Bucking the Odds Page 9

  The two large ranches bordering the ‘Flying W’ were in big trouble, the spring fed dug wells they had depended on were drying up. The ‘Tall T' to the north was owned by a woman named Geraldine Tobias and the 'Bar 7', to the south of him, was owned by Harvey Kincaid.

  Unlike Larry, who was content to sell small amounts of his beef locally or to the nearby mining camps in Colorado, these two ranchers had large herds and they depended on large trail drives either to California or to the rail head in Kansas, for sale back east,

  The keeping of large herds of cattle required a lot of water. Feed in this area, although even the grass needed water, was not yet a problem, but without water to drink cattle would die. It was not in them to think of reducing the size of their herds, but it was in them to try and take the water from Larry.

  Lance had learned all this from the letters he kept getting from Larry, now that he had settled somewhat in one place they did not take the usual months and months to arrive. He didn't usually have much to write about himself like Larry did but he was proud of the fact that he was a sheriff, and he was sure that was the reason why Larry did not just come out and ask him for help. Thinking that his brother had finally found something that made him settle down in one place for a while.

  It was a long way from Montana to New Mexico, but there was a rail line as far as Denver and this would get him much closer much faster. He had never ridden a train before and he loaded his horse and equipment on a boxcar and boarded the coach. The trip took all day and into the night and he arrived in Denver in the dark.

  He searched out a livery for his horse and a hotel for himself, and went straight to bed. He had thought about going down to see the night life of the town but he knew he still had a long ride ahead of him. He figured it would take him at least another four or five days to reach Prineville.

  He had read the last letter several more time on the trip and each time it had the same effect. He had an uneasy feeling that things were not right, it was the feeling that twins sometimes get, he could not explain it, but it worried him.

  He was right on his figuring as he rode into Prineville on the evening of the fifth day. There were not many people moving around the town at this time of the evening but the few that he did see looked at him strangely, even staring. He found out where the sheriff lived and figured that if Larry trusted him enough to leave his daughter there he would be a good man to direct him to the ranch.

  He tied his horse in front of the small house at the edge of town where he was directed. There was a neat white picket fence around the small flower filled front yard and he pushed open the gate and started in until he heard a rustling in a tree.

  He stopped just in time to catch a girl who fell into his arms. A kitten she had apparently just rescued jumped from her arms and ran back up the tree. She just stared at him and in a rash moment he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She squirmed out of his arms and drew her hand back to slap him, but she held it there again just staring.

  "A..re you Lance?"

  That was all she managed to get out and as he looked at her he felt like taking her in his arms and kissing her again, he had never seen a girl as lovely as this, even in the failing light.

  "Yes I am, you must know my brother Larry."

  She continued to stare at him for a moment until she broke the stare.

  "I think you should come in the house and meet my father."

  Lance started to follow her.

  "If he would be the sheriff, that's who I came to see."

  They stepped through the door and he saw a man sitting at the table reading the paper, and when he looked up he had the same shocked look on his face, but as he stared he must have realized he was staring.

  "I'm sorry for staring."

  Before he could continue the girl nervously chimed in.

  "Pop, this is Larry's brother Lance."

  The man stood up and held out his hand.

  "Yes, there is no doubt of that. I'm Dan Belcher and if you haven't been introduced, this is my daughter Mamie."

  Lance took the outstretched hand with a smile.

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Larry speaks highly of you.”

  He turned to the girl who rather reluctantly held out her hand which he gently took and held for a minute, until he could see that she was getting embarrassed.

  "No we haven't been introduced, but we certainly have met."

  He looked right into Mamie's eyes when he said it and she blushed, and with a small nod of her head to her father she turned toward the kitchen.

  "I'll get you some coffee while you tell him all about Larry."

  Dan saw his daughter’s action and it took him a moment to realize that she was trying to tell him that he did not know about Larry yet.

  "Sit down son, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."

  He sat in the chair that Dan offered.

  "If you are about to tell me that Larry is dead, I think I am already ahead of you."

  The sheriff looked relieved, he never did like delivering bad news to folks.

  "Well I guess you already heard about it then."

  Lance took the cup of coffee that Mamie was offering.

  "No sir, but I've been having this feeling for the last few days, I can't explain it, but we used to sense things about each other growing up, and this was one of those times. Can you tell me about it?"

  The sheriff took a drink of his coffee.

  "He told me he had written you about Betty and what was going on, and he suspected that you would show up."

  He took another drink of the hot coffee and let a big sigh to start the story.

  "About four days ago he was found on the ranch. I investigated the site and best I can tell he was shot at close range with a pistol, whoever shot him wanted him dead because they put another bullet in him as he lay on the ground. We buried him the day before yesterday."

  He stopped to let that sink in, and when Lance didn't ask any questions he continued.

  "You know about the trouble he was having, so I figure he knew the person because the thong was still on his pistol, and he would not have let a stranger ride up to him without being ready for trouble."

  Now Lance was ready for questions.

  "Was there any evidence pointing to anyone, or at least making someone a suspect?"

  Dan shook his head.

  "No son, I went over the area with a fine toothed comb but it was swept clean of all tracks around his body, I wish I could tell you more, but at this point it is still unsolved."

  Larry finished his coffee and started to rise.

  "Thank you Sheriff Belcher, could you direct me to the ranch and maybe tell me how to find the place where Larry was shot."

  The sheriff stood up too.

  "I'll do better than that, if you’ll stay the night with us, I'll ride out there with you in the morning…and please call me Dan."

  Lance thought for a moment and looked again at Mamie. She was even prettier in the full light of the room, and she blushed again slightly at his stare, and he smiled.

  "If it would be alright with your daughter, I be obliged to stay, do you have a place where I can bed my horse down."

  The two men went to see to the horse and as Mamie watched them go out the door it left her thinking. He looked and sounded exactly like Larry, but unlike Larry he was brash and sort of rough around the edges. She touched her lips with her fingers, remembering his lips on hers. Why was she thinking that? She was going to marry Bob Defoe.

  When they came back in she had made a place for Lance to sleep by the fireplace.

  "I'm sorry, but the bedrooms are all taken, I'm sure you will be comfortable here, there's water to wash up in the kitchen, and if you want more coffee there is still some in the pot. I'll say goodnight now."

  She went off to bed, still wondering about the kiss, while the men stayed up and talked until the coffee was gone.

  Early the next morning they rode out to the place where Larry was found and
they both looked around the area carefully.

  "You were right Sheriff, whoever shot him wanted to cover their tracks, do you mind if we take a look around the ranch?"

  They mounted up and the sheriff started off.

  "Follow me, but you are not going to like what you see, both of the big ranches are running cattle on the spread now."

  Lance pulled up beside the sheriff.

  "That won't bother me Sheriff, I don't plan on staying here. It was Larry's dream to own a ranch, not mine."

  The sheriff was taken back a bit by his matter of fact stance on the situation.

  "Well, that's up to you son, it certainly will be a big challenge for whoever takes over."

  They rode around the ranch and ended up at the ranch house, but Lance did not even bother to go in. Then they rode back to town where the sheriff said Mamie would have lunch ready for them.

  He had to admit to himself that he wouldn't mind seeing her again, but none of them were ready for what was about to happen.

  When he went through the door a little girl ran toward him yelling.

  "Daddy, daddy."

  She grabbed him around the legs before Mamie had a chance to stop her. He lowered himself to one knee and she grabbed him around the neck. He looked to Mamie for help, but the tears were flowing down her cheeks as she stood frozen for a minute. Then she came over and put her arms around Rachael and took her from around his neck.

  He just stood there ridged as she tried to calm the young girl.

  "Honey, this is not your daddy, this is your Uncle Lance, you daddy's brother."

  The girl was still reaching out for him, but somehow she made her listen.

  "But he looks like my daddy, how come he is not my daddy."

  Mamie took her over to the sofa and sat down while Lance walked over and sat down beside them. The girl again climbed into his arms and hugged his neck. There was no way he could have prepared himself for this. He knew he would get lots of second looks like he had gotten from Mamie and the sheriff when people first saw him, but grownups understood what being an identical twin meant, and all this little girl saw when she looked at him was her father.

  Larry had only told a few people about Lance and he being identical, Betty knew, and Mamie and the sheriff as well as Bob Defoe knew. He felt like that was the only people it would matter to.

  He hugged the girl tightly now and looked over her shoulder directly into the Mamie's eyes, he saw a sadness there but also a softness that he had not seen when she looked at him before. The little girl had stopped sobbing now and pulled her head back from his shoulder.

  "If you're not my daddy, how come you look just like him?"

  It was a tough question to answer to a seven year old who had just lost her father.

  Chapter 4

  The three of them sat on the couch like that for an hour until Racheal finally fell asleep in his arms and Mamie took her to the bedroom for a nap. He waited until she came back out.

  "I'll be going to see lawyer Robert Defoe now, your father told me you two were going to be married. Is there anything you want me to tell him?"

  As she walked out on the porch with him she wondered what he meant by that, but she let it pass. But she couldn't let it pass about the kiss.

  "Why did you kiss me yesterday?"

  It was a blunt question out of the blue for him but he didn't hesitate a minute.

  "Well you seemed to appear from heaven and my mother always told me to gratefully accept gifts from heaven."

  She knew he was making light of the situation and before she could press him further he leaned over and pulled her to him and kissed her again, this time she kissed back. When they finished she was shaking, but he held her by the shoulders.

  "I'm going to tell Lawyer Defoe to put his brand on you real soon or I will consider you a maverick and come after you myself."

  Before she could say anything he turned and walked down the steps. She walked back into the house even more confused. What was she doing? What was happening?

  The sheriff had offered to take him down and introduce him to the lawyer, but when he thought about it he knew Bob would know who he was, and he was right. When he walked through the door the man behind the desk stood up.

  "Well, Lance Whitcliff, it's nice to meet you, Mamie told me this morning that you were in town. I'm Bob Defoe"

  Lance took the outstretched hand and sat in the seat offered to him.

  "Yes, Mamie is a fine girl and if I were you I wouldn't wait around too long before someone else comes along and grabs her away from you."

  It took Bob a little bit by surprise, but being a lawyer he was quick to recover.

  "You mean someone like you maybe? Well I'm not too worried, Mamie is a big girl and knows her own mind. Now let’s get down to the business at hand."

  He went to the cabinet and took out a folder.

  "This contains all your brother's dealings with me, but what is of the main concern is the will. I drafted it for him at his request and it was quite simple, it leaves all his belongs, including his ranch, to you. If you would like to read it you may"

  Lance took the paper he handed to him.

  "That won’t be necessary, he wrote me and told me what he had done."

  He handed the paper back.

  "I have to tell you that Geraldine Tobias of the 'Tall T' has made a very generous offer to purchase the 'Flying W', and if you have no interest in staying on I suggest you accept it."

  He went on to explain that it was a simple offer of twenty thousand dollars for the deed of the ‘Flying W’ and that the price was above the going price for land in the area. They talked for a while longer about the drought conditions and ranches in the area.

  Larry had filled him in on things going on in the area, but he was happy to hear it from another source not quite so close to the situation He found himself beginning to like this man, even though somewhere deep down he was considering him a rival.

  Why was he thinking that way, he had no intention of staying on here any longer that it took to get the estate settled, this was Larry's dream, not his.

  "Well it seems that you have most things in hand, so I will probably except the offer and be out of your hair."

  He stood to go and Bob held out his hand again.

  "As your brother's lawyer I would advise you that it is a good offer, but it is always best to think things over for a bit. I'll start drawing up the papers, and they should be ready before the day is out."

  Lance left the office and headed toward the sheriff's office to let him know his decision. The boardwalks were raised and narrow and when he reached the mercantile store a woman burst out and ran into him.

  When she looked up she had a shocked look on her face, did she just see a ghost? Then she realized it was impossible, she had heard that Whitcliff had a brother but she didn't realize he was identical. She started to brush him aside.

  "Get out of the way and let me past!"

  He just stood looking at her, it was rare to meet a woman as pushy as this.

  "Go around!"

  There was a man beside her and he reached for his gun. Just as quickly Lance grabbed the gun with his left hand as it was coming up and struck the man in the stomach with his right. The gun twisted from his grip and Lance threw it over the rail into a horse trough.

  The man doubled over and went down on his knees, and Lance looked at the woman again.

  "As I said…go around!"

  The woman spun on her heals and walked down the other way to the street, leaving the man still gasping to get his breath on the boardwalk. As he walked past the gasping man the owner of the mercantile store stood in the doorway with a look of dismay on his face.

  "Do you know who that is? That's Geraldine Tobias and Duke Cannon."

  Lance paused on the way past.

  "Well they both need a lesson in manners."

  When he reached Dan's office he was deep in thought, he realized that was the name of the woman who made
the offer to buy the ranch. He had hoped to find Larry's killer but since meeting Dan he had a lot of faith in his ability and if he couldn't come up with any firm leads, then it looked like the killing would remain unsolved.

  The meeting with Bob had gone the way he wanted it to, as a matter of fact better than he expected with the offer on the ranch. He had never intended to take over the ranch, instead he planned to sell it and give all the money to Rachael who was the rightful heir.

  He was hoping, that with the help of the money, Dan and Mamie would continue to look after her. The farthest thing from his mind was taking care of Rachael, he was footloose, and even in his own mind, not responsible enough to look after a little girl....that was before he sat for an hour with her arms around him and her warm breath on his neck.

  That was also before he met Mamie, he should never have kissed her the second time, the first time was a lark, but the second time grabbed him by the heart. He sat listening to Dan fill him in on more of the conditions and comings and goings in the area, but he was only half hearing him.

  He needed time to think, so he excused himself from Dan and wandered up the street. Prineville reminded him of Medicine Bow after he tamed it down. People were coming and going about their business on the street and the businesses were prospering the best they could in the mid of the worst drought to hit the country. It was not only just the ranchers that were effected, it was everyone.

  He walked past the saloon, and on a whim turned back and went in. He had been in saloons many times with Dobie and Don and had dragged them out of many fights, but he hadn't drank since he joined the army. He sat at a table and ordered a drink of whiskey and when it came it sat on the table in front of him as he was deep in thought.

  Suddenly he knew what he was going to do and he jumped up, leaving the full glass of whiskey sitting where it was, and headed out the door. When he went into Bob's office he looked up from his desk, surprised to see him so soon.

  "Howdy Lance, it's a little soon, I don't have the papers ready yet, as a matter of fact I am working on them right now."

  Lance sat in the same chair he had been in earlier.