Jake (10 page)

“We could check at
The Gem
,” said Becky. “Al Swerengen, the owner, might know. Of course, he’s mercenary enough to want to turn you in himself.”

“I think we’re better off talking to Billy first.” Jake’s hands formed fists of their own accord. He couldn’t think of anything better right now than beating Billy into the ground.

“I don’t know if Billy will be in any kind of shape to talk to you. He’s probably drunk by now.”

“What’s drunk, Becky?” asked Hannah.

“Um, well, it means he’s had too much whiskey,” she explained.

“What’s whiskey?” the little girl asked.

“It’s bad stuff that people sometimes drink to make themselves feel better.”

“If it’s bad why would it make them feel better?” asked David.

While Becky was answering David, Jake noticed Hannah was inching closer and closer to the horses. She loved animals but he couldn’t let her see those men.

“Hannah, what are you doing?” asked Jake, his tone curious but not threatening.

She stopped and looked down at her feet. “I just want to pet the horseys, Uncle Jake.”

“What did I tell you?”

“To stay back away from the horseys.”

“So why are you not listening to me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know how much you like the horses, sweetie, but this time you have to stay far away from them. Trust your Uncle Jake on this.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t for your own good, darlin’.” He picked her up and walked over to the camp stools by the fire. “I love you and want you to be safe. Those horses are carrying bad men and I don’t want you to see them. You understand?”

“Yes, sir.” She leaned back against his chest and put her thumb into her mouth.

He gently pulled her thumb out. “That’s no reason to suck your thumb. Now you be a big girl and play here by the tents, okay?”

She nodded. “Uncle Jake, will you let me pet the horses when there ain’t bad men on them?”

He was amazed at her insight. She knew that he was going to get rid of the men. He almost didn’t have the heart to tell her that he wouldn’t be bringing back the horses.

“Sweetie, the horses are going to be staying in town, too. But I tell you what. When Becky comes by with Buster again, you can pet him. How’s that?”

“Yup.” She climbed down off his lap and went to play by the side of the tent. The discussion was clearly at an end, at least as far as Hannah was concerned. Liam had made a little area for her, surrounded it with the empty flour and sugar barrels, so she had a little house of sorts to play in.

Jake got up and rejoined his brothers and Becky.

David gave up on getting to see the dead men and took his fishing pole down to the river. He’d gotten superb at pulling trout out of the clear water. There were a couple of deep holes he was partial to. He said the big ones lived there and to prove himself right, he’d caught a couple of really nice ones that he’d given to Jake and Becky.

“We best get going. No telling how long it’s going to take to get these men taken care of and the horses and saddles sold,” Jake said.

Liam held his hand out to Becky.

She looked at him quizzically, but took his hand.

“Thank you for saving Jake’s life. I owe you.”

She shook her head. “You don’t owe me nothing.” Then she smiled, “Jake owes me.”

“I can’t argue with that,” said Jake. “I owe you my life and I will repay you. I just don’t know how yet.”

She walked back to the horses, released them from the hobble and took up the reins of both. “I can do this by myself,” she said to Jake when he reached for the reins to the big roan.

“I know you can, but you don’t have to. I’m going with you.”

They turned, and waved goodbye to Zach and Liam.

The trail they traveled wound its way along the river into Deadwood. They passed numerous claims with men in the water working their pans just like Jake and Becky should be doing with theirs. Mostly, the men barely acknowledged their passing; only a couple of the newer claim owners nodded in greeting as they passed. They saw the dead men tied over the saddles and though they were probably curious none decided to question them about the dead bodies. After all, what if they took exception?

When they reached Deadwood, Jake and Becky walked straight through the encampment to the East end where the Celestials had their town and Doc Cochran had his office.

They stopped in front of the small wood cabin. It looked like it was one of the original buildings, made from logs with mud in between to keep it together. Jake hoped the good doctor was in because he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with these bodies if he couldn’t give them to the doctor. Drop them at his door? Luck was on his side. Doc was in his office and answered when Jake knocked on the door.

“What is it that you’d be pounding on my door? A simple knock would do,” said the Doc irritably, fingers rubbing his temples.

“Hiya, Doc,” said Becky. “Got a couple of bodies for you. Do you want them here? They both died of gunshot wounds.”

“Received through your courtesy, Miss Finnegan?” asked the doc, eyebrow cocked.

“Yes, sir. They tried to kill me and Jake here. We killed ’em first.”

“Can you take them up to Mr. Blake, the undertaker?” asked Doc.

“You bet. We just thought you might want to see them first.”

“I’ve no need to examine them further. I can see their wounds just fine and trust that they died as you said.”

“Thanks, Doc. We’ll drop them off. See ya later,” said Becky.

“Goodbye, Becky. Try not to kill anyone else.”

“As long as they don’t try to kill me first, you got a deal, Doc.”

Jake stood by and let Becky do the talking. He didn’t know who he could trust, the doctor included. Rather than give a false name, Jake preferred to remain quiet. Besides, the doctor could figure out who owned the Discovery #9 and who Jake was with a trip to the mercantile.

It wasn’t a secret that Liam had bought the claim from Lily Sutter. Or that he was there with his two brothers, but until the Wanted poster and the bounty hunters showed up, no one had a reason to suspect two fugitives from the law were now residing in Deadwood. Jake would bet he and Zach weren’t the only ones on the run, now living in Deadwood.

Doc suddenly looked at Jake. “Who are you young man?”

Jake held out his hand. “Jake. Jake Anderson, sir.”

“Well, Jake, our little Becky seems to have taken a liking to you or you wouldn’t be here. I’d appreciate it if you’d watch out for her. Lord knows her father doesn’t.”

Jake cocked his head. “You know Billy Finnegan, sir?”

“Call me Doc, not sir. And yes, I know Billy. Anyone who’s ever been in
The Gem
knows Billy. Loud mouth, asshole drunk and general all round wastrel.”

“That about covers it,” said Jake.

“Let’s go, Jake, we got work to do.” Becky kicked at a stone, clearly uncomfortable with the talk about her father and anxious to leave.

“All right.” He held his hand out to the doctor again. “Pleased to meet you and thank you for your time.”

Doc seemed taken aback by Jake’s manners. “The pleasure is mine.”

Jake took a set of reins from Becky and they continued toward the graveyard. The undertaker, Ezra Blake, had an office and workshop near there.

When they reached the large building, they heard hammering coming from inside.

Becky walked to the door and pounded. “Mr. Blake. It’s Becky Finnegan.” She opened the door of the workshop. They passed through the doorway into a single large room with several sets of saw horses holding three coffins. A man was hammering nails into a fourth box. Each coffin was about six feet long and two to three feet wide.

The room was big, probably thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. On the walls hung all manner of wood working equipment. Saws of every shape and size, planes, hammers, alls and T-squares for squaring up the coffin sides.

Besides the saw horses, there were two large tables in the room and work counters along the long walls. A potbellied stove in the corner of the back wall provided heat. Tall windows let in light supplemented by oil lamps on the counters.

The man, who Jake assumed was Mr. Blake, was short and balding with tufts gray hair sticking out here and there. A jolly look about him made him the least likely looking undertaker Jake had ever seen. He looked more like St. Nicholas. As soon as he saw Becky he broke into a wide smile.

“Why Miss Becky, how are you today?” His smile faltered. “Are you here about Billy?”

“Oh, no, Mr. Blake, my da is still alive and kicking.”

“I’m sorry…I mean….”

“Don’t be. I hope the day will soon come that I’m here to have you bury him and put everyone out of their misery, but it’s not today.”

Jake noticed a help wanted sign in the window to the right side of the door. He wasn’t surprised. He thought Mr. Blake’s business was probably brisk.

“Help wanted?” asked Jake. “What do you pay?”

“One dollar a day plus room and board. Are you interested?”

“Not right now but if the gold claim doesn’t pan out, I might be.”

“Until then, what can I do for you?” he set his hammer down on the table where he’d been attaching the sides of one of the coffin’s to the base.

Jake had never been in an undertakers office before. Even when his parents died, the parson made all the arrangements. A shiver when up his spine. It was creepy being in a room full of coffins in all manner of finish. Some complete, some just started and hopefully, all empty.

“Doc told us to bring two bodies down to you. We had to kill ’em when they tried to ambush us, me and Jake,” said Becky who seemed totally unaffected by the caskets around her. “This here is Jake Anderson. He and his brothers bought the Sutter claim.”

Jake stepped forward and offered his hand to the older man. “Pleased to meet you, sir.”

“Ah, yes, Sutter.” Blake held his sawdust covered hand out to Jake. “I buried him you know. Poor Miss Sutter, alone now just her and her little girl. Very sad.”

“Yes, well, what do you want us to do with these bodies?” asked Jake.

“Let’s go take a look at them. I need to measure them for the casket. Who’s going to pay for the buryin’?”

“The town should,” grumbled Becky.

“I am,” said Jake and he flipped a twenty dollar double eagle gold piece to Mr. Blake. “This should cover it.”

Blake shook his head and smiled. “This is Deadwood, young man that will pay for one of them.”

Jake nodded and got another gold coin from his pocket. “Fine. Here you are.”

“Thank you. You can help me put the men in the coffins.”

They all walked outside to where the horses stood tied to the hitching rail. Mr. Blake went to each man and lifted his head before measuring them for the boxes. “Looks like one regular and one wide coffin.”

Jake helped Blake put the bodies into the rectangular pine boxes.

When Blake would have propped them up for display outside the office, Jake said, “I’d be obliged if you didn’t display these two. I’ll give you another twenty dollars to bury them right away.”

Blake thought about it a moment before he nodded his head. “All right. I’ll see the holes dug and they’ll be buried tomorrow.”

Jake handed over a third gold coin. “Much appreciated.”

They left the bodies with Mr. Blake and rode the horses to the livery to sell them and the saddles. The horses were not prime horseflesh but were still strong, serviceable animals. Jake managed to negotiate a price of fifty dollars each for the horse with saddle. It wasn’t what they were worth but it was another hundred dollars for Becky’s escape fund, as he called it.

After the livery, they visited every place they could think of that might have Wanted posters, including
The Gem
, where they looked for Billy but didn’t find him. From there they went to the newspaper office and the freight office. They struck pay dirt at the freight service. New posters had arrived for the sheriff. Mr. Finch, the owner, said Becky could have them if she wanted. Since there was no sheriff, he was just going to throw them away.

She grabbed the parcel, thanked him and went out to where Jake waited, leaning against the side of the building facing the street.

“I’ve got them,” she said excitedly, joining him.

They walked around the side of the building into the alley and found some privacy. Becky opened the package and took out the posters. They found the one for Jake quickly. It was the same as the one the bounty hunter had and offered a bounty of $1000, if alive. The last poster they came to was for Zach. It was the more dangerous of the two because it said ‘Wanted, Dead or Alive’ with a bounty of $500.

Both bounties seemed unusually high. Mayor Green must really want to talk to Jake before he had him hung for the murder of his daughter, Elizabeth.

“We’ve got to get these to Liam and Zach. Let’s go.” Jake took the posters stuck them back in the brown paper wrapper and shoved it in the back of his pants, under his coat, safe from prying eyes.