The Trail West Ch. 08

Walking into the saloon, Daniel led them to a table nodding at two men leaning on the bar. The bartender came over to see what they wanted to drink. Ralph Jennings was new to the area from back East somewhere. He was a bit of a dandy, wearing a collared shirt, string tie, and a brocade vest. Jennings believed he was better than most of the customers because he was from a big city; sometimes his arrogance showed.

Daniel and Red ordered whiskey and Josh asked for a beer and took a little ribbing from his partners about his refusal to drink hard liquor. Before Jerry could order the bartender said, "Can't serve you anything sonny. You're just a boy and too young to even be in here. I ought to throw you out but I guess I could get you a sarsaparilla."

Jerry hung his head for a few seconds and then looking Jennings in the eye said, "I'd be happy to step outside and show you what a boy can do Mister."

Red laughed out loud. "Damn Jerry, you been spending too much time around me."

"What's your name Mister?" Josh quickly asked before the man could react to Jerry's challenge.

"Ralph Jennings," the bartender answered.

"This 'boy' is a veteran of two guerrilla raids on the wagon train we were traveling with; he lost both of his parents during one of those raids. This 'boy' has backed our play in dangerous situations several times. This 'boy' held off two bandits so my fiancé could go for help," Josh stopped and fixed Jennings with his cold, wild blue eyes.

"I'd go easy on that throw you out part Mister Jennings," Josh continued in an angry tone. "That 'boy' has just returned from a cattle drive and before that did two men's work over to Cripple Creek. He's a full partner in our ranch and earned every bit of it. I'm right fond of that 'boy' and you might have trouble throwing him out."

I can't let Josh have all the fun Red thought and added, "Besides, he's with us and he'll have whatever he cares to." Red had the beginnings of the evil little grin he wore when trouble came up.

"And just who might you two be?" Jennings still wasn't impressed with the group sitting at the table in spite of Josh's words; taking them for plain old cow hands off some hard scrapple ranch. He had been surprised at the boy's readiness to stand up to him.

"I'm Josh Kelly and this is Red McCall. And that 'boy' is Jerry Barnes."

Jennings turned a little pale at hearing those names. The one thing that's more available in a saloon than whiskey and beer is gossip. Men would come in to drink and talk about the news, rumors, and stories about town's people and visitors. He had heard the stories concerning Kelly and McCall, their run in with Tom Larson, how they ran Stillwell and the other three off the Lazy L, and the shoot out that left the four men belly up on the plains.

"Sorry Mr. Kelly, Mr. McCall. I didn't know who you were," he said backpedalling. Turning back to Jerry he asked, "What can I get for you Mr. Barnes?"

"Think I'll have a sarsaparilla," Jerry answered with a straight face.

This time it was Daniel that laughed out loud. Jennings nodded and quickly left to get their drinks. He was glad to get away.

"Okay, now that the funs over what did you want to talk about Daniel?" Red asked. Josh turned to face Daniel as the anger bled out of him. He was surprised as anyone at his reaction to the insulting manner that Jennings had treated Jerry.

"When we formed the Chico Basin Cattle Company," Daniel started looking at Jerry with a smile, acknowledging his idea for the name, "we agreed to split the profits 50/50 right?" At a nod from his three companions he continued. "I think we ought to rethink that agreement."

Josh and Red were surprised at his statement and leaned forward in their chairs. They thought they'd made a fair and equal way to split the profits and couldn't understand why Daniel would want to change it. Of the three only Jerry seemed unconcerned. He smiled and leaned back in his chair.

Jennings returned and carefully sat the drinks on the table; he made a special effort and sat the sarsaparilla directly in front of Jerry. Red threw back the whiskey and ordered another. Daniel just sat there waiting for his partners to react.

Josh motioned to Red to let him do the talking. I'm the one that pretty much got us into this, he thought. So I should be the one to find out what changed Daniel's mind.

"How do you want to change our agreement, Daniel?"

Daniel smiled to himself at the carefully controlled tone in Josh's voice. "I reckon when we take this draft over to the bank that we take $400 off the top so you boys can pay off Nancy Larson; like you promised. The balance should be put into one account." Daniel paused to sip his whiskey, enjoying the looks on Josh and Red's faces.

"Our spread isn't the Lazy L or the Maggie M anymore; it's the CBC and it's one ranch. I propose that we put the balance of the money into one account for the Chico Basin Cattle Company."

Red's big grin and Josh's smile at the teasing gave Daniel a lot of pleasure. "Besides, I'm already trusting you with my girls and they mean a lot more than money."

"That's a mighty fine idea," Red responded. "Let's have a drink to the new agreement." In a loud voice he said, " Another round if you please barkeep."

Josh looked toward the bartender and said, "Mr. Jennings, bring four whiskey instead, if you will." Turning back to his partners he smiled and said, "I reckon I can stand one whiskey to celebrate the Chico Basin Cattle Company's first round up."

Daniel and Red laughed at the faces that Jerry and Josh made after drinking the whiskey. "Now I remember why I don't like that stuff," Josh said with a grimace.

The four men went to the bank and set up the new account. Daniel handed the boys $400 in Double Eagle $20.00 gold coins. That was Red's idea. He remark was, "I don't know about Mrs. Larson, but I trust gold a lot more than paper dollars right now. Anyway we told her cash money."

Going to meet the women, they found that Daniel was right; the ladies weren't ready to go and had to be persuaded to leave. "We might have to use a brandin iron to get them apart," Daniel said.

"Hush Daniel, we're ready to go," Maggie said with a grin. When Josh explained the new money agreement to the women, Maggie turned to her husband, "That's a fine thing to do honey. I'm proud of you." She put her arms around his neck and pulled his head down and kissed him.

On the ride back to the ranch, Josh had a thought. "You know, Mr. Swede might be a mite upset if all the others get a bonus and he don't. I think we'd better give him a little extra and let him have a couple of days off too."

Red laughed and agreed, "I sure don't want to face a mad Mr. Swede. He might serve us skunk or somethin."

At the cutoff to the Lazy L, Josh and Red stopped to say good bye to Danni and Sarah. They would see the girls the next evening for Sunday supper but that was a long time to wait for the young couples. The rest of the Maguires and Jerry rode on toward the Maggie M to give them a little privacy. Daniel kept looking back over his shoulder until finally Maggie said with some exasperation, "Daniel, mind your own business. The girls will be fine."

Sunday about midday, Josh, Red, and Jerry rode past the Maggie M to the S Bar S. They got to the ranch house and Bill Sanders stepped out onto the porch to greet them.

"Howdy boys. Good to see you, what can I do for you?"

As usual Josh was the spokesman. "We'd like to see Mrs. Larson if we could."

"Hey sis," Sanders called back into the house. "There's three young gentlemen here to see you."

Nancy Larson came out of the house with a puzzle look until she saw her visitors. She walked over to stand next to her brother.

Josh dismounted and walked onto the porch. "Mrs. Larson we brung the rest of the money, $400, that we owe you for the Lazy L; just like we promised. Red here thought you'd appreciate cash money so it's in double eagle gold coins." He handed her a draw string pouch; she could hear the coins clinking together as she took the bag.

Nancy had a little smile playing around her mouth. "Wait just a minute please, Mr. Kelly. She returned into the house but came back shortly with what looked like a letter.

"Bill told me that you gentlemen would be here as soon as you finished the cattle drive. I wrote this letter stating that you've paid for the ranch in full and had Bill witness it. I hope you and your ladies will be happy there. It was a good place to live at one time." She smiled, handed the letter to Josh, and returned to the house.

"The place has bad memories for her," Sanders said. "It'll do her good to get shed of it.

The new owners of the Lazy L thanked Bill but turned down the offer of a drink or lunch and made the ride back to the Maggie M.

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

After the round up and drive to the railhead, things became a little more hectic for the two young couples. Sarah had to go back to Fountain to teach and now there were two young ladies traveling back and forth between town and the ranch. Neither of the girls was looking forward to the winter weather which would keep them in town. It was hard enough just seeing their men on weekends but when the snow and cold came in late October or early November they'd be lucky to see them once a month.

Before the weather changed there were several projects accomplished on the two ranches. An additional well was dug at the Lazy L. The corrals and barns were mended and the work on the bunk house enlarging it into a regular home was almost finished.

Daniel, Josh and Red were riding the range checking on the late season grass. They were trying to decide which area would be best to winter the cattle. They were riding along Chico Creek where it wound through a basin and then between two hills as it flowed southeast from the Lazy L to the Maggie M. It was the outgoing, boisterous, joking Red that came up with an idea that would be a boon to the CBC in future years.

Red stopped, looked at the stream, and rode to the top of one of the hills. He studied the countryside as Daniel and Josh joined him. Josh started to ask what he was doing but Red held up his hand; asking for quiet. After several minutes, while his two partners stared at him with questioning looks, they heard Red say, "Thought so; just like back home."

Josh couldn't keep quiet any longer. "What's just like home Red?"

He got down off his horse and squatted, picking up a stick to draw a in the dirt. "See here where Chico Creek goes between these two hills? He asked, drawing line on his a diagram. "If we build a low water rock dam from here to here," drawing another line, "we could back up the water and make a good size lake."

"A lake?" Daniel asked.

"Yes sir. My Pa did the same thing with Willow Creek back home."

"I don't have the knowhow to build a dam that would stop all the water, it will leak," Daniel objected.

"So, let it leak, that will take the water pressure off the dam" Red answered.

Josh began to see what Red was talking about. "We won't stop the flow from Chico Creek; we'll just borrow it for a while until the lake is full."

"Yeah, that's the idea," Red replied.

"We could have good water for a lot more cattle," Josh remarked. He looked at the surrounding land closer; now the farmer in Josh took over. "You know this land is pretty good for growing things, it's just short on water. If we dug a ditch to that plain yonder, we could get water down to it. We could grow some hay and even corn to help feed the cattle through the winter."

"Be a lot of work for our hands and us. With everything else going on I don't know if we'd have the time to work on the dam much," Daniel cautioned.

"Things are gonna slow down with winter comin on so we can work on it right through to spring; as long as we don't get a lot of snow. Maybe get done in time for the spring thaws," Josh offered.

The next two months were a bee hive of activity, at least as far as the dam was concerned; Jerry, Charley White and Jimbo Hughes handled the normal day to day operation of the ranch; the rest of the hands helped with building the dam. Red supervised building two rock levees from each of the hill sides toward the center where Chico Creek flowed. They left a space between the levees until they were at the correct height; then they filled in the space.

The weather was good and didn't slow down the construction; it began to get cold but there was no snow. It was nearing the end of October when the dam was finished and they got the first snow storm of the season the day after. Chico Creek began to back up into the basin; creating the small lake. When the proper depth was reached the water began to flow over the top of the dam and continue its journey south.

A large ditch had been dug from the edge of the basin down to the plain that Josh had pointed out before the ground froze. A gate, or weir, as Red called it, was built that could be raised or lowered to allow water to flow to the plain. We'll have to wait until spring to plant and see if all this work was worth it, Josh thought as he looked at the ditch.

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

It was two weeks before Christmas and Josh and Red went to Fountain to bring Sarah and Danni home. The school would be shut down until after the first of the year and freight wasn't moving due to the bad storms to the south around Pueblo. The boys went in a day early to buy some supplies and would ride back with their ladies the next day.

Josh and Red lead the girls up the cutoff to the Lazy L and took them by the dam. Sarah and Danni were impressed with the idea for the dam and the amount of work that had been done. Sarah rode to top of one of the hills followed by the others.

"Didn't know I was marring an engineer," she teased Red as she inspected the dam.

Pointing to the irrigation ditch Danni said, "Well I knew I was getting a farmer." Josh stuck his tongue out at her and she giggled.

That evening during and after supper the girls told all the news and gossip from town. The boys stayed in the bunk house that night and rode back to the Lazy L the next morning after breakfast. When they rode up to the front of the house, Charley White came from the bunk house and met them.

"Surprised to see you, thought you'd stay over to the Maggie M," Charley said. Before either Josh or Red could answer Charley continued, "Y'all head back, there's nothing here that me and the boys can't handle. If anything comes up I'll send for you."

Red slapped Charley on the shoulder and said, "Yes sir, Mr. Boss Man, whatever you say." He got back on Jasper.

Josh looked at Charley for a few seconds and mounted Diablo. "Thanks Charley, we owe you one. Take care of things." Josh and Red retraced their steps back to Sarah and Danni. Jerry rode with them; he wanted to spend Christmas with his adopted family.

All too soon for the two young couples it was time for the girls to return to Fountain. The day was bright and sunny as they rode back to town. But on the way back that afternoon, the boys could see storm clouds building up over the mountains to the north of Chico Basin.

"We'd better ride a little faster Josh," Red suggested pointing to the gathering storm clouds.

Josh nodded and replied, "Yeah lets head for the Lazy L pronto. I'd like to be at the ranch, just in case, when that hits us. We'll ask Jerry and Jimbo to ride over to Daniel's and give him a hand."

The storm held off until late morning of the next day and then struck with an intensity that Josh hadn't seen since he came to Chico Basin. They were snowed in for three days. Twice Red or Josh tried to ride out and check on the cattle. Neither of them was able to make it much more than a mile from the house; the snow was just too deep. It was five days before they could get to the cattle.

Most of the animals had taken shelter in the canyons and arroyos and so far they were okay. Red told Josh that they were going to lose some cattle if the weather got worse. "Need time between storms for the snow to melt off some so the stock can graze a little," he told Josh.

So much for Danni and Sarah comin home, Josh thought. The size of Sarah's classes at the school dwindled as the weather turn bad but there were still enough town children to keep the school open. Danni could have come home because the freight wagons couldn't run due to the storms but she stayed; she didn't want Sarah to be left alone.

Finally at the end of January, Josh had enough. Red found him in the barn saddling Diablo. Josh was wearing his full length oilskin drover's coat and his fur lined moccasins. Red dressed the same way.

The moccasins weren't much good when it came to working stock but they were a lot warmer in cold, snowy weather than boots. After their first winter in the Chico Basin, Josh traded a steer for the moccasins at the trading post just north of Colorado City. He got a pair for Red and Jerry at the same time. "Don't need to be gettin no frostbite on our toes," Josh told them.

"Where you headed partner?" He asked knowing the answer before Josh spoke.

"Going to see Danni. Last few days have been sunny so the snow should have melted off the trail some," he answered. "It's been too long."

"Been thinkin the same thing myself," Red replied as he led Jasper from his stall. The horse was already saddled.

As they rode out of the barn, Josh yelled at Charley, "Take care of things, will you Charley. We're headed to town. Don't know how long we're gonna be."

"It's a wonder it took this long. You both been mooning around here like lost calves," Charley yelled back.

The ride that normally took a little over an hour at an easy pace, took well over three hours. The men pushed their horses through the snow. It places it had melted until the trail was almost clear, but in places the snow had drifted to six or eight feet. Josh and Red took turns riding in front breaking the trail; they stopped several times to give the horses a breather.

They had left the ranch about an hour after midday; it was close to 5 when they rode into Fountain. Both the men and the horses were very tired. Josh and Red put Diablo and Jasper in the stable; telling the owner to feed them a warm corn mash. Then they walked to Mrs. Cassidy's boarding house to surprise Sarah and Danni.

They found that the girls had already walked to the café for supper. Mrs. Cassidy insisted that they have a cup of coffee before going to meet the girls. "You look half froze to death; it won't hurt you to sit and warm up for a few minutes," she said, mothering the boys.

It seemed like forever before Josh and Red could get away from Mrs. Cassidy; she was a widow and got lonely during the winter months. They stepped into the café and saw Sarah and Danni sitting at a table with their backs to the door. Red nudged Josh and winked. When they got close to the table, Red disguised his voice.

"Here are two pretty fillies that would probably like some company. You know someone that they could warm up with."

Sarah turned with fire in her eyes to respond to the insulting words and voice. When she saw Red, her eyes got big and began to fill with tears; she stood and ran to Red. As fast as Sarah was, Danni reached Josh before Sarah got to Red. It was several minutes before the youngsters released each other.

Red's own eyes were wet also and he said, "C'mon girl, let's sit down. You're embarrassing me." But he was grinning when he said it.

Josh and Danni couldn't have sat much closer unless they used the same chair. She was hanging onto Josh's arm and refused to let go. Danni said, "I'm really glad to see you but how did you get here through the snow?"

"Diablo wanted to see you pretty bad because when I pointed him toward town it was all I could do to hang on," Josh teased.

"And Jasper didn't want to be left out of getting pampered at the stables, at least that's what I think," Red added.