Chapter Twenty-Two
Frank led the way through the dense pine trees with the cattle and men following in a single line. This rustling job had gone much easier than he’d expected. He was disappointed he hadn’t had the opportunity to take another shot at Joseph Longbow, but he’d have his chance. The next time he planned on being more accurate. Frank wasn’t worried about anyone picking up their trail when they noticed cattle were missing, because he’d chosen a route that was difficult to maneuver with cattle. And if they got lucky it would be days before Morgan’s men took a head count.
Now all he had to do was concentrate on driving the nervous cattle through the pines. The eerie sounds were spooking them, and the men were doing their best to keep them from bolting. Just like the last time they rustled on Morgan’s land, the sounds in the pines started when they rode into the trees before dawn. Frank always heard whispers when he rode into the pines, and today was no different. It almost sounded like people were surrounding them, whispering loudly. But now, the deeper they rode into the pines with the cattle, the sounds had changed to screams. Just like the night that Smiley went missing. Before long, the spine-chilling shrieks were deafening. The men were as spooked as the cattle. Frank didn’t laugh this time. His heart was racing, and he kept looking back to make sure no one was coming after him. He wanted to ride like the Devil was on his heels to get out of those trees, but it was slow going as they snaked their way to the clearing.
When Frank rode through the western boundary out of the trees, he breathed a sigh of relief. Just a few feet from the boundary, he no longer heard anything but the panicked bawls of the cattle. After twenty head appeared through the trees, Stevie and Walt emerged behind them.
“I ain’t never heard anything like that in all my life,” Walt said, sounding out of breath.
“Me neither,” Stevie said, wiping the sweat from his face. “What do you make of that, Frankie?”
“I don’t know what to think.” Frank didn’t bother to deny he’d heard the same thing they had. The night Smiley was with them was fresh on his mind. He’d laughed at the men for getting so frightened that night. He’d laughed until Smiley didn’t ride through the trees.
Deke and Dutch came riding out behind another twenty head of cattle. Neither man said a word, but their tense expressions said they were as terrified as the other men.
More cattle appeared through the clearing before Reb rode out. “I ain’t never going back in there. Did you hear those screams?”
The men nodded.
“Scariest thing I ever heard,” Reb continued. “Who was that screaming?”
No one had an answer.
“Let’s count how many we have,” Frank said, trying to think of something other than the mind-numbing fear he’d felt moments earlier. His heart was still pounding as though he’d been chased by renegade Indians.
A few more cows scurried from the trees, but there was no sign of the remaining two men, Corbin and Mason.
“I count sixty-seven,” Frank said.
“Yeah,” Walt said.
Stevie nodded. “Me too.”
Corbin emerged from the trees with his pistol drawn, looking behind him. “Mason was right behind me, but I don’t see him now. I stopped to wait, but he didn’t show.”
No one responded; their eyes remained fixed on the eerily silent forest before them.
They waited for several minutes for Mason to appear, but Frank started getting antsy. He pointed to Dutch, Deke, and Reb. “You three go ahead, we can’t waste more time. We’ll wait here for a few more minutes.”
“What if he don’t show up?” Deke asked.
“I ain’t going back in there to look for him,” Reb said. “That was worse than the night Smiley was ridin’ with us. And no one has seen him since that night. I figure Mason’s a goner.”
“If he don’t show up, then he don’t show up. You’ve got sixty-seven head right there to sell, and you know where to go,” Frank said.
“What if it was him screaming?” Stevie said.
“We can’t do nothing for him now,” Frank countered. “We ain’t got time to go back in there.”
Deke and Dutch glanced at each other, both wondering if it was one of them left in there, if anyone would go back to find them. They looked one more time into the trees before they started moving the cattle.
“Stevie, you go on back home and get your horse in the stable. If they stop by on the way home from church, I want you to be there,” Frank said.
“I don’t feel right about leaving Mason. If he’s found by Morgan’s men, they will figure out it was you rustling,” Stevie said.
“Smiley was never found,” Frank replied.
Stevie looked at Walt. “What do you think?”
“If you want to ride back in there, I’ll go with you,” Walt said. He didn’t care much about Mason, but he figured he’d want someone to go back for him if he was the one who was missing.
Frank moved his horse to face them. “I give the orders around here, and I’m telling you to go home, Stevie.” He glared at Walt. “We need to get back to the cabin right now.”
When neither man moved, Frank added, “You know I’m right. We can’t take a chance on getting caught.”
Stevie looked back at the trees before he turned his horse toward the farm. Frank and Walt rode in the opposite direction without looking back.
* * *
Three days later, Murph found Morgan repairing one of the railings surrounding the paddock. “We got about seventy head missing.”
Morgan stopped what he was doing and gave Murph his attention. “What range?”
“West. They could have been rustled days ago. We didn’t find a trail.”
Morgan didn’t figure it was Indians. If they rustled, it was generally only one or two cows. While he didn’t like people stealing, he understood they were starving, so he was apt to forgive that theft. This was someone rustling to sell what was his, and he wasn’t willing to overlook that transgression. “You think it could be Frank?”
Murph shrugged. “That would be pretty gosh-darn brazen since everyone is looking for him.”
Morgan knew Frank was just that brazen. “Just like something he would do.”
Murph nodded his agreement. “Frank thinks he’s invincible.”
“Let me get saddled.” Morgan walked to the stable to get his horse.
When Morgan and Murph reached the western range, they rode for over an hour, but they found no trails. “Well, they didn’t just disappear.” Morgan looked across the range at the pine tree boundary. “After the disappearance of Smiley, I can’t see the rustlers going through those trees again. That incident scared the daylights out of everyone.”
“And it would have taken a long time with seventy head,” Murph added.
“Likely they did it on Sunday morning. Might as well take a look.” Morgan didn’t share his thought with Murph, but he had a gut feeling Stevie was involved. He wasn’t buying his change of heart to stay on the farm. And if Stevie was involved, it followed that Frank was calling the shots.
They rode the line of the pine-tree range until they found an area where tree limbs were broken off. They followed the trail of damaged trees, and Morgan had no doubt this was the area where the rustlers led the cattle off his land. Having made their way through the trees, they rode for several miles before they stopped.
“They aren’t going in the direction of Purgatory Canyon,” Murph said.
“Nope, probably headed to New Mexico Territory.”
“You think that means it wasn’t Frank?”
Morgan had been thinking about that as he rode through the trees. “I’m thinking it was Frank.”
“How so?”
“Like you said, Frank has made it his purpose to hurt me as much as possible. As long as he’s not in jail, he’s going to be a thorn in my side. He knows he can’t stay at Purgatory Canyon because we know that’s where they’ve been hiding out.”
“Yeah, but it’s still a great place to pick off a posse if they go in after them.”
“True enough. Let’s head back to the ranch. No sense in following them tonight.” Morgan wanted to think about the situation. More than anything, he wanted to go after them, but it was going to be dark by the time he got to the ranch to ready supplies for a few days. “I’ll take off early in the morning and follow the trail.”
“I’ll go. Don’t forget you’re getting married soon,” Murph said.
“I’ll be back in time, but I’m going. Keep a close eye on the women. And I’ll tell them I don’t want them riding to the farm without one of the men with them.”
“You want me to ride to town and tell the sheriff what’s going on?” Murph asked.
“I don’t want to waste Jack’s time. We don’t know how much of a head start they have. I may not find anything.”
“It could be someone else rustling, thinking we would blame it on Frank,” Murph said.
“Could be,” Morgan said, but he didn’t believe it for a minute. His intuition told him this was Frank’s doing.
Murph read Morgan’s expression. Morgan wasn’t buying his theory. “Watch your back.”
* * *
Morgan was a little late for dinner, but Rose and Granny were waiting for him. He waited until they finished dinner and were sitting in the parlor before he told them he was leaving in the morning. “We’ve had some more rustling.”
Rose and Granny looked at him, waiting for him to say the words they feared.
“I’ll be riding out early and following the trail we found.”
“Alone?” Rose asked.
“Yes. The men will help you with anything you need. I’d prefer you stay on the ranch, but if you have to go to the farm, one of the men will take you.”
“Morgan, do you think it was Frank and his gang?” Granny asked the question they were all thinking about.
“I can’t be sure, but since he’s not in jail, I think it’s highly likely.”
“But what will you do alone? Shouldn’t someone go with you?” Rose hated feeling torn between her brother and her future husband. She couldn’t help worrying about both of them. Frankie was her blood, and she didn’t want him hurt. But she would soon share a bond with Morgan, a bond that was supposed to run deeper than blood.
“I can’t afford to take my men from their work. We’re behind on ranch work from the last time we chased them to Kansas. We have a lot to do before winter sets in.” Morgan wondered if Rose was worried he would string Frank up if he found him.
Granny stood, but before she walked upstairs, she turned to Morgan. “I no longer think you feel the vengeance in your heart now that you are to marry Rose. I expect you will do the right thing if you catch up with them.”
Morgan didn’t respond. He hoped he could live up to her expectations. He hadn’t forgotten everything Frank had done to provoke him. He told himself he could control his anger if he ever caught up to Frank, but there were times he wasn’t as confident.
Rose waited until Granny left the room before she expressed her concerns. “I’m afraid for you to go after so many men alone.”
“Are you worried about me, or about Frank?”
Rose wouldn’t lie to him. “Both. Is it wrong of me not to want either one of you hurt?”
Morgan appreciated her honesty. “No, it’s not wrong.” He stood and held out his hand to her. “I have to turn in since I’ll be leaving early.”
When they reached Rose’s bedroom door, Morgan said good night and kissed her lightly on the lips.
“Please be careful.”
“I’ll be back before the wedding.” He knew she was upset over what he was going to do, but he wouldn’t allow her feelings to deter him.
Rose watched him walk down the hallway. “Morgan,” she said before he opened his bedroom door.
Morgan turned around and looked at her.
Words seemed to fail her. She ran to his open arms and kissed him again.
“That will have to hold me until I get back,” he said when he released her.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “You will come back.”
He hugged her one last time. “Nothing could stop me, knowing I’ll be getting kisses like that every night.”
* * *
Before dawn, Morgan had reached the area where he’d turned back the day before. He wanted to know if Frank and his gang were responsible, and he wanted to know who was buying his cattle. The buyers had to know they were buying stolen cattle since his brand was on every animal. He couldn’t shake the feeling Frank was behind this, even though he couldn’t prove it this time. If Frank had a lick of sense, he’d ride down to Mexico and hide out for a few years. But Frank wanted to make a point, and he wasn’t going to ride away until he had accomplished that goal. He was allowing his personal feelings to get in the way of good judgment. Morgan wasn’t going to make the same mistake. Morgan sensed one of them would be dead before their feud ended. He was determined it wasn’t going to be him. The way he saw it, he had a lot to live for. He felt very fortunate to be marrying Rose and starting a family. Indeed, fortune had smiled on him, and he wasn’t a man to take his blessings lightly.
* * *
Rose was in the kitchen helping Granny cook vegetables when she looked out the window and saw Murph leading the big black horse to the paddock. She grabbed two apples and sliced them into pieces. “Granny, I will be back in a few minutes.”
When she reached the paddock, she started talking to Judge. He ambled over to her and nudged her hand with his muzzle.
Murph was filling the water troughs, but he was keeping a close eye on Rose and the horse. It surprised him that Judge had taken to her so quickly. He was actually behaving affectionately, much as he did with Morgan. “Morgan is the only one that horse usually likes.”
“He’s so sweet,” Rose said as she held out her slices of apple to the horse.
Sweet wasn’t the word Murph would use to describe Judge, but he was being very gentle with Rose. “Sometimes he can be as rank as a wild mustang, but now I’m beginning to think the apples are the secret. Morgan feeds them to him all the time.”
Rose thought her heart would break each time she looked at the raised scars over his body. She stroked his powerful neck, and Judge leaned into her. “What happened to him?”
Murph stared at her. “Morgan didn’t tell you?”
“No. Granny said Morgan used to ride him years ago, but she hadn’t seen him in a long time.”
Murph figured Morgan wouldn’t care if he told her about Judge. The only thing Morgan had told him and the other men not to tell Rose was that Frank had threatened to kill her. The way Murph saw it, Rose had a right to know what a low-down skunk she had for a brother.
When Murph didn’t respond right away, Rose turned to him. “Don’t you know what happened to him?”
“Your brother Frank did that to him.”
* * *
Morgan followed the trail for two days, and just as he suspected, they were going into New Mexico Territory. There were only three men with the cattle, and Morgan figured the gang split up for some reason. Morgan hoped Frank was one of the three men; he didn’t like the thought of Frank being in Whispering Pines. But he was confident Murph and his men would see to the safety of Rose and Granny. They were all aware of the lengths to which Frank would go to hurt him. By the third day, Morgan knew he had to turn back. If he didn’t head back now, he wouldn’t get home in time for his wedding.