The Man From Eagle Creek
Chapter Twenty Eight
The next morning Sheriff Williams got a telegraph message from
Sheriff Wade down in Hays that he needed to see Tom Cooper if he
knew where he was. Tom and Cal were saddled and ready to ride in
no time, and walked across the dusty street to the boarding house
to tell Callie and Cathy they were leaving.
"Why did this have to happen, we had all these plans to celebrate
the Fourth of July together," Callie said as tears welled up in
her eyes.
"We don't know what this is about but if there's any way, we'll
be back for the celebration," Tom told them.
Both girls wanted to kiss their friends goodbye but settled for a
hug.
Tom and Cal set out on a trail cross country that would take them
directly to Hays. They rode hard for close to three hours and
stopped to rest the horses.
"Wonder what has happened Tom, that Sheriff Wade wants to see us
back in Hays before we even make one round through the counties?"
"I would think it has something to do with the cattlemen's
association. Maybe McDonnough has started a ruckus about you and
me. Maybe Sheriff Wade has some information we need to know
about, we'll just have to see when we get there," Tom said.
They were back in the saddle in a short while and let the horses
run at a fast easy lope for another couple of hours before they
stopped again. Tom and Cal rode this way all day Friday and
decided to camp an hour or so from Hays and ride in the next
morning. The two deputies were sitting on the wooden porch of the
sheriff's office when Sheriff Wade walked up the next morning.
"Tom, Cal I didn't expect to see you here this soon, but I'm glad
you came on down. Gale Fortenberry came in here Friday and told
me that Will McDonnough had petitioned him as president and the
other members of the cattlemens association to fire you two."
"He said that you were nothing but trouble makers and that you
were causing more trouble than they could cover up."
"Well Sheriff Wade, if that's what they want then we'll ride on
out. There's some things that's happening out there in the farm
and ranch areas that's gonna need some attention soon. You can
bet that Mac Willamacher is the cause of it. Cal and I both think
Will McDonnough is the head of the snake though. We've been told
this by the farmers as well as the Tanner brothers up in
Osborne."
"Let me get my horse and we'll ride out to Gale's place and visit
with him. Regardless of whether the cattlemens association cuts
you men loose or not, I want you ridin for me. If that happens
I'll send out telegraphs to the other sheriff's and from the
reports I have gotten on you two, they'll all agree to the same
thing. We need someone out there with a level head handling our
affairs."
Sheriff Wade came back shortly and they rode on out to the
Fortenberry spread.
"Tom I heard what happened to those girls up there and how you
and Cal handled the situation. I gotta tell you that you got the
respect of a lot of men with young daughters, for what you did to
those fellers. Where in the world did you ever come up with that
anyway?"
"Sheriff, it just came to me that they needed to start payin
right away for what they did. I remembered watchin a Sioux do
that to a young horse once and I asked why he did it. He told me
that even though the colt would make a good horse for the squaws
to have in camp and to carry loads of hides, he didn't want his
seed spread to the horses the Sioux braves rode. I just got the
idea that I would stop the seed of these men too."
"Well, I'm sure that it'll be a long time before this is
forgotten, and even longer before another rape takes place in
these parts."
Gale Fortenberry invited the sheriff and his two deputies into
his study and asked them to sit. They all preferred to stand as
he told them about the complaints and the decision of the board
of directors.
"First of all I want to thank you and Cal for what you've done
out there Tom, we've had a lot of good reports about how you've
conducted yourselves over the area. As for McDonnough and his
cousin Willamacher, the board and I have decided to turn down his
request for the dismissal of you two. McDonnough has vowed that
he will do things his way in his county and he'll make sure the
two of you answer for the trouble you've caused him and for the
abuse you gave him and Willamacher. He refused to tell the board
at the meeting exactly what you did, but did say that you
blindsided both of them from behind. I questioned him more and he
stormed out of the meeting.
"He's someone that you'll have to reckon with in the near future.
When he walked out, the board and I agreed that we'll terminate
Willamacher and his two cohorts from the cattlemens association's
payroll. We'll send out this notice to the other members this
week and to the sheriff's that are involved too. We don't need
this kind of attitude in our association, we have enough problems
as it is."
"Mr. Fortenberry, Cal and I both thank you for your support in
what we're doing. We've tried to be friends to both the cattlemen
and the farmers. We've tried to represent you and your
association they way you explained to us when you hired us. I
want to tell you both too, that Sheriff Williams and the Tanner
brothers asked me to invite you up to Osborne Wednesday for the
Fourth of July Celebration."
"The Tanners did mention that to me at our meeting this week, but
we had so much going on I forgot to get the details, I'll plan on
leaving out on Monday. Sheriff I'd be glad to have some company
if you're up for it," Gale said.
"You're on Gale, come on by the office when you head out and
we'll ride over there together."
The four men all shook hands and made plans to all see each other
in Osborne in a couple of days. Tom and Cal headed out from the
Fortenberry spread on an angle that would take them up through
Stockton in Rooks County and then on over to Osborne. They wanted
to see Sheriff Neely again and ask if he had any more run ins
with the MDR riders.
Once inside Rooks County they noticed a place where some cattle
had been driven through a break in the fence, then the fence
repaired.
Tom stood on the ground looking at the tracks, he saw where
someone had stood in boots and walked the length of the break
after the cattle had gone through. This looked like the one he
saw over in Graham County. They followed the tracks for a while
and saw where they were driven off into a dry creek bed. Tom rode
the creek bed and Cal rode on up the main trail. After a mile or
more, the cattle were driven into another pasture and the fence
put back.
Tom sat looking at this and trying to think why someone would
move only a few head of cattle and not all, why would they take
them to another pasture, cut the fence and put it back. This was
gonna take some pondering and they would have to do some more
scoutin' out here. They rode on into Stockton after dark and
slept in the stable at the blacksmith shop. The next morning
early, when they went over to the boarding house to get some
breakfast. Sheriff Neely was sitting at a table alone and they
joined him.
"Tom, Cal it's good to see you fellers again, you been stayin out
of trouble?" the sheriff asked and grinned.
"Well we've been trying to sheriff, but trouble still sniffs us
out like a good huntin dog."
"You two have gotten quite a reputation around the counties so I
hear, a lot of folks are really proud that you're ridin for the
law as well as the cattlemen. Have you had anymore run ins with
Willamacher since you left Stockton?"
"No Sir, and that's the reason we stopped in here to see you, we
were down in Ellis County yesterday and met with Sheriff Wade and
Gale Fortenberry about the cattlemens association. When we left,
we decided to come through here before we headed back to Osborne
to ask you the same thing."
"Seems McDonnough petitioned the association to fire Cal and me,
said we were causing too much trouble in his county. His plan
backfired on him and the association voted to fire Willamacher
and his two gunhands that ride with him. We figure that's gonna
more'n likely put the spurs to whatever was about to happen
anyway."
"I'll keep a close watch on things here, now that I know about
Willamacher and his two bullies, you can bet they're still ridin
for the MDR."
"Sheriff we'll be over at Osborne until Thursday then we will
more'n likely ride back down to Hays to meet with Sheriff Wade
and Gale Fortenberry again. When we leave Osborne, we'll ride
back through here on the way."
"Sounds good, you fellers try to stay out of trouble."
"Sheriff the town of Osborne is having a big celebration on
Wednesday for the Fourth of July you ought to ride over that
morning, Sheriff Wade and Mr. Fortenberry are ridin up from Hays
to be there and Sheriff Williams is helping with the get
together."
"I may just do that Tom, if I do I'll leave here before daylight
and get there before noon, sounds like a good idea to me."
"Well sheriff we're gonna ride on back over to Osborne, it was
good to see you again." Tom stood to shake his hand.
"Always good to see you both and I'll see you again in a couple
of days."
When they all shook hands and the two deputies left, Tom looked
at Cal as they mounted up.
"Cal you sure are quiet today, you got something on your mind?"
"You know I do and now that we're only thirty miles away I'm
getting that itchy feelin to see Callie again."
"I thought maybe that was it. You two got along real good the
other day didn't you?"
"Tom it was even better than you said, I remembered all you told
me and it all just felt so natural to be with her. She's sure
something special and I reckon I`m starting to feel about her
like you said you did about the girl up in Nebraska."
"Well Cal, whatever happens, just take your time and both of you
be sure that's what you want. I'm happy that you finally got the
jitters under control enough to at least get to know her."
They were riding out of Stockton and would be back in Osborne by
mid afternoon. This was the first time they had really talked
about the Bowers sisters since they left the other day.
"Tom, we still gonna ride out to west Kansas and down into Indian
Territory ain't we?"
"Yep, I plan to Cal but if you've made other plans now that
you've met Callie, then I understand."
"No, I meant that I was wanting to ride out there with you if you
were still goin."
"We've got some things here that we need to clear up. Come day
after tomorrow we gotta get ridin again and try and put some
pieces together that we've seen and heard. Today and tomorrow
we're gonna have us a good time celebratin," Tom laughed.
They rode into Osborne about three hours before sundown, took
their horses to the stables and went to see Sheriff Williams. Tom
and Cal told the sheriff about their meeting with Sheriff Wade
and Gale Fortenberry down at Hays City, and their ride back
through Stockton to see Sheriff Neely. Tom told him about the
cattle that had been moved from one fenced pasture to another
through a cut in the fence. He told him about the same thing they
saw a while back in Graham County.
"Sounds like someone has a way figured out to rustle cattle that
no one will notice right away. Can't think of any other reason
they would move cattle like that. This could very well be what is
going on out there all the time, the cutting of the fences and
blaming the farmers may just be a cover up," Sheriff Williams
said.
"That could be it sheriff. That sure would explain a lot of
what's been happening. I can't see Will McDonnough stooping to
rustling though, but I know he's the one that's keeping the pot
stirred about the farmers being on the land that he once grazed
his cattle on."
"Tom, you reckon that just maybe Will McDonnough isn't involved
in the cattle rustling, if in fact that is what's goin on. Maybe
someone else is using Will McDonnough's feud with the farmers to
cover up a little cattle stealing," Cal said.
Tom and Sheriff Williams both looked at Cal who had been quiet as
the two of them talked things out.
"Cal, now I know why you're so quiet sometimes, you may have
just hit on something there," Sheriff Williams said.
"That sure would make sense, we plan on ridin back that way in a
day or so, we'll do a little closer snoopin' about this now," Tom
agreed.
The three of them talked it over some more, trying to come up
with anything else that would explain about the cattle being
moved in small bunches from one place to another and the fences
being cut and left in other places. They kept coming back to this
idea and decided that this is the way they would look at it now
until something changed.
"Sheriff we're gonna go get some supper over at the boarding
house, wanna come with us?" Tom asked.
"I'm gonna head on home here in a little, you fellers go on over
and grin at them girls," Sheriff Williams said and laughed.
"I reckon it shows, huh?" Cal said.
When they walked into the boarding house, they went over to look
through the kitchen door. Callie was stooped over the big wash
pan washing pots and pans. When they stepped to the doorway she
glanced up and screamed as she ran to Cal. Callie left the floor
in a leap and staggered Cal back a few steps as she grabbed him
around the neck and hung on. Cal's face was blood red as he
looked up and saw Mr. and Mrs. Bowers smiling across the kitchen
at them. He was flustered to say the least, but he held Callie in
his arms as she smiled that warm smile up at him. Callie kissed
him on the cheek and Cal set her back on the floor.
Cathy heard her sister scream and ran into the kitchen from the
dining room. Seeing Tom she stifled her own scream of surprise
and ran to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They said
their hellos to Mr. and Mrs. Bowers and were led through the
kitchen to the dining room.
"Tom are you and Cal going to be here for the Fourth now?" Cathy
asked with a smile that lit her whole face up.
"Yep, we're gonna celebrate with you, your family and the whole
town, then we'll ride out on Thursday morning."
"The president of the Cattlemen's Association, Mr. Gale
Fortenberry and Sheriff Wade from down in Ellis County, as well
as Sheriff Neely from over in Rooks County will all be here too."
"I don't care who's here, I have the one I want right here," She
said as she ran her hand down his back and gave a sharp slap to
the tight deer skin breeches that covered his butt.
"Cathy you best behave yourself, your mother and father are just
right there in the kitchen," Tom said in a whisper.
The girls brought two plates piled high with food and a big plate
of cornbread. The girls sat beside them talking and asking
questions as if they had been gone for months. Cal started off a
little bashful at first, but soon Callie had him talking with
confidence and smiling as he told her of their trip. Callie
couldn't keep her hands off him, she was constantly touching his
arm or patting his shoulder as she laughed and talked. Once she
lay her hand on his leg as he was about to put a big spoonful of
food in his mouth, Cal nearly dumped it in his lap.
Delia Williams, wife of Sheriff Gene Williams and Mildred Bowers,
wife of James Bowers owner of Bowers Boarding House, were
appointed by the town council to organize and co-ordinate the
Fourth of July celebration again this year. They both had done an
outstanding job last year for the Centennial celebration of the
Declaration of Independence.
This year they had invited Melville J. Salter the Lt. Governor
of Kansas, to Osborne to give a speech and act as honorary Grand
Marshal of the event. Last year they had contacted a traveling
circus to come to Osborne and since it was such a success they
had made arrangements for the same one to return this year.
The Bradechaux Exhibition and Circus Company out of New Orleans
was even bigger this year than last. They had added more animals
and sideshows to make it one of the more popular road shows in
the west. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Prairie View Church of
Osborne had some objections to the circus coming back because of
the `men only' sideshow. That sideshow had caused quite a ruckus
when nearly all the men at one time or another had snuck off to
pay a dollar to see the dancing naked ladies in the big tent.
Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Bowers both assured the Ladies of the
Auxiliary that the sideshow would be set up at the rear of all
the other events and sideshows so as not to cause a distraction
this year. Monday and Tuesday was a turmoil of building and
erecting tents and unloading of supplies on the site at the south
side of town.
The Bradechaux Circus Company had rolled into town on Sunday
evening and all the kids within walking distance of town were
there soon, as word spread. Sheriff Williams and his deputies
made the rounds through the grounds as the tents and exhibitions
were being set up. They met with the owner of the traveling
circus and made sure he understood that there was to be no scams
run on the local townsfolk. Games of chance were to be fun and
not rigged the Sheriff warned.
The circus had added quite a menagerie this year. They had a
trained bear, a camel, lots of trained ponies and horses, they
had some trained monkey's too that were fun to watch, they had
chickens that could count and even guess a persons weight, they
had a dog and pony show that kids loved to watch over and over,
one of the monkey's even starred in this.
They had the strong man and the painted lady that was covered
with tattoos. They had the bearded lady that had hair all over
her face. There were at least ten clowns dressed as different
funny characters and pulling tricks and jokes on the kids as well
as the grownups too. They even had a trapeze act and a high wire
set up out doors. The men and the boys liked to watch this show,
the women that swung through the air had on skimpy little
costumes and they just knew any minute a tit would pop out.
Despite the near naked, trapeze artists, as they were called, the
women watched the slender young girls too, as they swung high and
turned loose to be caught by their partner across the sawdust
covered arena floor to the oooohhhs and aaaahhhs of the crowd.
Wednesday morning early Tom and Cal were at the boarding house
for breakfast. They had a plate of biscuits covered in sausage
gravy as Callie and Cathy sat and smiled up at them. When the
breakfast crowd was fed, which included all the circus folks,
they closed the dining room down for the day and all headed out
to the show grounds.
Before noon on the Fourth of July 1877, the whole town and all
the surrounding community were at the carnival grounds. The
player piano was blaring and the crowds were buzzing.
At twelve noon, the carnival music stopped on cue and the whole
crowd gathered around the large wooden platform where the honored
guests were sitting. The ladies in charge had persuaded the
Tanner brothers and the visiting sheriff's to sit on the stage as
well as Lt. Governor Melville J. Salter. Mrs. Gene Williams
stepped to the front and started with her welcome speech making
sure to thank all the crowds of folks that had turned out as well
as the honorary guests.
She then introduced Lt. Governor Salter and the crowd quieted
down even more as he stepped forward to give his patriotic speech
about America and what a privilege it is to be able to live in
such a land that gave us all the opportunity to live better
lives. After about thirty minutes he noticed the crowds getting
restless and cut short the last fifteen minutes of his speech.
Lt. Governor Melville J. Salter invited Daniel and Talmon Tanner
to the front of the stage where they all took part in unfolding
the new thirty eight star American Flag.
A temporary flag pole had been erected near the stage and the
flag was raised as the crowd cheered. When the flag was tied off
at the top of the pole, Lt. Governor Salter led the crowd in the
Pledge of Allegiance. The flag would be moved to the center of
town later and raised on the permanent flag pole in the town
square.
The carnival music started again and the fun was on. Tom and Cal
walked arm and arm with Cathy and Callie through the crowds and
though they were on duty, they were here to have fun too.
They stopped at one booth where a man was taking money from
people to play the shell game. He would place a small pea under a
half shell of a walnut, then with three identical half shells on
the flat surface, he would ask the person to choose the one they
thought the pea was under. Then he would shuffle the shells in
and around one another and line them back up again. Tom watched
this a few times and saw that the man never lost, but then he
never showed exactly which shell the pea was under when the game
was over either. Tom stepped to the side of the man's small table
and watched closely.
"Mr. you can either play the game fair or pack it up," Tom told
him in a low voice.
The man looked up as if to respond, then he saw the badge on the
tall young man standing there. From then on he never raked the
pea off the table into his other hand, now he had to rely on the
game of chance to win his money fairly.
The two couples had made their way to the area where the trapeze
poles were rigged. They watched as the young men and women swung
from pole to pole from a rope tied between the poles. The crowd
oooohed and aaaahed as the daring circus performers turned loose
to fly through the air and be caught at the last possible second
before they fell to the sawdust below. Tom looked around at the
crowd watching the performance and saw Sheriff Williams waving to
him from a distance off to the side. He spoke to Cathy and told
Cal they had business with the Sheriff.
"Tom, you and Cal need to be aware that we have notable gun hands
in the crowd today. I just saw Joon Slaughter and his brothers
over near the tent where the dancing girls are. You may have
never crossed paths with these boys, but they're bad to the
bottom and bear watching closely." Sheriff Williams told them.
The three lawmen walked around the crowded midway to where he had
seen the Slaughters before.
"There they are, the three with their guns tied low and wearing
the fancy boots," Sheriff Williams said as he pointed to the
three men.
"I didn't know they were back in these parts again, we've had
some run-ins before with them and I heard that the Earp's also
faced them down a couple of years back down in Dodge City."
"How do you want to handle it Sheriff, you want us to go have a
little talk with them or just keep an eye on them?" Tom asked,
never taking his eyes off the three brothers.
"Right now, they're just part of the crowd, but let's keep a
close watch for trouble, if they get out of line, then we'll step
in and ask them to leave," Sheriff Williams told them.
"Which one is the best gun hand Sheriff, just in case we have to
face them," Tom asked, still watching with his eyes pulled down
to tight slits against the glare of the July sun.
"They're all said to be quick with a gun, but the story was told
that the Earps got the drop on them with shot guns, Wyatt didn't
want to face them with hand guns. I saw Joon draw down on a man
in what was later declared self defense, he was as fast as I've
ever seen with a gun."
Cal looked at his half breed Indian friend, he had seen that look
before on Tom's face. There was no emotion, anyone else that saw
Tom would think he was watching one of the shows or the crowds,
Cal knew better. Tom and Cal walked with Sheriff Williams back
toward the platform where the ceremonies were held a while ago.
The sheriff told them that as far as he knew, the Slaughters had
grown up and lived most of their lives in and around Hays.
"The story goes that they were always wild and into trouble all
during the time they lived with their Ma and Pa. When they were
old enough to work, they took jobs working as skinners on the
prairie. It didn't take them long to get enough of that, then
back a few years after the end of the war they took up with some
of the boys that had ridden with the Dalton's over in Missouri."
"That bunch busted up and I heard the Slaughter brothers had
drifted off down into Texas. Two years ago I was over in Hays to
see Sheriff Wade and that's when I saw the shootin' at the saloon
when Joon drawed down on a cowboy that accused him of cheatin' at
cards."
"Tom, I didn't get a good look at them brothers, but I think I've
seen two of them before. Do you remember the two cowboys we saw
down in Dodge City? The ones that went into the Long Branch with
their guns on?" Cal said, trying to remember where he had seen
them before.
"Yep I remember that, now that I think back about it, you may be
right. The two youngest brothers we saw back there may have been
the ones we had our little round with that day," Tom said.
"Tom I'm sure they'd remember you as the one that took'em down a
notch, but I'm gonna wander back down through the crowd and get a
closer look, just to be sure. It sure would be better knowing it
was or wasn't, if we had to face'em again." Cal said.
"Good idea Cal, just don't get close enough to get caught up in
something. I'll be over here with the Sheriff waitin on you by
the new flag."
Cal walked slowly at an angle that would take him back close to
where they saw the brothers last. He spotted them again just as
they entered the tent with the dancin girls out front. Cal walked
over, paid his fare at the door and walked into the darkened
tent, he stood over to one side as his eyes got used to the low
light. Then he spotted them standing over to the other side and
back a ways from the stage where the girls were dancing almost
naked. Cal swallowed hard as he looked at the three young girls
that barely had their nakedness covered as they danced and
twirled around on the stage. He glanced back at the Slaughter
brothers and they had pushed their way closer to the stage now.
He knew he'd have a better chance of getting an up close look at
them while their eyes were on the nearly naked show girls. Cal
eased his way slowly over to the other side of the tent and down
close to the brothers. The light from the lamps around the stage
made it better to see the faces in the crowd now. Cal could see
that two of the brothers were in fact the two that Tom had
tussled with briefly that day in the Long Branch. Cal made his
way back away and off to the side of where the brothers stood
watchin the show. He turned his eyes to the stage and saw one of
the girls as she danced by the other two reach out to pull the
thin scarves off both of them exposing their bouncing teats to
the men in the crowd.
The roar of approval and the yells of `more, more' soon followed.
Cal stood with his eyes wide and stared just as every other man
there did, as the girls twirled and danced from one end of the
wooden stage to the other. They all came together in a little
huddle and when they pulled back, each of them held a thin scarf
that had been around the hips of one of the other girls. This
really brought a roar of approval from the crowd of men as the
girls danced naked all over the stage, twirling and turning and
spinning as the men threw coins on the stage at their feet.
They came right to the center of the stage and kick their legs
high as they danced and jumped around. Cal noticed right off that
none of the girls had hair between their legs. He wondered if all
girls were hairless like that or were these from a different
country that didn't grow hair. Cal glanced one more time back
over at the Slaughter brothers then made his way to the door and
out into the sunlight. Cal wiped the sweat from his forehead with
his shirt sleeve and put his hat back on. That was the first time
in his life that he had seen a naked woman. He felt tempted to go
back for one more good look but decided that was enough for the
day. Cal already felt a little guilty, but he was wonderin if all
girls looked that good. He knew one that he wanted to know more
about for sure.
"Tom, that's them. The two youngest of the Slaughter brothers are
the ones you had the little go-round with down in Dodge."
Cal said as he walked up to where Tom and Sheriff Williams sat on
the wooden ceremony stage talkin to Sheriff Wade and Sheriff
Neely.
Gale Fortenberry was there too and they all visited for a spell.
"What about that meeting down there that day Tom, how did it come
about and how did it end up?" Sheriff Williams asked.
"Well Dodge has a gun law north of the tracks and the two of them
came riding up from the south end and ran in the Long Branch. Cal
and I were nearly ran down in the streets by their horses and
then we just followed them in the saloon."
"They were at the bar and I asked them to check their guns, we
had a little go round and then Cal and I took the guns and led
them over to see Sheriff Bassett, that was about it."
Cal looked at Sheriff Williams and shook his head `no'. Then he
filled in the holes that Tom had left in his story.
"I'm sure the two brothers told Joon about the incident and it'll
be interestin' to see how this all plays out when they know you
two are up here now. I reckon it'd be better that we let this
slide on by today and unless they start trouble, we'll just keep
a close watch on them." Sheriff Williams said.
"You two head on back and find them young girls and have
ya'selves a good time, I'll do the watchin'."