The Walters Brothers

Miss Elsa and her father thought it was an excellent idea. They didn't have the provisions necessary for the winter to come. We'd drop them off game from time to time, a deer once, half a bighorn sheep, even part of a bear that had come out of hibernation during a warm spell. I'm pretty sure it was the only times they got meat.

We'd already had some snows that mostly melted in a few days but we all knew there would come a time when that wouldn't happen. One of her brothers was undecided, but Murphy and Munford were determined to stay. In the end they agreed to split, leaving the ones staying most of the supplies and a fourth of the gold. Munford bitched, saying they deserved more but Elsa shut them down pretty fast, telling them they were lucky they were getting that for the work they had done.

"I was hunting!," Munford protested.

"That you were, the key word being hunting. You almost never shot anything and rabbits won't keep you alive during the winter."

Elsa ended up breaking her engagement to Munford calling him a lazy, undisciplined person who was scared to death of work. "I need a man who'll step up and do what needs to be done to provide for his family and that ain't you."

We didn't hear any of this until later when they stopped by to say goodbye. We shook and Elsa hugged us both, asking us to keep an eye on her brother. She told us about the falling out they had and how she no longer trusted her ex. "I want you to watch out for my brother and watch Willie. He's become a bit more untrustworty lately."

It was good advice. The day before we left I did some hunting, coming on to a herd of deer wintering in a draw. I got three, field dressed them, fixed a travois, and hauled them to their camp. "You hang these, smoke 'em a little. The cold should keep them, and you'll have meat for a good while."

I helped Murphy hang them high enough to keep predators from getting them, shook his hand and left. We were gone before dawn the next morning

We took our time and wandered around for a little to confuse any trackers until we came up on our little trail. After we passed we hitched all the mules to the blue spruce and drug it until it blocked the trail. They'd have to do the same to unblock it and it bought us a little time. It was snowing a little and we figured it would wipe out our tracks and any earth we had disturbed.

There was a blanket of snow permanently now, but it wasn't deep. A lot of the valley was sheltered which explained why the horse herd was still here. So were three of our cows. We cast around for the fourth but found no sign. When the thaw hit we found her and it looked like a cougar had gotten her.

We put our stock in the big cave, putting a rope across the front so they would get used to staying there. We'd let them out the next day but keep our horses close just in case. We worked on the little cave, putting a door in just far enough back that at a glance it would look empty. It was pretty deep and branched a couple of times. I followed one branch and stopped. I could hear our horses stomping around. That wall had to be mighty thin and when I told Zeke he agreed, so over the next few days we worked on it until we broke through.

It made us feel a whole lot better, even a rabbit won't go into a hole that only has one way in and out. There was also a chimney at the very back just wide enough to wriggle through that popped you out on the ridge. We put in a really sturdy door in the stable, then we mixed up mortar and mud, plastering the door to the point it couldn't be seen. It was thin enough to break through if the need was there but thick enough to fool anyone looking for a door.

We had dragged up a bunch of deadfalls before we left and we took turns chopping and sawing until we had a supply that would hopefully last us the rest of the winter. Then we built another door halfway back to cut down on the area we had to heat and give us a storage space. There was a crack in the ceiling that would let the smoke out, dissapating it through a couple of trees. It was cold enough at the very back to hang meat, so we slaughtered one of the steers. The other two looked mighty mournful but it was just the way life worked.

All this took about two weeks. We'd hunkered down, not movin' around much. We'd check for sign from time to time but it was like we were the only people in the world.

The next day we packed up our tools and went to our mine. It was getting colder but the farther we dug the warmer it was on us and easier to work the shaft. We'd work for two weeks straight then take a few days off, pounding the rock to separate the gold from the quartz as much as possible. After a month we had six bags packed with almost pure gold, every bag weighing just over ten pounds.

Then we went through a two week period where the vein looked like it was playing out. We were getting about two hundred dollars worth of gold a week. That was still pretty good yield but we had gotten used to picking up big nuggets.

Zek and I talked it over and decided we'd do the same thing we did at the cave to the shaft, so while I chipped away Zeke started going sideways and up a little, to give us another way out. He was swinging his pick in a smooth regular motion and then he just stopped. "Brad, you need to come see this."

His voice was a little shaky and I was afraid he'd gotten hurt so I hustled into the shaft he was cutting. I didn't see anything unusual except his grin. "What?"

"Look up."

I've heard about passing out from excitement but never thought it could happen until now. I didn't but it was a close thing. The roof of the shaft was one huge vein, easily spanning the four foot width of the tunnel. And it was literally gleaming with gold. There was barely enough quartz to hold it together.

When I got my voice back I asked him how big it was. He shrugged. "No idea, but I'm betting it's pretty big. This changes everything. When word of this gets out they'll overrun us. We won't be able to stop them."

"But we own this valley."

"Think they'll give a damn about that? Their first move would be to try and get rid of us. Then they could do what they want. You think that crowd we braced at the old claim would hold back? Hell no, they'd hire a hundred guns and make sure the job got done. This is going to be too big for us. We need to do some thinking."

We stopped working and went back to the cave when Zeke suddenly grinned. "Know what day this is?"

I knew he made a mark in his book so we'd know but I hadn't thought much about it. "No, not really. What day is it?"

"It's Christmas."

Well then, a very Merry Christmas to us. We made a good meal and broke out a couple of cans of peaches to celebrate. I gave Zeke one of those stockman knives I'd seen him admire back in one of the towns we went through. It was a folding knife with three blades that could fit in his vest pocket. He was most pleased. Then he pulled out a silver pocket watch he'd seen me admire, a pretty elaborate model. I immediately wound it, listening to the comforting ticks. It was nicely engraved and when I opened it I saw my initials on the back of the cover.

Zeke pulled out his Bible and read the passage of the birth of Christ by the light of the fire, the brightness changing as the fire reflected off the cave walls, his measured baritone a comfort to hear. We went to sleep, dreaming of nice ranches. Mine had a dark haired Latin beauty in it. Maybe I could entice a nice girl of quality to take an interest in me, now that I was a moneyed man.

Chapter 10

We slowly enlarged the vein up to twelve feet wide with no end in sight. We also had no idea how long it ran and we stopped after twenty feet.

We sat on the floor of the shaft looking up. I could tell Zeke had something on his mind.

"You know it could take years to fully mine this vein. I for one don't want to put that much of my life into it. We got money now Brad, enough to buy and stock a pretty large spread."

"Are you saying we should walk away?"

He snorted. "Hell no. I think we should go back to civilization and get hold of one of those syndicates that will mine it for us on a percentage. I think a 60/40 split, with us getting the 60. That way we can walk away and still make good money."

We'd both heard the stories about gold fever, how once it got in your veins you were hooked for life. That wasn't us. We really didn't expect to find much gold when we started. It was supposed to be just an adventure to us. Boy, that sure changed in a hurry. There was no way I was spending years in a hole when I could be riding the range on my own spread. It sounded like a hell of an idea.

We talked it to death over the next few weeks while waiting for the weather to break. We finally decided one of us should go while the other stayed to protect our interests. We still had claim to the valley but if we left whoever moved in could claim abandonment. We didn't even discuss who was going. Zeke was the best bargainer I'd ever seen and I was a born sucker.

"We'll have to find a town to get you resupplied. Cherry Creek would be my choice. It's far enough away to keep curiosity down. We could take some gold and bank it with Wells Fargo, something to show the investors we're legitimate. Then you can come on back. I don't expect you to mine too much. You just need to keep an eye on the place."

The weather broke and the thaw was in full swing when we left. It was going to be about a three week trip if we made good time. We had our pack mules loaded down with as much gold as they could safely carry. We'd took to scouting the rim of our canyon and hadn't seen any sign of man so we felt pretty safe.

The blue spruce was still in place, so we moved it to get out, then moved it back. No need to make our place any easier to find. We rode as quickly as the animals could handle, and eighteen days later we rode into Cherry Creek. By now it was a pretty good sized town, most of the tents gone and wooden structures dotted the main street. There were two hotels, both pretty nice, and we booked rooms for three days. That was after we rode down to the Wells Fargo office. Zeke showed the man in charge the paperwork from our previous deposit and he looked scared to death we were going to withdraw it. When he understood we were wanting to make another deposit he was all smiles. When he saw how much we had he looked faint.

"This goes no farther than us," Zeke warned. "There's a lot more if we're right about our claim, and if I find out you been talking we'll take our business elsewhere."

He seemed offended but then he grinned. "Just so you know, I can keep secrets better than a priest. I can also hold a grudge better than a nun. If it gets out it won't come from me and I'll be really upset to find out who talked."

We had the assayer come to the office to judge the value, and it looked like it was a 40,000 dollar deposit. Most people would never see that much money in three lifetimes. It finally sank in how rich we could potentially be. We got three hundred in gold coins from the banker, not wanting to use dust or nuggets that would draw attention to us, and went shopping.

First we got baths, then haircuts, then went shopping for new clothes. Things were outrageously expensive but we paid because we didn't want to travel farther away. That reminded us to check the post office for mail. We'd told Bob and Emily to send mail to there and two other towns so we'd be sure to get it. There were four letters each dated about a month apart.

Bob had married Emily's daughter and they were expecting their first in a few months. One of the hands had worked out and one hadn't, but between the girls and Bob they kept the ranch running. Bob had ordered as much as he could with the money from our last venture, saying he wished he'd had a little more capital. Zeke grinned when he heard that and I knew a new partnership was in the offing. Bob also said the older hand that had stayed was sweet on Emily and she seemed to like him.

Emily said much the same thing, leaving out her romance. She wanted to know if we would be coming back soon as they had gathered up about 350 head to drive to the gold camps and would need our help. She closed the letter by telling Zeke her youngest sent her love and was waiting anxiously to see him again. I just grinned and Zeke got a little red. "She's getting a little older brother. You might have to leave the country if she comes after you."

He grinned, saying he wasn't afraid of a fourteen year old girl. "Might ought to be," I told him grinning back. I mentally added if she was as hot as her mother he might want to consider her in a couple of years. I think Zeke kind of suspected what happened on that ridge but he never mentioned it. He said he'd stop by the ranch on his way to Denver to discuss future business ventures.

We drank, found the best whorehouse (best meaning cleanest) and let off a little steam, ate rich food, and generally had a good time until it was time to go back to the real world. We did stop at the local gunsmith, just to see what he had. We'd bought ammo at the general store but decided we'd like a little more plus we just liked to look at the weapons.

Zeke spotted it first. A Colt Revolving Shotgun built in 1863. The gunsmith was a technical wizard, and he had conpletely reworked it, converting it to brass shells. he explained that paper shells weren't as reliable and if they got damp they swelled, making it hard to load. It was in ten gauge and the cylinder held five rounds. This was a weapon that could do some serious damage at close quarters. He bought it and five boxes of shells, not even arguing over the price. I bought an old LeMat he'd also reconditioned. It was big and bulky, but it held nine rounds plus a twenty gauge shotgun round. Another weapon that could do serious damage.

When I was loaded up to go back, he surprised me by handing me the shotgun. "I got a feelin' you might need it a little more than me, brother. You watch your back trail."

Chapter 11

I was about halfway back when I spotted them. They were camped in a little hollow but it offered little in the way of concealment or defense. There was a low ridge right above it and a man could ease on top of it and it would be like shootin' fish in a barrel.

In fact, that's just what I did. I could see the whole camp from the ridge and it looked pretty rundown. Whoever these people were they weren't really equipped for the trail. When the woman spoke I knew who they were. Grinning, I stood where they could see me.

"Hello the camp!"

It was kind of funny watch them scramble around for weapons and places to take cover.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

It was Elsa that spoke.

"Well a cup of coffee would be nice, maybe some talk with some old friends would be a bonus."

Elsa stood, peering up the ridge. "Bradley Walters! As I live and breathe. I though I'd never see you again."

"And I thought you'd all be on a ranch in New Mexico by now."

She sighed. "Yes, well, our situation has changed. Come on in and we'll tell you all about it."

I rode back down from the ridge and swung into their camp. It was a pretty sorry affair. They were extremely embarrassed when they admitted they had no coffee, and I just grinned and pulled a bag out of one of the packs along with the grinder. "Elsa, make sure you grind enough for breakfast. It'll save us some time in the morning."

Once everyone had a full cup, they told me their tale of woe.

"We were the happiest we'd been in a long time. The gold we found would buy us a nice spread and leave enough for some cattle and a few horses, enough to make a start. We were just full of plans."

She sighed, thinking. "They showed up a week later, just appearing around us. We had no idea anyone else was even in the same territory. They took every bit of gold we had, our pack animals, even our mining tools."

"Wow."

Elsa sighed. "Yeah, wow. We've thought about it since then. They knew we had gold, even knew exactly which pack animal it was on. Then a couple of weeks later we got word Murphy was found at the claim, shot in the back. Twice. There was nothing left of the camp and even his boots and coat were missing. There was no sign of Willie so I'm thinking the worst, that he decided to take it all and then track us down for the rest of it."

We made it back to a town. Dad took a job as a swamper at a saloon. It was all he could find. Gallison chopped wood and I worked at a waitress but it just barely gave us a living. We left when Dad lost his job defending a drunk customer from the owner's son. His sister owned the diner so I lost my job, and Gallison ran out of work. We took what little we'd managed to scrape together, bought what gear and food we could, and left. We're about out of food so we thought we'd hit the next town and look for work, enough to buy some more supplies and start again."

I thought about that for a while after everyone bedded down. It came to me I had a opportunity here. I could hire them to help me mine and pay them a good wage, enough for them to get a stake. They would be set by the time Zeke got back and it would be that much more gold we wouldn't have to split with any syndicate.

I hit them with it after breakfast, cooked mostly from my supplies. "I got an offer for you. We found a little gold. Zeke is going to be gone for a while on personal business and I could use some help. We'll pay a good wage, furnish everything, tools, supplies, that sort of thing. Interested?"

I rode ahead and let them talk it over. An hour later Elsa trotted up. "We'll do it. It solves our short term problems, gives us a chance to get a decent stake so we can go out on our own. How long we talking here?"

"Two to four months, dependin'. That'll give you plenty of time before winter hits to get set up on your own claim. Zeke and I may even help you look for a good spot before we leave."

"You think your claim will be played out by then?"

I grinned, thinking of that big seam in the tunnel. "Maybe. We'll have to see."

We talked it over the next night and decided to send Gallison back to the nearest town to pick up more supplies. I wasn't counting on feeding three more people so what I bought would not last. We parted ways the next morning, after I gave him sixty dollars in coins and paper. It would be more than enough. I told him to buy what we needed and anything that caught his fancy, warning him to keep a low profile. I looked them over and took him aside, giving him another sixty dollars. "You use this to get some warm coats. We can't have any of you getting sick. I'm thinkin' leather with sheepskin linin'. Might want to get some new boots if you know everyone's size. I suggest engineer boots. They'll be a lot more suited to what you'll be doing than regular ridin' boots. Get anything else you think you guys might need. Consider this a signing bonus. You don't have to pay me back." He had tears in his eyes and was struggling to say something when I walked off.

I'd given him directions to our valley, telling him to make sure no one was tracking him on the way back. I think they thought I was being a little obsessive over a claim that may play out in a couple of months.

Eight days later we came to our cutoff and I had them help pull the big blue spruce over enough to let us pass. It was still alive, a lot of the roots still in the ground, so it covered the trail quite well.

We topped the rise, looking down into the little valley. I was glad to see it undisturbed, no tracks of anything but wildlife. The horse herd was still there, but I could see sign that they had been in and out. I thought it was a good thing because it helped hide our tracks.

We got to the cave, stored our supplies, and then Eion and I rode a circuit. I was happy to see our two steers were still there. We got as close to the horses as we dared without spooking them and I looked them over with my spyglass. Most were scrubs but there were maybe ten that looked good. Eion remarked we should catch a few to spell our mounts. Mine was in pretty good shape but theirs were not much to look at. I agreed, saying we should take a day or two and try to cull the good ones out.