Bucking the Odds Read online

"That's why I am here, you can stop working on them…I'm staying on and taking over the ranch."

  Bob looked at him with a shocked look.

  "Well, you can do that, but I thought you said you didn't know much about ranching."

  Lance waited a minute collecting his thoughts.

  "I picked up a splattering of knowledge in my travels. I know that it is like you lawyers say 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing' but this is something I have to do. I'm sure there are people in the area who would be willing to help me."

  Bob folded up the file he was working on.

  "I'm sure there are, this is a fine community and if it wasn't for the drought, I'm sure the ranchers would all get along like they did before. As for me I have accepted a position with a law firm in Denver. I like it here, but there is much more chance for advancement there, so Mamie and I will be leaving in a couple of weeks...after we are married."

  Lance sat there letting what he just heard sink in. That was not the same feeling he got as he had held her in his arms and kissed her a while ago but this was not the time to talk about that, it was something he would have to work out on his own.

  He had been with plenty of women in his younger wilder days but none of them meant any more that a good time to him, this was the first girl he met that he felt that he could spend his life with, and he was seeing her slip thought his fingers...or was she. He made up his mind that he would do all he could to see that it didn't happen.

  Before he left for the ranch he stopped by to see Mamie and Rachael and told her his plan to keep the ranch and make a home for Rachael. He stood by the door getting ready to step out.

  "As soon as I get things sorted out at the ranch I will be coming for her...and you."

  This time she made sure she didn't get close to him, because she knew she couldn't resist if he tried to kiss her again.

  “I can look after her for two weeks, and then Bob and I are leaving for Denver."

  He smiled at her and gave a little wave as he went out the door.

  "That will give me two weeks to get things in order, and I will be coming for you."

  As she watched him ride away she thought of what her father had said, and she knew he would be riding into trouble. She had never met a person with so much confidence in himself, almost to the point that he was arrogant, but somehow she believed he could and would do anything he said.

  Chapter 5

  The last thing he did before leaving town was to stop by the telegraph office. It had taken a long time, but the telegraph finally made it to Prineville. He wired a simple message to the Mayor of Medicine Bow asking him to get the message to the boys. All it said was 'Come to Prineville, I may need your help'.

  When the boys got the message they were on the train the next day and they figured, like he did, that they would be there in six or seven days.

  He rode cautiously out to the ranch, finally stopping in front of the house. He hadn't gone in when he was here with Dan, but now things were different. He sat looking at his new home and he envisioned himself, Mamie and Rachael sitting on the front porch watching the setting sun.

  Finally his thoughts were broken and he dismounted and started to enter, it was an eerie feeling he was having, almost like Larry was walking beside him. He opened the door and looked around and although he had never been there before he knew that things were just the same as Larry left them.

  He walked from room to room carefully studying everything, and in the back of his mind he was looking for anything that could be a clue to why Larry was shot. In a corner of the large room that served as the kitchen and living room, beside the fireplace was a small desk, and on that desk was a leather covered book.

  He picked it up and looked at the notations that were in Larry's handwriting. This was the tally book that he used to keep track of all his cattle sales and the count of the cattle on the ranch. The last entry was made on the day before he died. Lance looked at the book and figured he was probably out doing his rounds and counting the cattle when he was shot.

  The book showed a little over five hundred head on the ranch, and it was now going to be up to him to locate them. He had brought a few supplies with him and there were plenty of can goods in stock so he made himself a meal and started making plans.

  Larry was worried and had mentioned a range war, and based on what he had learned from Dan, that could only come from one or both of the ranches on each side of him. He was well aware of the drought conditions that plagued the area, but he didn't completely understand the impact it was having on the large herds.

  He knew the 'Flying W' was the only ranch with enough water to sustain a herd and although the stream was only flowing to half of its normal capacity, there was plenty of water for his herd.

  When he finished eating he decided to scout around and see what the situation was. He rode along the small stream and saw all the work that Larry had done. He had set up a water wheel that lifted water out of the stream and down a flume to a large pond that he used to water his cattle and he then fenced both sides of the stream to keep the cattle out.

  Lance presumed he did this to keep the cattle from soiling the water before it reached the town and the farmers beyond. As he looked at the fences that were now trampled down he thought this would be like Larry, thinking of his neighbors.

  The cattle now waded up and down the stream and as he rode he could tell that there were many more than five hundred head. He began looking at the brands and saw a mixture of 'Tall T' and 'Bar 7' brands. So here was the problem, the ranches on each side of him were moving in.

  He made a loop around the whole ranch and finally arrived back at the house just at dusk. He made a pot of coffee and sat on the porch and watched the sunset, just as he had envisioned him and Mamie doing. He was beginning to understand what his brother Larry had seen in the ranch, if it hadn't been for the neighbor’s cattle all over his place, this would be the most peaceful place in the world.

  The next morning he was startled by an old man standing in the doorway.

  "Howdy, the names Sam, I used to own this place, till I sold it to your brother."

  Lance notice he was carrying a rifle and had a pistol in his belt.

  "Good to know you Sam, can I get you a coffee."

  Sam stepped in.

  "That would be great, that's what your brother always did, that boy did love his coffee and that young wife of his…she was a looker."

  He sat at the table as Lance poured him some coffee.

  "Yes sir, I surely do miss this place, would you be interested in selling it back to me?"

  Lance was shocked at his offer, from what Larry had said he didn't have any of the money left from his sale of the ranch, so he put it off as just wishful thinking of an old man.

  "Sorry old timer, I'm here to stay."

  For a moment he saw something strange that quickly passed in Sam's eyes.

  "I was afraid you'd say that, I gotta be going now."

  As sudden as he appeared he got up from the table and started to leave, he paused a moment at the door and Lance saw the look in his eyes again. The rifle barrel started to move slightly up toward him and he placed his hand on the butt of his pistol. Then Sam turned and was gone.

  Was he imagining things or was this just a strange old man wanting to live in the past. He made some breakfast, but while he ate he was still thinking about the old man. Was he serious about buying the ranch back, if he was, where was he going to get the money?

  It nagged on him all through breakfast and he remembered Bob Defoe mentioning the previous will that Larry had when he was in partnership with Sam. If either of them died the other would get the ranch free and clear. He remembered Bob saying that Larry wasn't happy with it but it was part of the sale, and Sam wouldn't budge without it.

  Now his curiosity was aroused and he finished breakfast and saddled up to look around again. He followed Sam's tracks out of the yard and for about a mile when suddenly they disappeared. The ground looked as
clean as it did around the spot where Larry was found...was that a coincidence?

  It took some doing but he cast back and forth and in bigger circles until he found a faint sign. He looked around closer until he found what he was looking for, a definite footprint of the old man. He had been travelling on foot and that was making it easier for him to hide his trail.

  Lance was able to piece enough of the trail together to get the general direction he was travelling. He was heading higher into the hills where the eastern line of the ranch ended by the spring fed lake. It was actually a small lake, much more like a pond, but the springs were constantly feeding it.

  He left his horse and climbed until he reached the lake, and as he sat there he thought it was lucky that the route to the lake was so rough or else the cattle would be up here defiling this water too. He had seen no more sign of Sam and he started back down through the big rocks.

  Going down he picked a different route that looked easier, and part way down he heard as sound that froze him in his tracks and instinct took over. The sound was the cocking of a rifle and it wasn't far off. It was followed by the report of the gun and a bullet crashing into the rock beside him.

  He was sandwiched between two big boulders and two more shot rang out, each showering him with bits of flying stone. He knew who it was, and he could tell what he was doing. He was ricocheting the bullets of the slanted rock and into the pocket where he was hiding, and it was working, it would be only a matter of time until one hit him.

  He knew he was in trouble and he yelled out.

  "Sam! I know you killed Larry, but what I want to know is why?"

  There was silence for a minute, Sam knew he had him trapped.

  "Beings as you are not going to be around long, I can tell you. I found me a mine up here and it's a rich one, and with him dead I could get the ranch back. I didn't know he changed the will."

  Lance had him talking now and it was giving him time to think.

  "So you were the one that shot Betty too!"

  It was a little longer before the answer came back.

  "That were an accident, I had Larry in my sights on the porch, when he moved over suddenly to let her out the door just as I fired. She was a sweet girl and a good looker and I have always felt bad about that."

  Lance knew he had to move and quickly, so he took advantage of the fact that Sam was thinking about Betty, and with his gun in hand he bolted from the rocks. Another shot from the rifle struck where he had just been and he fired three quick shots as Sam was levering the rifle for his next shot.

  Two of the shots hit him and the third one hit where he just was. Lance saw him fall, but he fell behind some rocks so he approached carefully. He had learned during the war that sometimes a body could take a lot of lead and still have enough strength to shoot at you.

  He angled carefully around the side of the rocks until he saw a pair of boots, and then the legs and finally the body. There was no movement but he picked up the rifle and tossed it away and then checked on Sam. He was dead alright with two bullets in his chest around his heart.

  Lance sat for a long time looking out over the valley that was his new home and wondering why an old man would kill two people just for the sake of a two bit gold mine. He knew that gold did funny thing to people, but he just couldn't understand this.

  Larry was never the least bit interested in mining, all he wanted was the ranch he finally got and he was sure that if the man laying sprawled in front of him had just gone to Larry and told him he had found a mine, that Larry would have given it to him.

  He scouted around a bit until he came to the spot where Sam was digging into the rocks. It looked like hard work getting through the solid rock, but there on the roof of the small tunnel he saw a vein of gold.

  He knew nothing about mining and it didn't look that rich to him but he would keep it in the back of his mind. He lugged the body, along with the rifle, back down to his horse and walked the horse all the way back to the ranch house.

  There were no extra horses in the corral, and he had not thought about that until now. He was sure that Larry would have more horses than the horse he was riding. That was another thing he would have to look into. In talking with Dan he had never mentioned what happened to Larry's horse.

  He hooked his horse up to the buckboard and put the body in the back. His horse didn't like it but it was either that, or walk all the way into town. First he had cattle missing and now he had horses missing, and he killed the man who shot Betty and Larry and all this in the first two days.

  When he arrived at the front of Dan's office a small crowd gathered around the buckboard and he heard someone mutter 'why, it's old Sam, I wonder who would shoot him?' He walked past the people and directly into the office, with several of the nosier ones following him.

  "Sheriff, I have to talk to you....alone."

  He looked around at the others as he said it and Dan got up, shooed them all out and closed the door."

  "You're going to find this hard to believe Dan, I can hardly believe it myself, but I have Sam Benson dead out there in the buckboard, and he's the one who killed Betty and Larry."

  Dan sat down in disbelief, he was right it was hard to believe, but when Lance finished his story it all come together and Dan added some to the ending.

  "Like you say, it's hard to believe but when you put it together it begins to make sense. Sam always carried that big old fifty caliber buffalo gun and now when I think about the wound on Betty's body, it must have been made by a big gun like that...and he was about the only one who could have gotten close enough to Larry to gun him with a pistol."

  Dan shook his head.

  "I'm sorry I missed that son, but without a motive I passed over Sam as a suspect without a second glance."

  Lance got up from the chair to leave.

  "Don't feel bad, I would never have suspected him either until the pieces fell together in my lap. I just want to be sure that I am clear in Sam's death, some of the townsfolk knew him a lot better that they know me."

  Dan was sympathetic to his concern.

  "Don't worry Son, we will have a hearing that will present all the evidence and you will be cleared of any wrong doing."

  Lance gave him a sort of smile.

  "It looks like when they hear about the gold mine, I will have miners crawling all over my land as well as cattle and cowboys."

  Then as an afterthought, he added.

  "You never did mention if Larry had any horses."

  Dan looked embarrassed.

  "Shucks Son, in all the excitement of you coming I plumb forgot, Larry's horse is in the stable at my place and you are welcome to him, as for the other horses...I know he had a few but like you I didn't really think about it. You know that my jurisdiction ends in the town here and you are pretty much on your own out there, but if there is anything you find going on against the law, I'll back you up."

  Lance shook his hand and the two of them walked through the crowd and took Sam to the undertaker.

  When he arrived at Dan's house Racheal met him at the door and he swept her into his arms, right behind her was Mamie and she looked utterly divine. She was smiling and had an impish twinkle in her eyes.

  "So have you got everything settled and you've come for me already."

  She was teasing and he knew it, but he wanted to impress upon her that he wasn't teasing.

  'No, not quite yet...you will know when I have come for you."

  She poured him a cup of coffee and he told her about Sam killing Betty and Larry. Like Dan she found it hard to believe at first, but she could see the relief in his eyes, at least one part of his worries was over. Now all he had to do was try to avert a range war and stay alive.

  Chapter 6

  Early the next morning Dan showed up at the ranch and after the usual greeting he pulled out a small pocket knife and as Lance watched he dug two slugs out of the wood beside the door. As he turned them over in his fingers he smiled at Lance.

  "I
don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, Larry told me the shooter fired a couple more times at him before he left. Now I can pretty much see that this is a fifty caliber slug, and together with this and my testimony about the size of the wound you will be exonerated of any wrong doing."

  They had a coffee together and Dan rode back to town. The next few days were spent trying to push the thirsty cattle away from the stream and back on their home ranges. He was learning a lot about cattle in a short period of time and mostly he was learning that they were contrary one minded critters who constantly kept coming back.

  He was not letting it get to him because he was expecting help from the O'Neil boys any day now and with the three of them riding together again there was no force that could stop them...at least that was how it seemed all the years they were together. He was not sure how they would feel about him settling down to ranch life, he was still trying to get used to it himself.

  He wanted them as partners on the ranch, not just ranch hands, but he was not sure how he could handle it. He was still not taking the ranch for himself but for Rachael who was the rightful heir, but it would be a lot of years before she would be of an age to be able to handle it.

  He could offer them what he had intended for himself, a fair income from the profits, but that would not be much of an incentive based on Larry's records. It would mean a place for them to live and work, maybe not richly, but comfortably and maybe raise a family, and any gold from the mine that Sam found would certainly help.

  He was not sure if the boys had ever given a thought to marrying and settling down with a family. It was something they never spoke of, it was almost a taboo subject because it would mean they would be split up. Now that it was the main thought on his mind he was going to offer them a chance to do the same without them splitting up.

  Dobie was the ladies’ man among them and although he wooed many a girl with his silver Irish tongue, but he never thought of bringing one home. Don was so quiet and shy that, while most of the girls loved him for that, he just didn't see it himself.