but for you being so polite I added one.”
“Thanks a lot, Mr. O’Malley. Next year Maw says I kin go to Kansas with you all.”
“I’ll hire you then, son.”
“Whoopee. I’ve got a job.”
He ran off with Doug laughing. “Hell, they all want to be a part of us.”
“And that ain’t bad.”
“How long do you think it will take all of us to get to Pearl Creek?” Doug asked.
“A day, day and a half.”
“You think we might get some good horses huh?”
“Oh, yes. If we can catch them.”
At the ranch Harp had one problem. When he told Kate that evening, she wanted to go along.
“I am sorry, but no. I can’t leave you in camp while we chase horses. I want to have a wife when I get back. Those damn Comanche will sure want those horses back. We may have a fight on our hands when we get out there.”
“I can—” He put his finger on her lips.
“This time trust me. Mother, do you have any rifles I can borrow?”
“Two of those tube-feeding Spencers. Dad’s got his Winchester.”
“I better borrow them. Is there ammo for them?”
“Of course. I’ll get it.”
“You going to war out there?” his wife asked, looking concerned.
“Only if they want one.”
“You just remember there is more than me waiting here now.”
“Oh, I hope not, but if they try me I will fight.”
She hugged him. “I just dread ever losing you, big man.”
“You won’t.”
They inventoried the guns they had. Five rifles—his ; Doug had his Winchester; one of the men had a Winchester, too; plus the two Spencer models. They all had .45-caliber cap-and-ball ammunition for their side arms. Plus Harp had his extra. 30-caliber in his saddlebag. With plenty of ammo for the guns, he felt they should be fine.
The sun still had not crested the eastern rim when they were trotting their saddle horses and pack ones westward in the cool winter west Texas morning.
Not one horse bucked, which was a new record for Hiram O’Malley’s ranch horses.
His dad lived by the verse, There had never been a horse couldn’t be rode nor a cowboy hadn’t been throwed. He went by the rule that a horse that didn’t buck a little was not worth the salt you fed him. Harp held them to a hard trot all morning. Mid-afternoon the solar heat was up and they began to find loose Comanche horses. They roped several and found a brush corral to hold them in. These horses were broke. They let the mares and colts go, the tough stallions, too. The Comanche gelded the horses they usually rode—he had seen some hard-nosed bucks ride stallions but most rode the neutered horses.
They had several horses in the pen when they shut down for the evening and had coffee and jerky for supper. Before dawn they made coffee and oatmeal, and when the short day dawned they went after more. By late afternoon he felt they had the good ones in the area caught. There might be more, farther west, but Harp and his crew had stayed out there long enough to suit him. There was an itching under the shirt material on his back between his shoulder blades—some of those bucks might be coming back to look for those good horses they had lost.
In the morning, one of the riders caught a broke mare. The horses they’d penned followed her and they headed home. There was lots of color in the herd: paints, piebalds, buckskins, and two snow-white horses. Not albino, either. With forty horses, he considered the men had sure earned their keep.
It took a day and a half to get back, driving them right through Kerrville and arriving at the home ranch about dark. He’d be glad when the days grew longer.
He signed up the five hands. Then he set them to breaking those new horses to ride under a saddle. Also to swap sides, mounting from the right to the left. They’d learn fast and make super cattle drive horses. All he needed was another seventy or so. Whew he had lots to do to make it work, and not much time.
The next morning three men stopped by the ranch—Amos Thornton and his sons Wade and Corley. Harp had never met them before, and Thornton said he heard that Harp needed some more using horses.
“How many do you have?”
“How many horses do you need?” Thornton asked, dismounting and hitching up his pants.
“About seventy-five.”
“Whew. I can probably get them. Can you pay thirty a head for sound ones?”
“Round it off. Seventy-five head for two thousand dollars.”
“I can do that. I won’t bring you junk, but some will be green-broke.”
“March first? Will we have them by then?”
“Can we do that, boys?” the older man asked his sons.
They both nodded. Harp shook hands with the man.
“The women will feed you breakfast.”
“We’d take it. I pushed pretty hard to get here to catch you.”
“I appreciate it. That makes one less thing to worry about.”
“You won’t need to. We can get you those horses.”
His wife came out on the porch. “Katy, please fix breakfast for these horse traders. They’ve just solved one of my problems. His name is Thornton and these are his sons.”
“Come on inside. Easter and I can sure do that,” Katy said.
“Their names are Wade and Corley. Ma’am, that man of yours ever treats you wrong, me and them boys will court you.”
She laughed. “I doubt he’ll ever do that.”
“I do, too. But I had to offer. You two been together long?”
“Oh, six months I’d say. But I am very happy with him.”
“My, my, he sure is busy.”
“Yes, he is, and he will be more so heading north.”
“We heard the story how he went to Missouri last year and sold them high-priced cattle.”
“He can tell you all about it.”
“It wasn’t a story? He did sell the cattle?”
Harper had heard the conversation. “Yes, we sold them high, but it was hell. After taking those cattle up there I was glad to even be alive. I am looking forward to be headed for Kansas this spring.”
“You think that is the way?”
“Yes. Missouri has laws against coming there to start with, and there are folks up there don’t like Rebs.”
“You expect them to be like that in Kansas?”
“I hope not. I get real anxious about folks stopping me.”
“Thanks for doing business with us. We’ll go home and get those horses gathered. There isn’t much money in Texas these days.”
“You’ll get my money, but you won’t get my wife.”
They agreed, laughing.
With a smile for her, Harper was off to check on more things he needed to get done. He had a list and was going over it when Doug came in from checking on the horse-breaking crew.
“We, maybe, can find some boys in San Antonio,” Harper said to him.
Doug shrugged. “I think we hired all that’re worth a damn in Kerrville.”
“Let’s take the stage to San Antonio tomorrow and take a few days at the stockyards and around. We need several more hands.”
“I think these guys we have will make good hands. They are working those horses hard and doing it right.”
“The three men here this morning promised me seventy-five more horses in a month. Those, with the Comanche ones, will solve the horse problem. Now it will be cowhands we need to hire.”
“Our crew is down three guys,” Doug pointed out, “so we need three there.”
“And I say two dozen more to make up the other two crews. But Doug, we need to share those experienced men on all three crews. You be thinking who’s who so we don’t have all new men on any herd.”
“I can do that. You said we’re going tomorrow to San Antonio?”
“Yes, and my wife will want to go along.”
“Fine with me.”
“I’ll talk to her. We will need two camp wagons, too, and that might be the place to buy them.”
“I bet the good ones will be in short supply the closer we get to leaving. If everyone in Texas is going north this spring with a herd, it might be good to buy them now. As for the men, I know several guys that have job promises. We could hire them, because a bunch going north won’t want to pay until right before they leave and most won’t pay to go back. We can use them now and pay them. They’ll want to work a sure thing with us.”
Harp quickly agreed. “Good idea, I can stand the expense if they’re good.”
The next morning, Katy, Harp, and Doug bundled up against the cool spell and rain, to take the stage to San Antonio. A-day-and-a-half hassle to get there but it beat riding horses in the wet weather. They made it and got hotel rooms, then met for dinner and had a nice meal. The rain swept in and out, but it was a good soaking moisture and the kind his dad called a kick in the ass for spring/winter oats.
They found a dealer of farm machinery, and he told them the cost of a horse-drawn mower and rake would be around two hundred dollars. Delivery was suspect, but he could order one set for him and try to get it up to Kerrville soon as possible.
Harp ordered it to be delivered to Hiram O’Malley at Camp Verde, Texas. Harp paid the man, who was grateful, and gave the receipt to his wife. Kate would be there and she could arrange for Hoot to get it.
“Mr. O’Malley, are you the man who sold those cattle in Missouri last summer?” the dealer asked.
“Yes, my brother and I drove eight hundred head to Sedalia last fall.”
“Mr. O’Malley, I am sure proud to meet you, and every need of any kind of farm machinery, I would sure like to sell it to you.”
“Your name’s Earl Burns?”
“Yes, wait till I tell my friends.”
“Well, Earl Burns, what can you find me two ambulances for? Price wise?”
“I know where they be two like-new ones in a shed. I can get them for two hundred dollars apiece. Two teams of real stout mules to pull them for a hundred fifty dollars.”
“Harness?”
“Both pair for eighty dollars. New harness, the best made.”
“That’s 630 dollars?”
“Exactly, sir.”
“Can they have bows and a canvas top on each wagon?”
“Make it seven hundred and they will have that, too.”
“Spring seats?”
“Two of them as well. When you need them?”
“Four days. The two of us will drive them home.”
“No, siree,” Earl said. “Why, that pretty lady don’t have to ride home in no stiff wagon. I will pay some boys to take both of them to your Camp Verde Ranch.”
Harp shook his hand. “I thank you and I know Kate does, too. We have some boys coming for tryouts to be on our payroll this spring, so we need to run right now. I will look for the wagons in a week. Better get me a receipt for them, too.”
“Yes, sir. And I mean it, Mr. O’Malley. I sure want to be your implement dealer.”
“Harp is my handle. I appreciate you and will be in touch.”
They took the receipts, climbed into the buckboard, and drove at a trot—in the livery surrey—for the stockyards. For the tryouts, Harp had rented two horses, saddles, and ropes from the livery. He also had two nail kegs for each cowboy to try to rope from off the horse.
They were all set up in a large pen. There was a canvas shade put up over the setup with a board desk and a chair for Kate to record each man’s name and how they did at the job trials.
The large crowd of teenage boys wanting jobs impressed Harper, and several fence watchers were perched on the top rail.
“Everyone, listen. You report in your turn to the lady at the desk; be polite to her and tell her your name and hometown. A horse will be hitched. You untie him, mount him, and short-lope him around the pen. Then set him down where the white lime is on the ground. Undo the rope and rope the barrel from the saddle. You have three tries to rope it. Then coil the rope and ride the horse back and hitch him for the next man.
“First man to show you how is Clarence Fowler.” Harp had talked to the young man before it started. He said he could do that to show them how.
“Ma’am my name is Clarence Fowler. My town is Berne.”
“Thanks, Clarence,” she said.
He put his worn felt cowboy hat back on, went to the bay horse, and unhitched him. Then without stirrups he handily flipped up into the saddle, sat the horse down, found his stirrups, and charged him off in a lope around the pen. Slid him to a stop, undid the lariat on the spot, uncoiled his lariat, made a loop, and tossed it neatly over the barrel and jerked up the slack.
A young boy Harp hired ran out, took his loop off of it, reset the barrel, and ran for the fence. Clarence coiled it going back, dismounted, and hitched the horse back to the fence.
Harp looked at Doug, who nodded his approval. “Clarence, you’re hired to go to Kansas with the O’Malley brothers. See Miss Kate later.”
Everyone gave Clarence a round of applause.
“Johnny Marks,” Doug called off his list.
Some had trouble getting on the horse. Others were too round bottomed to even ride. But there were many good ones. A Mexican boy came with his own reata and asked to use it instead of the rope.
“Sure, Carlos Rey, use it,” Harp said.
When he roped the barrel he dallied his rope around the horn and backed the horse up, too. He got the hired call.
Two boys could damn sure ride but could not rope. But Harp and Doug both liked them and hired them. The afternoon wore on. It was obvious that the trial would not finish before sundown. Besides he figured Katy must be getting tired. Harp told the ones left to be back there at eight thirty in the morning and bring along anyone else who wanted to work.
Katy whispered, “Call Billy McCall up here. I know he failed, but he’s an orphan. Could he help in camp?”
“Billy McCall, come over here,” Harp shouted.
A boy in oversized bib overalls came on the run—bare footed.
“You got a job for me, sir?”
“You an orphan?”
“Yes, sir, but I don’t beg.”
“I don’t need a beggar, either. I need an assistant cook. We want you back here for the trials tomorrow. So find a place to sleep and eat, and tomorrow you will be on our payroll.” He gave him fifty cents, plenty enough money to eat on in the barrio.
Billy thanked Harp and left.
After he was gone, Kate stood up on her toes and kissed him. “You won’t regret doing that.”
“I didn’t figure I would. Doug, Katy, let’s go eat supper. We’ve found some good boys and I am convinced we will have enough hired by tomorrow to go to Kansas. Plus we have those two more supply wagons and the farm machinery.”
They ate supper in the hotel dining room. Plans were to eat breakfast at seven and then go back for the rest of the trials.
* * *
First thing Harp noticed in the morning at the pens was that the number of boys and onlookers had really increased. Two were black teens and sure enough cowboys, riding and roping both.
“You Trent boys brothers?” Harp asked them.
Sly said, “We really cousins, but we been raised by dee same woman, sah.”
Jimbo agreed. “Sir, we will do our damndest to make hands for you outfit. Ain’t no jobs ’chere, so we really need the work.”
“I pay the same wage to all my hands. You understand me?”
“That be fine, sah.”
“My biggest rule is no fighting with crew members. This is serious business. All of you remember that. There will be no fighting or you will be afoot in no man’s land. If you can’t get along you walk around that other one. No stealing. You can’t live by the rules, don’t leave San Antonio. No one is any better than the other. If you are told to help the cook, you help him. We all have to pull together. We may have to shoot people who get in our way, but by damn, if you don’t give me your all, I will leave you out in the prairie.
“A man named Earl Burns is taking two wagons up to Kerrville and on to my family ranch. He will bring you out to our ranch. It will take over two days to get up there. Bring a blanket and clothes. If you don’t have a bedroll, we will supply you one when you get up there. We will have a rubber slicker and a hat for you to wear. If you have a saddle bring it. We can get some saddles for those don’t have one. If you don’t want the job don’t come, we won’t be back until sometime in the fall.
“There is hardly a way to get mail. But you can send notes home. We will have paper, pen, stamps, and envelopes. At the ranch I need to know who to notify as your next of kin in the case of your death. You can get mail to you at General Delivery, Abilene, Kansas. You will get it there in four months from our leaving here.
“Any questions?”
He arranged with Earl to take the boys, who didn’t ride their own horses out there, in the wagons. He paid him twenty dollars to feed them.
Everyone was informed. He went by and saw his banker Fred Newman.
Fred asked him if he needed any money.
“If I do need some I can wire you, can’t I?”
“Yes, and we can have it delivered to you.”
“So far we have enough. But it will get more expensive.”
“How many head are you taking?”
“We have two thousand head that we rounded up. That’s one herd. The number two herd belongs to our neighbors, small ranchers with a few hundred or less, with up to two thousand head in that herd. Herd three is ours on the shares with two older women who needed some help.”
“Seven thousand head?”
“Yes. We’ve been hiring cowboys and we have some good ones picked out.”
“Oh, my, Harp. That will be a feat even larger than the Sedalia one.”
“Bigger, yes, but we know more now.”
“Harp and Mrs. O’Malley, you have my prayers. You need money, just wire me. Be careful . . . you are too good a man to lose.”
“Thanks. We are headed home tomorrow. In a month we go north.”
“God bless you and your family.”
He left the man still in shock thinking about their huge undertaking.
Katy asked him, riding in the rented surrey back to the hotel, if he thought it was that scary.
He clucked to the team that was laying back a little. “Darling, we will do what we have to do, and no, I think with the crew we are assembling we can do it.”
Back at the hotel they joined up with Doug for supper, and Doug asked how they met.
Kate answered, “Doug, I found me a man, one day, to buy me some canned peaches.”
“I know the guy.”
“He acted like he was foot loose and fancy free. Boy, did he ever fool me. He’s a tycoon turned loose.”
Doug agreed with her. “I’m jealous as hell of him. My mind don’t move as fast as him, but I am learning. He fired a terrible cook one day, and the next he was running the whole damn outfit and did a wonderful job at it, so I don’t think this cattle-moving business is new. While it is bigger, it is not anything to be scared of. And I am also jealous as how you picked him out up there at Lee’s Creek and not me.”
“Doug, you have to keep your eyes open. There is a lady out there looking for you that you will be proud of.”
“I will be a-looking then.”
“Doug, you better listen to her. She knows a lot about the future that I can’t figure how she knows it, but she does.”
“This has been a great experience. Where did you get the tryout deal for the boys?” Doug asked Harp.
“He gets things like that so easy,” she said, shaking her head and laughing.
“I decided if they could ride and rope we’d take them and make cowboys out of them. It was just a way to see them in action.”
“I won’t forget it. Now I know what to look at and for.”
“Now we need to eat and some sleep. We take the eight-o’clock stage back home. Remember we still need to hire more cooks.”
Damn he was closing in getting things done, but now he knew how Emory felt back then getting ready. Whew there was still a lot to do.