Rampage of the Mountain Man

Chapter Seven

Pearlie and Cal watched as the three men walked down toward the general store.

“You think they’ll work out all right?” Cal asked.

“I don’t know why not. Like I said, they learned how to soldier. And I like the way they took up for Mike like that.”

“Yeah,” Cal said. “I liked that, too.”

A couple of minutes later, Pearlie and Cal tied their horses off in front of the Longmont Saloon, then stepped inside.

“Pearlie, Cal,” Louis Longmont called to them from behind the bar. “It’s good to see you boys. Is Smoke with you today?”

“No, sir, Mr. Longmont, he’s still out at the ranch,” Pearlie answered.

Longmont smiled. “Well, that’s all right. You boys are always welcome, with or without Smoke. What’ll it be?”

“Two beers,” Pearlie said.

“And I’ll have the same,” Cal added.

Longmont chuckled as he drew four mugs, then set them in front of the two boys. “Cal, wasn’t that long ago you wasn’t old enough to drink beer. I remember Miz Sally tellin’ me what she’d do to me if she caught me servin’ you one.”

“I’m old enough now,” Cal said.

“Yeah, that’s why I put them in front of you. No way I’d go against Miz Sally otherwise. So, how are things goin’ out at Sugarloaf?”

“We’re lookin’ to hire three good men,” Pearlie said.

Longmont looked surprised. “Really? It’s mid-fall. Most ranches lay off at the end of summer. What are you doin’ out at Sugarloaf that you need more men?”

“We’re drivin’ a herd up into Wyoming,” Cal said.

“Oh, I see. So you’re lookin’ to hire someone next spring,” Longmont said.

“No, not in the spring—we want someone now,” Pearlie said.

“Why would you want someone now? Why not wait until you actually drive the herd?”

“’Cause we’re driving the herd up now,” Cal said.

“What? This late in the year? Why, that’s crazy. Why would Smoke do somethin’ like that?”

“’Cause Miz Sally has got it in her mind that we’re goin’ to have another winter kind’a like that one we had a couple years back when there was that big freeze-out,” Cal said. “So, we’re sellin’ off half the herd to the U.S. government so’s they can provide beef for the Indians. Only, the government won’t pay for the beef until we deliver it to them.”

Longmont nodded. “Yeah, I guess I can see why you would want to drive a herd north. I guess my question now is, can you do it?”

“I think we can if we have good men with us,” Pearlie said. “You said a lot of cowboys have been laid off for the winter, right?”

“Yes.”

“What about Billy Cantrell? He was riding for the Double Tree. He’s a good man with cattle. I’d like to have him. Do you know if he was laid off?”

Longmont laughed. “He was laid off all right. But I don’t think he’ll be making any trail drives with you.”

“Why not? Me’n Billy’s always got along. And I know that Smoke will match whatever he was getting’ over at the Double Tree,” Pearlie said.

“Yeah, well, Billy is in jail, and he’s likely to be there until spring.”

“Why is that?”

“Seems Billy got upset with a drummer from Denver. He didn’t like the way the drummer was actin’ around Chris Candy.”

“What do you mean the way he was actin’ around Chris Candy? Chris Candy’s a whore,” Pearlie said. “Billy can’t get upset with ever’ man who has anything to do with her. That’s her job.”

“Well, it ain’t her job to get her eye blackened, and that’s what the drummer did.”

“Oh,” Pearlie said.

“So Billy blackened both the drummer’s eyes, and he broke the drummer’s nose. If Sheriff Carson hadn’t pulled him off when he did, why, like as not Billy would’ve broken both the drummer’s hands as well.”

“How long is he in jail for?” Cal asked.

“Well, the judge gave him thirty days or thirty dollars. Since Billy didn’t have thirty dollars, he’s servin’ the thirty days.”

“Do you think Sheriff Carson would turn him over to us if we paid his fine?” Cal asked.

Longmont nodded.

“I reckon he would,” he said. “Especially if he knew that Billy was going to be out of town and out of his hair for a while.”

“Then Smoke will pay his fine.”

“Hold on now, Pearlie,” Cal said. “Hadn’t we better take that up with Smoke first?”

“Didn’t he say he would trust us to get good men?” Pearlie replied.

“Yes, but…”

“But nothin’. Billy’s one of the best cowboys around. Everyone knows that. He’s well worth paying off his fine to have him with us.”

“All right, if you think so,” Cal said, though the “all right” was somewhat reluctant.

“If Smoke don’t like it, I’ll take all the responsibility,” Pearlie said. “And I’ll pay the fine myself.”

Cal shook his head. “No need for that,” he said. I’ll back you on it with Smoke, and I’ll pay half the fine.”

“Good,” Pearlie said. He took another drink of his beer. “Now we only need two.”

“You don’t need to go nowhere else,” Billy said when Pearlie and Cal came down to the jail to hire him. Billy pointed to the two men in the cell next to him. “These here is the Butrum boys, LeRoy and Hank. Hire them and you’ll have everyone you need.”

“I can’t just hire anybody,” Pearlie said. “They need to have some skills.”

“I’ve punched cows with these boys for most of the past year,” Billy said. “They’re good hands, both of ’em.”

“Why are they in jail?” Pearlie asked.

“Well, because they…” Billy began, then stopped. “Truth to tell, I don’t know why they’re in jail. They was already here when Sheriff Carson brung me in. Hey, LeRoy,” he called.

Both Butrums were asleep, or appeared to be, as they were lying on their bunks with their hats pulled down over their eyes.

“LeRoy,” Billy called again.

“What do you want?” LeRoy answered from under his hat.

“What for are you and Hank in jail?”

“For stealin’ back what was our’n,” LeRoy answered. He had still not removed his hat.

“What do you mean, stealing back what was yours?”

LeRoy finally removed his hat and sat up on his bunk. “Do you know that low-assed pipsqueak named Josiah Pogue?”

“Yes, he owns the leather-goods shop,” Pearlie said. “I don’t know him well, but I know who he is.”

“He done some work for me, then he tried to charge too much. When I couldn’t pay it, he took my saddle,” LeRoy said.

“Well, that’s not stealin’, that’s legal,” Pearlie said.

“Yeah, well, what he done was put a fender on. When I couldn’t pay for the fender, I took it off and give it back to him, but that wasn’t good enough. He wanted my whole saddle. So me’n Hank took the saddle anyway.”

“Which is when the deputy showed up, and that’s how we wound up in here,” Hank said, finishing the story.

“If me’n Cal can get this cleared up, would you two boys agree to work for Sugarloaf?”

Hank nodded. “Yeah, we’ll come work for Sugarloaf, won’t we, LeRoy?”

“Sure. It’s better than bein’ in here.”

A little bell rang as the door to Pogue’s leather-goods store was opened.

“I’ll be right with you,” a reed-thin voice called from the back of the store.

A moment later a small, bald-headed man appeared. He was wearing an apron, and it was apparent he had been doing some leatherwork in the shop behind the store. Examples of his work were on display about the store, and Cal had to admit that the man was an artisan.

“Yes, sir, can I help you gentlemen?” Pogue asked. Then, recognizing them, he smiled. “You two men work for Mr. Smoke Jensen, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Pearlie said.

“He’s a fine man. Are you perhaps looking for something for him?”

Cal was looking at a belt, holding it up to examine the intricate scrolling in the leather.

“That is a fine belt, if I do say so myself,” Pogue said.

“Yes, sir, it is pretty all right,” Cal agreed.

“I can make you a very good price for it.”

“Uh, no, sir, we ain’t here to buy nothin’,” Pearlie said.

The smile left Pogue’s face.

“Then why are you here?” he asked.

“We want to talk to you about the Butrum brothers.”

“Oh, them,” Pogue said. “They are brutish men, the two of them. I hope the sheriff sends them to prison. They need to learn that they can’t just come in here and take what doesn’t belong to them.”

“But the saddle did belong to them, didn’t it? It was LeRoy’s saddle, I believe.”

“In a manner of speaking, it was his saddle,” Pogue agreed. “But I had a legitimate lien against it. And until that lien is satisfied, the saddle belongs to me.”

“Would it square things with you if the lien was paid off?” Pearlie asked.

“As far as not makin’ a claim on the saddle, yes, it would,” Pogue said. “But I would still like to see them punished.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because they need to know that they can’t just run roughshod over decent citizens. Besides, I’m a little frightened of them,” Pogue added.

“Suppose you were paid off the ten dollars, and the Butrums left town so there would be no possibility of them causing you any more trouble. Would that satisfy you?”

Pogue studied Pearlie for a moment. “Why are you so interested in what happens to the Butrums?”

“Because Smoke is going to drive a herd of cows north, and we want to hire the Butrum boys to help us. But we can’t as long as they are in jail.”

“How far north?”

“All the way to Wyoming.”

Pogue whistled quietly. “That’s a long way to drive cattle.”

“Yes. And it should certainly be far enough to keep the boys out of your hair,” Pearlie said.

“What hair?” Cal asked, laughing out loud.

For a moment, the expression on Pogue’s face was one of irritation over the allusion to his lack of hair. Then, he began to laugh, and he rubbed his hand across his bald head.

“Yes, what hair indeed?” he replied. “All right, boys. If you see to it that I get my ten dollars, I’ll inform Sheriff Carson that I don’t intend to press charges.”

“Thank you,” Pearlie said. He pulled out his billfold, then extracted ten dollars and gave it to Pogue.

“Thanks,” Pogue said, taking the money. He took a pencil and piece of paper from behind the shelf, then wrote out:

I, Josiah Pogue, having been duly satisfied as to the debt owed me by the Butrum brothers, do hereby free them of any further financial obligations toward me, and relinquish any claim to the saddle belonging to LeRoy Butrum. I also withdraw the charges I filed against them.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, have you really thought about what you are doing?” Sheriff Carson asked a few minutes later as he released Billy, Hank, and LeRoy to Pearlie and Cal.

“I’m sure,” Pearlie answered. “I know Billy to be a good hand, and if he vouches for the other two, that’s good enough for me.”

Sheriff Carson chuckled. “I’m not talkin’ about that,” he said. “I know all three of those boys and they probably will make you good hands. I’m talkin’ about this foolishness of trying to drive a herd that far north at this time of year.”

“You know Smoke as well as anyone, Sheriff,” Cal said. “If he says he can do it, I believe he can do it.”

“Well, I’ll give you this,” Sheriff Carson said. “If any man alive can take a herd of—how many cows did you say it was?”

“Three thousand head,” Cal answered.

Sheriff Carson gave a low whistle. “Three thousand head,” he repeated. “Well, like I was about to say, if any man alive can take a herd of three thousand head all the way to Wyoming this late in the season, Smoke Jensen is that man. But I certainly don’t envy any of you.”

“Hold it,” LeRoy said. “What are you talking about? What do you mean taking three thousand head of cattle to Wyoming? I thought you said we was comin’ to work at Sugarloaf.”

“That’s right,” Pearlie said. “And the work you’re goin’ to be doin’ is takin’ a herd to Wyoming.”

“When?”

“Now,” Pearlie said.

“Now! Are you crazy? It’s damn near winter.”

“Yes, that’s why we need to get started right away,” Pearlie said.

LeRoy shook his head. “Huh-uh,” he said. “You didn’t say nothin’ about drivin’ no herd north when you hired us. All you said was that you was lookin’ for some more hands.”

“If you don’t want to go, I’m sure we can arrange for you to stay here in jail,” Pearlie said. “I can always get someone else.”

“Yeah? Well, you just…” LeRoy began, but Hank interrupted him in mid-sentence.

“No!” he said. “You don’t need anyone else. Don’t pay my brother no never-mind. Me’n LeRoy will do it.”

The wagon was about half-loaded by the time Pearlie, Cal, Billy, Hank, and LeRoy arrived. Mike, Billy, and the Butrums already knew each other, but Andy and Dooley had to introduce themselves. Pearlie noticed that both former soldiers were now wearing new jeans and plaid shirts.

“Yeah,” Andy said. “Don’t they look nice? Miz Sally bought ’em for us. First time I’ve had ’nything other’n an army uniform on in four years.”

“Come on, boys,” Pearlie said, picking up a bundle. “Let’s get the wagon loaded so we can get back to the ranch in time for supper.”