The Gathering Ch. 02

"Let's water the mules and get going," Dillon suggested. "I don't think they'll come back but I'd like to put some distance between us." He changed his saddle to another horse and led the wagons to the next camp sight

The weather had been extremely good during their journey; now it decided to pay them back. It started to rain and the wind picked up until the rain drops were coming at them from the side. Riding close to Elizabeth driving the wagon Dillon smiled and said, "Never saw sideways rain before. It puts a whole new meaning to being wet, don't it?"

Elizabeth laughed and replied, "This wagon cover doesn't help much when you're sitting out here on the seat. Oh well, we won't have to take a bath tonight anyway."

"That's too bad," Dillon said chuckling. "I was sort of looking forward to another bath."

Dillon had been impressed with Elizabeth and Eleanor on their trek. Neither of them used the excuse of being ladies to slack off from their share of the work. In fact several times Dillon had to order them to rest and take it easy. Hell of a woman that I picked, Dillon thought as he smiled at his wife. Or was she the one doing the picking.

The freighter trail was almost as good as a road and they made good time using it. But now with the heavy rain it turned into a mud bog. Three times they had to stop and take the mules from one wagon to help pull the other wagon out of a mud hole in the trail. Even Oso's great strength couldn't push the wagons free of the clinging mud. After freeing a wagon for the third time, Dillon called a halt.

"We're spending more time getting wagons out of the mud than we are traveling. We'll make camp and hold up for a day or two until the storm passes and the trail dries out some," he told his crew. "As close as we are I don't want anybody getting hurt or the mules injured just to save a couple of days."

The rain stopped that evening but they waited two days for the trail to dry out before they resumed their journey. The night before it had started raining, Eleanor looked at the clouds and decided to stow a lot of dried wood in the wagon. Because of her they didn't have a cold camp; they were able to stretch a canvas from one of the wagons to the other and have a dry place to cook and eat over a small fire.

Sitting under the canopy leaning back against his saddle, Dillon thought this isn't too bad; he gently stroked Elizabeth's hair as she leaned back against him. Got a warm dry place out of the weather, got my wife and family, and got a full belly; not bad at all. If nothing else the two days rest will give Buck a chance to heal up some.

Other than a few still wet and muddy spots on the trail they had no more adventures. It was just the normal ten and twelve hour days plodding along with the wagons. It took them six more days to reach Colorado Springs. They followed directions given to them at one of the general stores to Ted and Tillie Clark's. As they stopped the wagons in front of the house, Tillie came running out to greet them.

The trip from Prescott to Colorado Springs had taken them 71 days. Pretty good time, Dillon said to himself.

Tillie suggested that they pull the wagons out back of the house until they decided what they were going to do and put the mules in the corral out there. The three horses were put in the barn. Ted returned from his office about two hours after their arrival. He told them they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted. After supper sitting in one of the parlors of the old bordello, Ted asked what their plans were.

"Suppose we'll start looking for ranch land right away," Dillon answered.

"I hope it takes a while," Eleanor said. "If I never sit on a wagon seat again, it'll be too soon."

After spending two days seeing the town, they began to make some plans. "First thing I want to do is buy another horse," Dillon said. "Ole Buck is 15 and he's carried me a long way. I think it's time to give him a little rest. But I'll want something special; the horse will have a hard go to live up to Buck."

"The best horses in the area are bred and raised by a feller down near Fountain," Ted informed him. "Y'all passed through Fountain on your way here. It's a full day's ride round trip. Josh Kelly is his name."

"I remember Fountain," Elizabeth said. "It looked like a nice place."

"Kelly and his partner own the Chico Basin Cattle company about ten miles southeast of Fountain," Ted continued. Ted and Dillon got involved in talking about horses. "Kelly's got this one big red horse named Diablo that may be the best I've ever seen," Ted remarked.

"Think he'd sell this Diablo?"

"You'd probably have a better chance at buying his wife than getting that horse," Ted replied laughing. "Don't think he'd sell him but he's been breeding the big guy and you might get one of his sons. But be prepared to pay top price and then some. That's no ordinary horse."

"Guess I'll take a ride to Fountain tomorrow and look up Kelly," Dillon said. "Want to go with me Elizabeth?"

Nodding her head, Elizabeth replied, "Maybe we should stay overnight and get a feel for the town." Grinning at her husband she added in a low voice, "It'll be the first chance we had to be alone since our bath."

Dillon chuckled, "Sounds like a good idea to me."

***********************

Josh, Red and the whole clan came into Fountain. Danni and Sarah along with little Maggie were in the general mercantile getting supplies and shopping. Josh had business at the bank and Red decided to stay with the other three children. He wasn't fond of banking and the business side of the ranch.

Red had Josh's boy William and his two sons John and Daniel in the big wagon. He was telling them tall tales about the journey he and Josh had made from Santa Fe.

**************

Dillon and Elizabeth were inside the store browsing. Dillon walked over to the man behind the counter. "Howdy, I'm Dillon Gallagher. Wonder if you might help me?"

"I'm Steve Mitchell, I own the place. What can I do for you?"

"Looking for a Josh Kelly. Understand he's got the best horses in the area. I'd like to do some business with him. Can you give me directions to his spread?"

"I can do better than that," Mitchell replied. Pointing to Red in front of the store he said, "That's his partner Red McCall out front with the kids. Josh is probably in town too; that youngest boy is his son."

Dillon nodded his thanks and stepped outside; Elizabeth was busy looking at some ladies hats so he left her there. As he got closer, he heard Red talking to the three boys in the wagon.

"So there we were. Just me and Josh facing over a hundred Indians. William your daddy stood there with that coup stick, you know the one that's hanging over the fireplace at home, well anyway there he was holding the coup stick in one hand and his rifle in the other. I was right beside him with my own rifle." Red looked to make sure his audience was paying attention. All three of the boys were sitting on the edge of the seat with their mouths open.

"Those Indians took one look at Josh and me and whipped up their horses and rode away as fast as they could," Red finished.

"Really Uncle Red?" William asked.

"Oh Pa," John said. "Are you sure it was a hundred Indians?"

"Might have been more John; I didn't have time to count em." Daniel giggled at the face Red made at John.

"You must be the famous John McCall," Dillon said.

Red turned around to face Dillon, hooking his thumb on his gun belt. "My name is McCall but most folks call me Red. Who might you be Mister?" Red wasn't being unfriendly but he didn't know this man.

"That's right; your father said it was only your mother and Charley that called you John." He paused a little and said, "Names Dillon Gallagher."

Red smile at the mention of his family. "Pa wrote me about a man stopping by to see him. Said that he'd served with Charles and Sam. That was almost four years ago. That be you?"

Dillon nodded. "I didn't really ride with your brothers. Charley and I met and talked for a couple of hours before we charged the Union lines at First Manassas. He sure thought the world of you; talked about you most of the time. He was a good man, sorry he didn't make it."

Red hung his head for a moment remembering. "Yeah, Charley meant a lot to me too."

Dillon gave him some time and then said, "I'm looking for your partner. Need to talk to him about a horse or two. He around?"

"He's over to the bank but he'll be back here soon. Our wives are in the mercantile and then we're gonna have an early supper before we head back to the ranch. You're welcome to join us; if you can put up with these three rascals here."

"My wife is inside too. I'll go tell her we're having supper with y'all."

As Dillon entered the store, Elizabeth called him over. "Dillon this is Danni Kelly and her sister Sarah. Danni's husband is Josh Kelly, that man you came to see about horses. She's invited us to supper; you can talk to Josh then."

Dillon laughed. "Just met Red outside and he asked us to supper too. He belong to you Sarah?"

"Yes, he's mine. All though sometimes I don't care to claim him," she answered with a grin.

Later that afternoon the three families met at the diner. Josh joined them and was introduced to Dillon and Elizabeth. The stories of the three families were exchanged during supper. As they finished eating, Dillon told Josh why he wanted to meet him.

"I hear you've got the best horses around and I need a couple of good ones," Dillon said. You can never go wrong complimenting a man on his family or his horses, he thought. "Folks mentioned your horse Diablo. Any chance of seeing him?"

"Sure, c'mon down to the stable with me; he's down there. I need to saddle him and Danni's horse Sunny so we can start back to the ranch," Josh replied.

Red loaded Sarah, Danni, and all the children into the wagon and drove to the stables. Dillon, Elizabeth, and Josh followed them, talking as they walked. When they got to the stables Josh told Dillon to wait a minute and he and Danni went into the barn. A few minutes later, they came back with two horses.

Josh and Danni weren't actually leading the animals. They had the reins looped over their shoulders and the horses followed them like heel hounds. Stopping in front of Dillon, Josh fed a piece of apple he had brought from the diner to a big red stallion. As Dillon stepped closer to look at the horse, Josh rubbed the horse's nose and neck.

"Behave yourself Diablo, these are friends of mine." The big horse nodded his head up and down as if he understood Josh. "This is Diablo, Dillon. He and Sunny there are the breeders for some of my horses."

Josh grinned at Danni and said, "Sunny used to be my horse too but I loaned him to Danni several years ago and she won't give him back."

Danni laughed. "Sunny's got more sense than to go back to Josh. He's mine now, aren't you boy?" The buckskin pushed against Danni looking for his own apple.

Dillon walked around Diablo and then Sunny. He was a good judge of horses and knew that these two were some of the best. "Fine animals Josh. Big, strong, and from the look in their eyes pretty smart."

"You and Elizabeth come out to the ranch tomorrow for lunch and I'll show you some stock. Maybe we can find something you like," Josh suggested. "We've also got some horses sired by Red's horse, Jasper. Jerry our other partner has bred his Morgan to a couple of our quarter horses too."

Dillon asked, "How do we get to your place?"

"Take the south road out of town. Follow the main trail past a big rock bluff; you'll cross Black Squirrel Creek at the bottom of the rise. Take the trail that branches off to the left and it'll lead right to our place. It's about ten miles from town."

Dillon nodded, "Thank you, we'll see you around midday".

Red had gone into the stable and came back leading a tall fast looking black. "This is Jasper."

Elizabeth walked toward Red and Jasper but Red warned, "I wouldn't get too close. Jasper can be as mean as a snake sometimes." Red grinned and added, "I think he likes to show me he's the real boss of the outfit."

"Nonsense, he wouldn't hurt me, would you big boy?" Elizabeth got a piece of apple from Josh and fed it to Jasper as she stroked his head. "He's just a big baby that wants some attention."

Red chuckled as Jasper pushed his head against Elizabeth, wanting her to continue petting him. "Jasper don't normally take to strangers," Red remarked surprised at his horse.

"One more thing Dillon," Josh said. "There's talk about road agents causing a ruckus between here and Pueblo. We haven't had any trouble around here but keep alert on the ride out to the ranch."

Dillon nodded. "Yeah, we run into a little trouble with them on the trail north of Pueblo."

"What happened?" Danni asked.

He hesitated for a bit and with a steely look in his eyes said, "None of my family was hurt. Let's just say that there's not as many bandits as there were."

Red saw the look in Dillon's eyes and thought, this is a hard man when he has to be. He's seen the elephant.

The Kelly's and McCall's waved good bye to their new friends and started back to their ranch.

*******************

The four men were just below the crest of a hill watching the two families below them on the trail. A fifth man was back in the trees with the horses.

"There goes that damn Kelly and McCall," one of the men said. He was the leader of the band of men.

"Let's take em now," one of the others said.

"Naw, they're on the lookout now. See the rider, that's Kelly and he's got a rifle lying across the saddle. McCall's the one drivin the wagon and his rifle is right beside him. Even the two women have rifles at their feet. No, we'll wait until tomorrow and ride up to the ranch house pretending to be looking for work. Then we'll surprise them."

In a soft voice the man said to himself, "that's when I'll make the both of them pay."

********************

The next morning Dillon and Elizabeth rode toward the CBC. Stopping at the top of the rise by the rock bluff, they dismounted. Dillon remarked, "Pretty country; I could see us living out here."

Elizabeth nodded. "It is pretty and from the looks of it, it's good land for raising cattle and horses."

They gazed over the rolling hills separated by grassy meadows. In the distance they could see a small mountain range. Dillon pointed out the stands of oak and hickory and the cottonwoods lining the creek at the bottom of the rise. "Lots of good grazing and water with just enough trees to act as a wind break against a Blue Norther," Dillon said almost to himself.

He saw the question in Elizabeth's eyes. "Up here that's what they call a cold, hard wind blowing from the north; down in Texas we called them a Texas Norther. I've seen the temperature drop from 50 to below zero in an hour or two. Most of the time there's snow blowing in with it. A Norther is tough on stock as well as people.

"I've never seen one," Elizabeth said. "I mean we got cold wind and snow around Prescott but not like you're talking about."

"The hills, mountains, and big pine trees around Prescott acted as a natural wind break," Dillon replied. "We got some cold and snow but not blizzards. This far north that cold wind can be a problem I bet. Down in Texas sometimes after a Norther blew through, ranchers would find some of their cattle froze to death."

"I don't believe it," Elizabeth responded. "You're just making fun of me now."

"No, really. The cattle were out in the open without a wind break. They'd turn their backs to the storm and that cold wind and snow would just freeze them."

"Well if one of those Norther rolls through here, I'll just have to get up against you real close to keep warm," Elizabeth said stepping close to Dillon and hugging him.

"Sounds like a fine idea, Mrs. Gallagher." Dillon hugged her back and gave her a quick kiss. "We'd better get along or we'll miss lunch."

Elizabeth giggled and asked, "Would that be such a bad thing?"

Dillon laughed and mounted Buck. Elizabeth sighed a little and got back on her horse. After they crossed the creek they took the trail going east for the final leg to the ranch.

****************

Josh and Red were on their way down to the barn; they had laid out the work for the hands and sent them on their way earlier that morning. Now they were going to put the horses they had for sale in the corral. Red had explained the connection between Dillon and his brother to Josh and he wanted to offer the best they had when he got there.

Before they got half way to the corral, the five men that had watched them the previous day rode out from behind the barn. Josh and Red stopped as the men confronted them.

'Howdy boys," Josh said. "Something we can do for you?" Josh wasn't fooled he knew these men were looking for trouble. They weren't cowhands.

The man in the middle pushed his hat back off his almost bald head; the chin strap kept it from falling. "I've been waiting almost six years to get out of prison so I could meet up with you Kelly."

Hearing the threat in the man's voice, Red slowly slipped the safety strap off the hammer of his pistol. "Why's that Mister?" He asked.

"Been wantin to meet you too McCall. You two killed Jake Stillwell and I'm here to avenge him. My name's Curly Stillwell; Jake was my brother. And when I'm done with you, me and the boys will help ourselves to those pretty wives of yours and anything else we want."

"Looks like they named you right, what with all your hair and everything," Red replied with a cold hard smile.

You boys are in real trouble now, Josh thought. Red's got his dander up and there's no stopping him when he gets in this mood. "Your brother and three others tried to kill us, Stillwell. We were just defending ourselves," Josh explained. He was trying to talk some sense into the man; at the same time slipped the safety strap off his gun.

Josh wasn't afraid to defend himself but he didn't want to kill the men if he didn't have to. As far as Red was concerned the men were already dead; he could read it in Red's eyes. No one threatens his family, Josh said to himself.

"Stillwell when the shootin starts you'll be the first one I kill," Red told the man. It wasn't an idle boast; Red was one of the fastest men in the territory with a hand gun.

***************

Dillon and Elizabeth had cleared the last trees coming into the clearing in front of the ranch house and saw the five men facing Josh and Red. Neither group could see the new arrivals as they came in quietly from the side. Dillon in almost a whisper said "Elizabeth, stay here. I'm going to give our new friends a hand."

"But Dillon, I can........"

"No arguments girl. These aren't just some rustlers; they're hired guns. If you're with me I'll be more worried about you than taking care of them. Stay here," Dillon ordered again.

Elizabeth remembered her mother's advice that sometimes you just have to obey what your man says without argument. She nodded and dismounted, pulling her rifle from the saddle scabbard.

Dillon applied knee pressure and Buck walked toward the men. Buck had been trained for war and could move very quietly as need be. He had been about two hundred feet away but as Dillon got closer he could hear the men talking.

"You take the two on the right Josh; I'll handle Stillwell and the others," Red ordered.

"Leave a couple for me," Dillon said drawing his own pistol as he got into range.

To be continued...