Tracie Peterson - [Heirs of Montana 04] (44 page)

“I could try again,” Joshua said.

“The time for talk is behind us. Your father wants no part of negotiating this matter. We’ll have to do it my way now.”

Joshua nodded and Cole put his arm around the younger man’s shoulders. “You did your best. You tried. Your father doesn’t want to talk this out or deal reasonably. Probably because he knows in the end it won’t matter. There’s never any justifiable reason for the things he’s done.”

“I feel so inadequate. Pastors are supposed to be men of reconciliation, but he won’t even hear me out. It just seems that I should have been able to do something more.”

“It always does. Especially when rebellious hearts refuse to yield to the truth.”

They took their positions as the marshal directed.

“Here, take my coat and use yours too,” the marshal told one of his deputies. “Climb up there and throw them over the chimneys.” The man threw the coat over his shoulder and then scurried up the porch rail before hoisting himself onto the roof. Cole kept watch, worried that Lawrence might catch sight of the man and shoot him. The marshal seemed more than aware of this concern as well.

It took only a matter of minutes for the man to accomplish his task. Once done, he jumped from the lower roof and hit the ground without a sound. He was good at his job, Cole had to admit.

“Lawrence, you need to come out with your hands up,” the marshal called into the house. “I’m giving you exactly one minute to make up your mind.”

Chester broke through another window and fired rapidly. From the sounds of it, Cole figured he was first using his rifle, then his revolver. “And then you’ll do what? You charge this house and I’ll shoot you down. Now do as I say and get out of here. You won’t take me in to hang for something I didn’t do.”

“I don’t care if you did it or not,” the marshal called back.

“That’s not my judgment. Now surrender or we’ll be forced to shoot you down.”

Laughter rang out from the house, chilling Cole to the bone. Lawrence was clearly crazy. By now smoke was beginning to seep out the broken windows. There was some commotion in the back of the house, and it was only a minute later that one of the deputies called out that the cook and housekeeper were safely out of the house.

“I’ll go to them,” Joshua said and crawled off toward the back of the house.

“They say no one else is in there but Lawrence!” the deputy called again.

“He won’t be in there for long,” the marshal declared. “Not if he wants to go on breathing.”

Joshua came around the house with the servants and guided them to safety behind the barn. Both women were crying, and Joshua was apparently trying to console them.

Cole knew that left Zane by himself on the west side of the house and a deputy on each of the other sides. He started maneuvering across the yard to join Zane when another burst of gunfire rang out. This was followed by a spell of coughing and swearing.

Cole saw Zane hiding behind an empty wagon. He ran the final distance and joined his brother-in-law. “Reminds me of being pinned down by the Indians,” Cole said.

“Reminds me of being in the army, dealing with the same,” Zane replied. “Hard to believe one old man could cause such grief.”

“One very well armed old man.”

Looking around the corner of the wagon to the front of the house, Cole could see that thick smoke roiled from the front window. It couldn’t possibly be long now. Then without warning, gunfire sounded again. Only this time it was a single shot and then silence.

The shot seemed ominous in light of earlier assaults. Cole saw Joshua walking toward the house. “Get down, Joshua,” Cole called as he moved toward the young man. He seemed not to care about the danger. Perhaps he’d momentarily lost reasonable thought.

“There’s no need,” he said, continuing his walk toward the porch.

The marshal and Cole both rushed forward. The marshal reached Joshua first, however, and pulled him away from the house and behind the fence. “Get back here. What are you thinking?”

Cole crouched behind the fence. “Yes, what were you thinking?” “I’m thinking he’s dead,” Joshua replied. “I’m thinking that single shot put my father out of his misery for good.”

CHAPTER 28

“S
O THIS FELLA,
D
AVID IN THE BIBLE, HE KILLED A GIANT
with a slingshot?” David asked in disbelief.

“That’s right. When no one else could be found to fight for the Lord, David answered the call. He was very brave, even though he was but a boy.”

Morgan felt David shift his weight and his hold. “That’s our cabin over there.” He seemed to forget about the story. “Do you see it?”

“I see it,” Morgan said as he turned the horse toward the rundown shack. “Here, let me help you down and you go inside and let your ma know she’s got company. Ladies can be kind of fussy about strangers showing up. She may not be too excited about my being here since she’s been sick.”

David held onto Morgan’s arm and slid to the ground. “I’ll tell her. She’ll be mighty surprised about that deer you shot. Ain’t had venison in a long time.”

“Good. Maybe that will help her to feel stronger. I’ll get something cooking right away. I can build a fire out here and work on it.” Morgan dismounted and looked around. Most places had at least a fire pit for doing laundry outside, but he didn’t see any signs of one.

David scurried toward the house like a tiny field mouse. He darted between the broken fence and a pile of discarded junk, calling to his mother as he went. “Ma! You’ll never guess what we’re havin’ for dinner.”

Morgan laughed. The boy was more than a little enthused over their capture of the young buck. He hoped the animal’s youth would make it easy for the sick woman to digest.

“Mr. Morgan! Come quick. I don’t think my ma is breathing!” David called suddenly.

Morgan’s breath caught at the thought. He tossed the buck to the ground and headed to the cabin.

“Hurry, mister. I think she’s dead!”

A week after Chester Lawrence had been buried in Bozeman, Joshua made plans to return to Virginia City. As he gathered with the others at the ranch for the morning meal, he made his announcement.

“I’ve been gone from the church long enough. I know there are good people who’ve been filling in for Ben and me, but with both of us gone … well, I feel as if I’ve left the sheep to stray.”

Dianne chuckled and took her seat at the table while Ardith and Susannah finished bringing in platters of food. “I’m sure it must feel that way, but I would imagine they are fine. They can’t begrudge you the time to bury your father and deal with family business.”

“Speaking of which,” Zane interjected, looking at Joshua, “the marshal told me he had a lead on your brothers. They were seen near Deadwood. I wouldn’t be surprised if they got caught soon.”

“I hope so,” Elsa said. “They’re only going to cause folks more pain and misery. They were never anything but mean—through and through.”

“So what about you, Elsa?” Dianne questioned. “Will you go back to the ranch and live? What about you, Joshua?”

Both shook their heads. “I want no part of that place for myself,” Joshua replied. “It never gave me anything but sadness. I’d just as soon we sold it.”

“That’s how I see it too,” Elsa said, then looked to Jamie with a grin. “After all, I intend to live here.”

Everyone looked to the couple, and Jamie stammered to quickly add, “I’ve asked Elsa to marry me. We were hoping Joshua would stick around and do the job.”

Joshua shook his head in wonder. “Two sisters married within a year. I would never have thought it possible.”

“Well, we’ve always been taught to go after what we wanted,” Elsa said. “So I went after Jamie.” This brought laughter from everyone around the table.

Joshua quickly sobered and looked to Koko and George. “What do you say about this? They are young. Elsa’s just turned twenty-one, and I know from what you’ve said that Jamie will be twenty in May.”

“They love each other,” Koko replied. “That’s enough for me. They are good children with strong backs and loving hearts. They fear God and respect their elders. I think they’ll make a good match.”

“I believe a love such as theirs should never be denied,” George said. “I won’t stand in their way.”

“And what of their living here?” Joshua asked.

“Where else would they want to live?” Koko said. “This was the ranch Jamie’s father always intended him to run.”

Dianne thought for a moment on that statement. It was Jamie’s inheritance. Just as the farm in Kansas had been Cole’s. Only Dianne knew how deeply Bram had felt about this land and about his son inheriting the property. He had gone out of his way to make provision by making Dianne a partner on the deed. All so that Jamie wouldn’t lose his inheritance.

“Well, this is exciting news,” Cole interjected. “But what of you, Zane? Would you and Mara be interested in taking over the Walking Horseshoe Ranch? After all, it’s as much Mara’s as it is Elsa’s or Joshua’s.”

“I’ve no interest in ranching,” he said. “You know that. I am very interested, however, in this breakfast. Might we bless it and continue our discussion while we eat?”

Cole laughed. “Of course we can.” He offered a quick prayer of thanks, then picked up a platter of ham. While he skewered several pieces, he continued. “Will you and Mara remain in Anaconda?” Zane was already busy ladling eggs onto his plate. “I don’t think so. With the baby coming, I want to get Mara to a place where the air is better and the town less rowdy. Marcus Daly would actually like me to consider working for him in Helena. He wants to see Anaconda become the capital of Montana when we finally achieve statehood. He thinks he can stir up enough folks in Helena to vote for this, but I seriously doubt it. William Clark is fighting equally hard to keep Helena the capital.”

“Do politics interest you, Zane?” Dianne asked. She found it difficult to believe that her brother would hold any true desire for such a proposition.

“Not exactly.” He took up the offered ham and helped himself. “I frankly like the line of work I’m already in. Freighting is a good business if you aren’t afraid of hard work. I’ve still got a few more years in me for hauling and lifting.” He grinned as Mara elbowed him.

“He’d better. I intend for him to haul and lift our baby around. Maybe two or three babies,” she added boldly.

“It would be wonderful to have you living close enough for visiting,” Elsa said hopefully. “Couldn’t you just move back to this area?”

“Truth be told,” Cole began, “I was going to ask the same thing. I kind of had it in mind that you could take over my freighting business.”

Zane looked up. “You mean, have me sell out in Anaconda and buy up your business in Virginia City?”

“Why not?”

“I just hadn’t considered it.”

“Well, I wish you would,” Cole said thoughtfully. “There’s good work to be had, though maybe not as much as there was in Butte and Anaconda. You might even want to think about moving it all to Bozeman. That town has grown like a wildfire spreading. We could always check into the prospects of putting in a business there.”

“That might work well,” Zane said. “It would definitely be worth checking into. When they closed down Fort Ellis, I wasn’t sure Bozeman would last. But the railroad and new settlers have definitely caused a boom. I’m betting they’ll be around for a long time.”

Cole took a bowl of fried potatoes from Dianne and put a generous amount on his plate. “And I have another proposition to offer as well.”

Dianne was greatly surprised by this. Cole had talked about getting out of the freighting business, for which she’d been quite glad, but she had no idea what else he would suggest.

“Though I haven’t had a chance to settle plans with Dianne, I’d like to make the proposal nevertheless.” All gazes were fixed on Cole. Even the children seemed spellbound by what he had to say.

“Well, don’t keep us waiting,” Koko said, laughing.

Cole grinned. “I was just wondering if Joshua and his sisters would consider selling the Walking Horseshoe to me.”

Dianne felt her stomach tighten. “Buy the Lawrence property? But why?”

“A good question and here’s the answer. Joshua, Mara, and Elsa will most likely sell it anyway. There aren’t a whole lot of folks in this valley who could afford to pay a fair price for the cattle and the land. We’re in a position to do both. We could then split the cattle between us and the Diamond V and let the animals free-range all summer. Come fall, we can sell off the fattened steers and buy new animals. I don’t know what the ratio of steers to cows might be with your father’s herd,” Cole said, looking to Joshua, “but I think we might be able to make this work—and work well. We might also look into getting some sheep. The sheep didn’t suffer nearly as much this winter. They might be a good investment.”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Elsa declared. “I don’t want the ranch, but it would be nice to see someone I cared about living nearby.”

“I think it’s a good idea as well,” Mara said, and she looked to Joshua. “What say you, brother?”

Joshua concurred. “I think it would solve a lot of problems. We wouldn’t have to worry about finding a buyer or holding an auction. That’s always appealing. But wouldn’t there be a matter of clearing up the deed and such? I know there are debts owed. Debts that hold the property in lien.”