Death Rides a Chestnut Mare

Chapter 3

Cyrus Baldwin, his wife, Teresa, and his sons, Abram and Clement, listened while Tuck Carlyle and Danielle outlined the plan to save the small ranchers by driving a trail herd to Abilene.

“It’s a great plan,” Baldwin said. “We should be ashamed of ourselves for not thinking of it on our own, instead of sitting here starving.”

“Before you give me too much credit,” said Danielle, “remember that my purpose is to lure that bunch of outlaws into the open. I figure a herd of cattle will do it.”

“Let them come,” Baldwin said. “At least we’ll have a chance to fight for our herds. As it is now, they’re stealing us blind. The only way we can stop that is to take our own cows to market, and to kill as many of these thieving bastards as we can.”

“We can count on you then,” said Tuck.

“You sure can,” said the four Baldwins together.

“We’ll need extra horses, a team of good mules, and a wagon,” Danielle said. “Can you help us?”

“If we’re all going on the drive,” Baldwin said, “we can take all four of our horses. I believe both Enos Chadman and Wallace Flagg have wagons and mules.”

“We’re calling on them next,” said Tuck. “Unless you hear something different from us, then be at our place at noon tomorrow. We must start the gather soon, and finish the drive, if we’re going to do it before snow flies.”

Enos Chadman, his wife, Maureen, their son, Eric, and their daughter, Katrina, received the news of the proposed gather and drive with enthusiasm.

“We have a wagon and a team of mules,” said Chadman. “You’re welcome to make use of them.”

“Wallace Flagg also has a wagon and mules,” Maureen said. “Perhaps we can take both the wagons.”

“We may have to,” said Chadman. “With all you ladies going, you may be riding the wagons so that the riders can have an extra horse or two.”

“We’ll talk to Wallace about maybe using his mules and wagon,” Tuck said. “Unless we tell you otherwise, be at our place at noon tomorrow. We have to make plans and decide what supplies we’ll need.”

“While the rest of you start the gather, Tuck and me can go to Dallas for supplies and ammunition,” said Danielle.

Wallace Flagg, his sons, Floyd and Edward, and wife, Tilda, were as responsive as the other small ranchers had been.

“We’ll be glad to take our mules and wagon,” Flagg said, “but be sure when you go for supplies that you get a couple of sacks of grain.”

“We’ll get the grain,” said Tuck. “I figure each animal should have a ration of grain three times a week.”

The Carlyle Ranch. North Texas. August 5, 1870.

Wallace Flagg, along with his sons and wife, arrived first. Tilda Flagg drove the wagon. Next came Enos Chadman, his wife, his son, and daughter. His wife drove the wagon. Cyrus Baldwin and his family were next to arrive. Last to arrive was Elmer Dumont, with his wife and son. There was an impressive display of livestock, about eight mules and eighteen horses in total. Some of the horses were being led, because most of the women rode on the wagons.

“Thanks to Daniel,” Mrs. Carlyle announced, “we have coffee.”

There were whoops of joy from all those gathered, for they had been forced to do without many things before, during, and after the war. Sipping their coffee, they gathered on the porch. There were chairs for the ladies while the men hunkered down, rocking back on their boot heels.

“Ma has paper and pencil,” said Tuck, “and she’ll make the list. Each of you sing out the provisions you think we’ll need. Don’t bother with ammunition. We’ll get to that and the weapons after we’ve decided on everything else.”

As the list grew, Danielle worried that the three hundred dollars she had promised to provide wouldn’t be nearly enough. Finally, they were ready to discuss weapons and ammunition.

“Thanks to the Comanches, every damn one of us has a rifle,” said Wallace Flagg, “and if I ain’t mistaken, they’re all sixteen-shot Henrys.”

“Anybody got any other kind?” Tuck asked.

Nobody spoke, and they quickly moved on to revolvers.

“Now,” said Tuck, “all of you with pistols raise your hands.”

All the men and their sons raised their hands.

“That’s eleven including me,” Danielle said. “What make?”

“Colt,” they all answered at once.

“All of them may not work,” said Wallace Flagg. “We ain’t been able to afford parts.”

“Anybody with a weapon that doesn’t work,” Danielle said, “give Mrs. Carlyle your name. My pa was a gunsmith, and I learned the trade. We’ll hold off on our trip to Dallas until we know which gun parts we need. Between Indians and outlaws, we need every weapon in perfect condition.”

Before day’s end, Danielle and Tuck had their list of needed provisions and a second list of necessary gun parts.

“Take my wagon,” Wallace Flagg offered. “The bed’s a little longer than usual.”

“I’ll take my wagon and teams home,” said Enos Chadman, “but we’ll plan on using them for the drive. If nothing else, we can put the canvas up, keepin’ our bedrolls dry.”

“I feel good about this drive,” Mrs. Carlyle said when the last of their visitors had gone.

“So do I,” said Tuck. “These other ranchers are all older than Daniel or me, yet they have agreed to throw in with us. I think we should head for Dallas in the morning.”

“How far?” Danielle asked.

“About eighty miles,” said Tuck. “Figure three days there with an empty wagon, maybe five days returning with a load.”

“We could be gone a week or more then,” Danielle said. “As it is, we’ll be until the middle of August starting the drive.”

“No help for that,” Tuck said. “We’ll need time for the gather. Maybe we can make up some of what we’ve lost after we’re on the trail.”

When supper was over at the Carlyle place, Mrs. Carlyle spoke.

“Tuck, you and Daniel should get to bed early, getting as much rest as you can.”

“I aim to do just that,” said Tuck. “You coming, Daniel?”

“Not yet,” Danielle said. “This is my favorite time of the day, and I think I’ll sit on the porch for a while.”

Danielle went out, thankful the Carlyles had a large house. What would she have done had Mrs. Carlyle suggested Danielle share a room with Tuck? She sat down on the porch steps as the last rosy glow of the western sun gave way to purple twilight. To her total surprise, Carrie Carlyle came out and sat down beside Danielle. Uncomfortably close.

“May I sit with you?” Carrie asked.

“It’s all right with me,” said Danielle.

“What will you do when you’ve tracked down the men who murdered your pa?” Carrie asked.

“I haven’t thought much about it,” said Danielle. “It may take me a lifetime.”

“Then you’d never have a home, wife, or family,” Carrie said.

“I reckon not,” replied Danielle. “Is that what you want, a place of your own?”

Danielle could have kicked herself for asking such a perfectly ridiculous question.

“I want a place of my own, and a man,” Carrie said, moving even closer. “That’s why I was thinking . . . hoping . . . you might come back here. I’ve never been with a man before, and I’d like you to . . . to. . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“Carrie,” said Danielle uncomfortably, “you’re still young. I’ll have to settle somewhere after this search is done. I can’t say I won’t come back here, but I can’t make any promise either.”

“I hope you do,” Carrie said. “There’s nobody around here my age except Dumont’s son, Barney, Baldwin’s sons, Abram and Clement, Chadman’s son, Eric, and the sons of old Wallace Flagg, Floyd and Edward.”

Danielle laughed. “Hell, Carrie, there’s six of them. Can’t you be comfortable with at least one?”

“Damn it, you don’t understand,” said Carrie. “They’ve all been looking at me, but all they want is to get me in the hayloft with my clothes off. You’re not like that, are you?”

“No,” Danielle said, more uncomfortable than ever. “I’ve sworn to find Pa’s killers, and that comes ahead of any plans of my own. Until you find a man who appeals to you, stay out of the hayloft.”

“I’ve found one, and he doesn’t want me,” said Carrie miserably.

It was well past time to put an end to the conversation, and Danielle did so.

“With Tuck and me getting an early start, I’d better get some sleep.”

Tuck and Danielle were ready to start at first light. Along the way, they rattled past the Wallace place, waving their hats. Traveling due south, they stopped only to rest the mules. They saw nobody else. Reaching a creek just before sundown, they unharnessed the mules, allowing the tired animals to roll.

“I aim to dunk myself in that creek for a few minutes,” Tuck said. “How about you?”

“No,” said Danielle, her heart beating fast. “I’m hungry, and I’ll get supper started.”

She tried her best not to notice Tuck Carlyle as he shucked his boots and clothing, but found it an impossible task. She watched him splash around in the creek, and unfamiliar feelings crept over her, sending chills up her spine. Tuck caught her watching him, and he struck a ridiculous, exaggerated pose. Danielle forced herself to laugh, hoping she was far enough away that he couldn’t see her blush. Never having had experience with a man, she was becoming far too interested in Tucker Carlyle. She tried to rid him from her mind, but there was always that vision of him standing there naked in the creek, laughing at her. She lay awake long after Tuck began snoring, and when she finally slept, he crept into her troubled dreams.

Dallas, Texas. August 10, 1870.

There was no trouble along the trail to Dallas. The only difficulty was Danielle’s newly discovered infatuation with Tuck Carlyle. There were times when she dreamed of donning her female clothing, telling him the truth, and allowing him to have his way with her. But she quickly put all such thoughts from her mind. She must avenge her father before she did anything else. But there was a troublesome possibility that kept raising its ugly head. Suppose—now or later—when Tuck learned she was a woman, he didn’t want her? There was no accounting for male pride. She swore like a man, looked, sounded, and acted like a man, and could draw and shoot like hell wouldn’t have it. She found herself worrying more and more what the consequences might be of her having assumed the role of a man. Just as they were approaching Dallas, Tuck caught her off guard with a question.

“Dan, you want to find a cheap hotel room? Ma gave me the few dollars she had.”

“Save it,” Danielle said. “The weather’s warm, and our camp won’t cost anything. With so much to buy, you may have to add your few dollars to mine.”

“Yeah,” said Tuck, “I keep forgetting just how much we need. Since we have all of the afternoon ahead of us, let’s find a mercantile and get them started on our provisions and ammunition list. Meanwhile, we can track down a gunsmith for the parts we need.”

With the roll of bills she had taken from Levi Jasper, Danielle had well over six hundred dollars, but she had set a limit of three hundred for the trail drive. However it came out, she would still need money to keep herself fed and supplied with ammunition. But there was much to be gained. Unanimously, she had been promised a hundred head of cattle, and if they brought as much as thirty dollars a head, that would be three thousand dollars! They left the wagon at the mercantile with instructions to load the supplies and ammunition as their list specified.

“Dallas is a right smart of a town,” Tuck said. “If we ride, it’ll have to be bareback, on a couple of the mules.”

“Then let’s ride the mules,” said Danielle.

Tuck laughed. “We won’t have to worry about robbers. They’ll figure if we had anything worth stealing, we wouldn’t be riding mules without saddles.”

Eventually they found a gunsmith and, for fifteen dollars, got the springs and various other parts needed to restore all their Colts to working condition. Tuck insisted on paying the gunsmith from the little money his mother had given him.

“You should have let me pay for that,” Danielle said.

“We’ll be lucky if you have enough to pay for all the provisions we’re getting at the mercantile,” said Tuck. “It’s still too soon to return to the mercantile. Let’s go into some of the big saloons and see what they’re like.”

“I don’t drink,” Danielle said.

“Neither do I,” said Tuck, “but I may never get to Dallas again, and I’d like to have a look at some of it.”

They entered a prosperous-looking place called the Four Aces, and it being early in the afternoon, there were few patrons. Five men sat at a table, playing poker. Two women sat on bar stools and eyed the new arrivals with interest.

“Let’s watch the poker game a few minutes,” Tuck said. “Maybe I can sit in for a hand or two. I still have five dollars.”

“Table stakes, dollar limit,” said the house dealer as Tuck and Danielle approached.

“I’ll stand back out of the way and watch,” said Danielle.

She didn’t approve of Tuck taking part in the game, and she was sure Mrs. Carlyle had not given Tuck her last few dollars for such a purpose. But she said nothing. Tuck hooked the rung of a chair with his boot, pulled it out, and sat down. He lost three pots before he started winning. He seemed to have forgotten Danielle as she stood with her back to the wall, watching the game. To her dismay, one of the painted women approached her.

“Hello, cowboy,” drawled the woman. “I’m Viola. While your friend’s at the table, I can show you a good time upstairs. Just twenty-five dollars.”

“No,” Danielle replied. “I’m not interested.”

“So you don’t have twenty-five dollars,” said the whore. “How about fifteen?”

“Ma’am,” Danielle said coldly, “I wouldn’t have it if it was free. Now leave me the hell alone.”

Viola slapped Danielle across the face, and Danielle had to grit her teeth to avoid a similar response. A man didn’t strike a woman—not even an insolent saloon whore. It was time to leave the saloon, and Danielle did so, waiting outside on the boardwalk for Tuck. He soon joined her.

“I won fifty dollars,” he said. “What got the saloon woman on the prod?”

“She wanted to take me upstairs for twenty-five dollars,” said Danielle, “and when I refused, she came down to fifteen dollars. I told her I wouldn’t go upstairs with her if she was free.”

Tuck laughed. “Sooner or later, you’ll have to get your ashes hauled.”

“My what?”

“Oh, hell,” said Tuck, “you know. Get with a woman.”

“There’s no time or money for that,” Danielle said, “even if I was so inclined. I reckon you’ve already been there, have you?”

“No,” said Tuck sheepishly, “but I did look through a window once, watching Carrie taking a bath in a washtub.”

Danielle laughed. “I don’t think that counts. A man shouldn’t do that to his sister.”

“Damn it,” said Tuck, “there’s not a female within riding distance of our place, except Katrina Chadman.”

“She’s pretty,” Danielle said, trying mightily to hide her jealousy.

“She’s also just sixteen,” said Tuck. “From what I hear, I think her ma dresses her in cast-iron underpants.”

Danielle laughed, slapping her thighs with her hat, as a man would do.

“Give her another year or two,” Tuck continued, “and some varmint will have his loop on her. Barney Dumont, Eric Chadman, Abram and Clement Baldwin, and the Flagg boys, Floyd and Edward, are all makin’ eyes at her. What chance would I have?”

“None, if you don’t get off your hunkers and make a bid,” said Danielle. “You could always take her swimming. You don’t look too bad in your bare hide.”

“I might have known if anybody ever said that to me, it’d be some hombre,” Tuck said.

“You have fifty dollars,” said Danielle. “While you’re here, you could always buy yourself a heavy hammer and a good chisel.”

“What for?” Tuck demanded.

Danielle chuckled. “For the cast-iron underpants.”

Tuck laughed in spite of himself. They reined up before the mercantile, where the other two mules were tied to a hitch rail. The canvas on their wagon had been raised, and one look told them the loading—or most of it—had been done. Barrels of flour sat on the floor of the wagon bed, while lighter goods were piled as high as the wagon bows would permit.

“My God,” said Tuck, “I hope we can pay for all this.”

“We might as well find out,” Danielle said. “Come on.”

“Three hundred and thirty-five dollars,” said the storekeeper. “I had to cut back to half the sugar and coffee beans you wanted, so’s I’d have some for my regular customers.”

Wordlessly, Tuck handed Danielle thirty-five dollars with a wink while she counted out the three hundred. It was ironic that the fifty dollars he had won in the saloon had paid for the needed gun parts, with enough left to pay the mercantile.

They harnessed the mules, and only when they mounted the wagon box did Tuck say anything.

“Well, I’m broke. There goes the hammer and chisel.”

Danielle laughed. “Maybe you won’t need it until we reach Abilene. By then, you’ll have the money. Or maybe you can get in solid enough with Enos Chadman, he’ll let you have the key.”

Tuck Carlyle actually blushed, and Danielle laughed. She had learned much in the ways of men, and when it came to cowboy humor, she was giving as good as she got.

“There’ll be rain sometime tonight,” said Tuck, changing the subject.

“At least we have a wagon canvas to protect the load,” Danielle said. “I reckon we’ll get wet, but we’ll be wet many more times before we get to Abilene.”

North of Dallas. August 14, 1870.

“We’re making good time,” said Tuck. “All the way from our ranch to Dallas and back to here in four days. We’ve come a good twenty-five miles today. If the rain don’t bring mud hub-deep, we’ll be home in another two days.”

But the rain started just before dark and didn’t diminish until the next morning.

“Damn,” Tuck groaned, “we ain’t going anywhere with this load. Not until there’s been a couple of days of sun.”

They picketed the mules and sat down on the wagon tongue, allowing the morning sun to dry their sodden hats, boots, and clothing.

By way of conversation, Danielle spoke.

“If we find and gun these varmints down, there may be others who’ll continue rustling your cattle. What of them?”

“If we make this drive successfully,” Tuck said, “we’ll have money to hire riders and protect our stock. With cows selling for three dollars a head in Texas, we might actually buy some. Three thousand dollars would buy a thousand head. That many cows driven to the railroad in Kansas, my God, that’s thirty thousand dollars.”

“Don’t let me gun down your dreams,” said Danielle, “but we’ll be reaching the railroad late in the season. Cattle buyers may not be paying as much as we’re expecting.”

“Maybe not,” Tuck said, “but there’s a chance they’ll pay more than we’re expecting. There likely won’t be another herd until spring.”

Conversation lagged. Having already commented on the rain, the mud, the delay, the rustlers, and the possible price of cattle in Kansas, there seemed little else to say.

“That night, while I was on the porch, Carrie sat with me awhile,” said Danielle. “She tried to make me promise I’d come back to your place after I’ve avenged my pa.”

Tuck laughed. “You could do worse. Carrie’s two years younger than me. By the time you get back to our place, Carrie will be a prize for some varmint. She’ll be chomping at the bit to do something.”

“She’s chomping at the bit now,” Danielle said. “She’s likely to do something foolish.”

“I reckon,” said Tuck. “Has any woman ever done anything else, when it comes to a man? She’ll likely be wantin’ to share your blankets before we reach Abilene.”

“Tuck Carlyle, that’s no way to speak of your sister,” Danielle said heatedly.

“Whoa,” said Tuck. “Don’t go jumping on me. It was you that suggested she’s after you like an old hen after a grasshopper. If she aims to bed down with some hombre, then I hope it’s you, instead of one of the Dumont, Baldwin, Chadman, or Flagg boys.”

“Sorry,” Danielle said, “but I’m not beddin’ with anybody until I’ve found and disposed of my pa’s killers. Why don’t you talk to Carrie, and give her some advice?”

“She’d tell me where to stick my advice,” said Tuck. “She always has before. If you promised to come back here, it might keep her out of trouble.”

“I can’t use a lie to protect her,” Danielle said. “Before my search ends, I could be dead. Besides, after I’m gone, she’ll forget. The Dumont, Baldwin, Chadman, and Flagg boys may begin to look a little more promising.”

Tuck laughed. “All any of them want is to take her somewhere and get her clothes off. Ain’t you old enough to figure that out?”

“I reckon,” said Danielle, holding on to her temper. “While you’re in Abilene, buy her some of those cast-iron underpants with the money, and throw away the key.”

That silenced him, and for a long time, neither of them spoke.

“There’s more clouds over yonder to the west. Unless it rains itself out before it gets to us, there could be more rain late tonight,” Tuck finally said.

“Oh, damn it,” Danielle said, “we’ll never get to Abilene. We may never get back to your ranch.”

But the rain ceased before it reached them, and the following morning Tuck came up with an idea.

“Why don’t we hitch up the teams and see how far we can get today? I don’t think I can stand another day sittin’ on that wagon tongue, discussing cast-iron underpants for my sister, Carrie.”

Danielle laughed. “Maybe I’ll tell her that’s what you aim to buy for her in Abilene.”

“I don’t care a damn,” said Tuck. “I’ve done told her everything a girl should know, and maybe more. I told her if she wants a snot-nose kid before she’s seventeen, to just do anything that strikes her fancy. I got cussed out for my efforts.”

Despite the still muddy ground, Tuck and Danielle harnessed the teams and began their journey to the north. Tuck drove, steering the teams away from low places and keeping to high ground.

“You’re good with a team and wagon,” Danielle said.

“I’m good at most everything I’ve tried,” said Tuck. “Of course,” he said, winking, “I got a few things I ain’t tried.”

“One of them being Katrina, I suppose,” Danielle said.

“Hell, I can dream, can’t I?” said Tuck. “I saw her watching you while we were there at the Chadmans. Chadman’s impressed with you. By the time we get to Abilene, you may have already been inside those underpants.”

“Maybe,” Danielle said, for once not blushing, “but I’ll tell everybody else what I’ve told you and Carrie. My pa’s killers come first.”

Despite the mud, Tuck’s expert handling of the teams managed to keep the wagon on high ground. He continued on until after sundown before unharnessing the tired mules.

“I figure we’re not more than thirty-five miles from the ranch,” said Tuck. “If all goes well, we’ll be there late tomorrow. Not bad, three days to Dallas and four back, returning with a loaded wagon.”

“Where are they, Ma?” Carrie complained. “They’ve been gone a week today.”

Mrs. Carlyle laughed. “Who are you missing? Tuck or Daniel?”

“I miss them both,” said Carrie. “The rest of the ranchers have gathered their five hundred head, and they’re waiting on us.”

“They’ve also promised to help Tuck and Daniel with our herd,” Mrs. Carlyle said. “It shouldn’t be more than a day, with so many riders.”

“There was a full night of rain to the south of here, night before last,” said Carrie. “The mud may be deep. They may still be three days away.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Mrs. Carlyle replied. “I’m sure they’ll be here as soon as they can.”

The Carlyle Ranch. North Texas. August 18, 1870.

It was late in the evening, sundown not more than an hour away. Despite the scolding of Mrs. Carlyle, Carrie stayed rooted to her spot, continuing to look to the south as far as she could see. Finally, on the horizon, a moving speck became visible. It eventually turned into two teams of mules and a wagon.

“They’re coming, Ma! They’re coming!” Carrie shouted, running for the house.

Mrs. Carlyle and Carrie were waiting on the porch when Tuck reined up the tired and sweating teams. He was alone on the wagon box.

“Where’s Daniel?” Carrie inquired in a quavering voice.

“Oh, he met a girl in Dallas and decided to spend a few days with her.”

“No,” Carrie cried, bursting into tears.

“Tuck,” Mrs. Carlyle scolded, “don’t tease your sister. Daniel’s horse is still out there in our barn.”

The joke was over, and Danielle managed to squeeze out of the wagon, where she had concealed herself.

“Damn you, Tuck Carlyle, I hate you,” Carrie shouted.

“It was partly my idea,” said Danielle.

“Then I hate you too,” Carrie snarled.

“We got to find her a man somewhere, Ma,” said Tuck, apparently deadly serious, “else there’s no tel lin’ what will be takin’ her to the hayloft.”

It was more than Carrie could stand. Speechless, her face flaming red, she ran into the house.