California Crackdown

5

Two hours later, they had Daniel’s body wrapped in a tarp and strapped on the back of a horse as they headed out of Sacramento. Fargo scouted ahead of the other two, making sure that no one would attack them on the way back. He didn’t think anyone would, but he liked being prepared. And with the Brant thugs, there was no telling what they would do next. Besides, scouting helped keep his mind off of the coming task of telling Cain that his son was dead. More than likely Cain had seen Daniel during the robbery, so it was impossible to guess how Cain would react to his death.

If Cain was still alive.

Fargo wouldn’t let himself think too long about the possibility that Cain hadn’t made it. The man had been so strong through so many fights. He had to be here for this one. Sarah and Henry Brant were going to pay for what they had done. Fargo was going to see to that. And their men were going to pay as well. They couldn’t be allowed to take over Cain’s mine, whether Cain and Daniel were alive or not.

At the intersection in the road that led either into town or to Cain’s mine, Fargo left Walt and Jim to the task of taking Daniel’s body back to the Cain home. He kept on going into town, got his Ovaro stabled and brushed and fed, and finally headed to the hotel. He couldn’t delay it any longer. He had to face the outcome of this eventually. At least he was going to see Anne again.

The bright sun of the day beat down on him as he walked, heating his shirt and making his shoulder ache.

Fargo went through the door into the saloon and, like the first time, Anne was behind the bar. He couldn’t believe how much just seeing her cheered him.

She happened to glance up as he let the batwings close behind him. Her face lit up like a child seeing a Christmas present.

She rushed around the bar and hugged him so hard, his wounds hurt. But he didn’t care. Just having her against him, pressing into him again, felt great.

She took him by the hand and led him into the back room, to her private office.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “I heard you were shot.”

“Through the shoulder,” Fargo said. He pointed to the wound on the front. “It came out the back. I’m going to be just fine. But tell me, how’s Cain?”

The smile dropped from her face and she motioned for him to sit down in a chair near her desk where she could sit and face him. “He didn’t make it through the first night. I’m so sorry, Skye. The doc did everything he could, but the wound was just too bad.”

Fargo felt himself go numb.

His friend had asked for his help, his protection, and now both his friend and his friend’s son were dead.

Fargo stared at the wall above Anne. How could he have miscalculated so badly? How could he have let the Brants get so far ahead of him?

Anne sat there, holding his hand, letting him take in the news, the very thing he hadn’t let himself think about over the last few days.

Finally, she said softly, “Tell me what happened.”

He went back over the details of the last three days, from the ambush to the killing of Daniel.

“What’s going to happen to Cain’s mine and all his gold and buildings?” she asked after a moment.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” Fargo said. “But I can tell you this: Brant and his men will not get it. Not while I’m alive.”

She reached forward and squeezed his hand, smiling. “I know that. But we need to put some sort of legal basis under this and get the mine to someone. Did Cain have a will?”

Fargo shrugged. “I doubt it. Not the type.”

“So, who deserves to get that mine and those buildings and all the money in the banks in Sacramento?”

Fargo looked over at her, then smiled as he saw where she was heading. “His men. Some of them have died for him and that mine.”

“Exactly,” Anne said. “I’ve heard of a few owners giving parts or all of their mines to their workers. It’s possible to do.”

Fargo stood and then picked up Anne and held her close to him, kissing her hard. “Get a lawyer and a judge ready. I’ll be back with Cain’s will.”

Anne laughed. “I thought you said he wasn’t the type to write up a will.”

“I could be wrong,” Fargo said.

He kissed her soft lips one more time, enjoying the promise of a night in the feather bed with her, then turned and headed out the door. They first had to secure Cain’s mine legally for the men who would defend it; then it would be time for some real frontier justice.

The last miner came up from the mine, wiped off his face, and joined the meeting forming in the large bunkhouse. Men sat, sprawled, and stood everywhere, crowded around the wooden bunks. A number of women from the kitchens had joined the meeting as well.

Fargo couldn’t believe how many men and women had depended on Cain and his Sharon’s Dream mine.

Two hours before, Fargo had met Hank, Walt, and Jim at the ranch house. They had put Daniel’s body in the root cellar until they could bury it with his father in the small mine cemetery.

All three of them thought that they were now out of a job. They had no doubt that Brant would jump Cain’s claim and take over by sheer force. They were pretty much ready to bury Cain and Daniel and head down the trail. None of them would ever work for Brant.

Fargo took less than a minute to describe his idea. It got them excited again, and ready to fight.

“One small problem,” Fargo had said. “Can any of you write?”

Jim could. With Hank’s help, since he was the chief foreman and had been Cain’s right-hand man for the past six months, they got Cain’s safe opened and some samples of Cain’s writing laid out on the table.

After an hour of practice, Jim started writing the simple will that gave the mine over to Daniel. And then, if Daniel died within a year of Cain, the mine and all its assets were to go in equal shares to every man and woman working for the mine at the time of Daniel’s death.

As Jim practiced writing in Cain’s handwriting, Hank put together a list of the people who were working for Cain this last week. Fargo wouldn’t let him put his name on the list. He had no desire to own part of a mine.

Two hours after they started, the will was finished and the men were gathered.

Fargo stood back as Hank told all the men the bad news of both Cain’s and Daniel’s deaths.

“The funeral for both of them will be at sunrise tomorrow morning,” Hank said. “I expect you all to be there.”

There was a long moment of silence as the news sank in. Then Hank cleared his throat and went on. “I hold in my hand Cain’s will.”

Hank held up the paper and the envelope that had contained it. “Basically, it gives the mine and all the assets to Daniel.”

There was a murmuring among the men, but no one asked the next obvious question out loud.

“However,” Hank said, his voice carrying clearly in the crowded bunkhouse. “The will also says that if Daniel dies within a year of Cain, the mine is to go in equal parts to everyone working at Sharon’s Dream at the time of Daniel’s death. Officially, we now all own this mine and all the gold and assets that come out of it.”

The noise suddenly became deafening as the men shouted and cheered and slapped one another on the back.

Hank smiled and let them go on for a moment, then held up his hands for silence. “In one hour, twenty of us, with the help of Fargo here, are going to make sure this will is filed officially in the courthouse. However, we’re not out of the woods just yet.”

Hank nodded to Fargo and he stepped forward. “There is clear proof that the Brants and their men are behind the deaths of Cain and his son.”

Shouts of anger filled the room and Fargo let the anger wash over him. He was going to need all of them angry if they were going to win the coming fight.

Hank held up his hands for the men to calm down and let Fargo go on.

After there was silence again, Fargo continued. “They’re going to make a move on this mine, both above- and belowground.”

“Over my dead body,” one miner shouted, and the others agreed loudly.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Fargo said. “But it looks like we’re going to have a war and it’s going to start real soon.”

“We’re ready,” one man hollered, and the others shouted their agreement.

“We’re all going to have to fight together. You should all wear guns at all times until this is settled and if you don’t have a gun, talk to Hank after the meeting and he’ll get you set up. And we’re going to need the best shots among you posted as sentries along the ridgeline between here and the Brant mine. And others guarding the road and the other sides of this area.”

“We’re with you, Fargo,” a man shouted.

“Good,” Fargo said. “Now let’s get to work.”