that’s the end of your sleeping on the ground. Now I’ve got to get the house in order.” She turned and walked back up the slope towards the house.
Rafe stood grinning at me, “I see why you were so quick to sign us on now, and you’re taken with her ain’t you?”
“No you galoot, lets get the stuff to the bunk house, before I throw you in the creek!”
“You and who else?” He kept grinning at me with that big grin of his.
“Consarned kid!” I grumbled as I gathered the pack to haul up to the house. I wondered though if he was right. Was I all about helping Kate or about helping myself? A man can get confused at times.
We both worked until we got the bunk house squared away.
“Lets saddle the horses, and see what we got in line of cows. The man in the saloon said they had been loosing stock.”
“I’m for that Jason, you go tell her what we are doing, and I’ll saddle the stock.”
I walked up to the house and she came to the door. She seemed to get prettier every time I looked at that girl, “Rafe and I are going to look and see what stock there is, then decide what’s to be done.”
“Ok, the stock was driven up that valley there. There is good grass, and water in the creek, you should find them about a half mile up the valley.”
“Would you like to go with us?”
“No, I still have things that must be done here; I’ll fix you some supper while you are gone though. Be careful, we think outlaws have been stealing the stock, and driving it to Fort Laramie.”
“Isn’t it branded?”
“Only a few head, we haven’t had enough hands who were experienced enough to brand.”
“Ok, we’ll see you at supper then.”
I mounted my mule, and we headed off up the valley. When we went up the valley about three miles we found the cattle grazing peaceful. We counted 80 head including the young stuff that had been born that spring. We returned to the ranch the way we had come, and when we got there Kate had supper on the table.
“You’re going to spoil this lunk head by fixing his supper.” I said to Kate. Rafe just glared at me as he had his mouth full. “We counted eighty head including the calves.”
“If we loose any more, we won’t have enough to sustain the ranch. We loose some to wolves, and some to the cold.” Kate looked at me, and then looked at Rafe.
“Couldn’t we drive them down here so we could watch them easier?” Rafe asked.
“The grass around the ranch is over grazed now. There is a small valley in back of the ranch where we might put a few, and make it through the winter, it’ll start snowing any day.”
“Well, we do what we have to.” I said.
“I’m going into Cheyenne in the morning to see the lawyer to get the papers drawn up.”
I looked at her across the table, “Couldn’t that wait Kate?”
“No, if anything happened to me it would leave you both destitute, and I’ll not have it.”
“Rafe will go with you; I want to go back up there, and see if we missed some what got back in the trees, also to ride the land some more.”
“I can go by myself.”
“No, Rafe will go with you. He can shoot, and it may just be that there is more to this than rustling cattle. I suspect they want to break you, and then take over the ranch by driving a herd of their own in. This country is growing fast, with settlers coming in all the time. How much land does the ranch have?”
“There are five thousand acres.”
Rafe whistled, and I looked over my coffee cup at her, “Now I’m sure that’s what going on.”
“That aspect never dawned on me before you said it, but my father probably knew.”
“Sorry to bring it up, but that’s why your Pa was killed, they figured you would just head for town.”
“Whats a aspect? “Rafe asked.
“Its like a feature, or a different view Rafe.”
“You sound educated.” I said to her.
“Yes, my father was a school teacher before we came west, I could teach you during the winter.”
“You mean I would be able to read?” Rafe asked.
“Yes, if you have the desire to learn.”
“We had ought to turn in, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow. Thanks for the meal Kate.” I said as I walked to the door.
“Good night Jason, Rafe.”
By day break we had the animals saddled. Rafe and Kate took out early toward Cheyenne, and I headed the mule back up the valley trail we had rode the day before, only this time I rode slower, I was looking at every feature of the land as I rode. I skirted the valley where the cattle grazed, and on up through the high peaks. There was already snow up this high. There was scattered spruce, and silver poplar. It had snowed about two inches during the night.
I skirted the mountain where the timber was thickening, and as I went past some trees, I felt the shock of a bullet hit my shoulder. My mule screamed and he went down. The mule rolled over me, and I felt the crunch as my leg snapped. Waves of pain shot threw me as I lay there. I had fallen into a small gully where the rain had washed down from the mountain sometime in the dim past.
My rifle lay at least ten feet away, but I took my pistol out and checked the caps. My mule lay with his head down hill, and I called out, “Get up mule, get up!” the mule raised his head and looked around.
“Get up and get out of here mule…go on now!”
The mule scrambled up and limped toward the trees. Another shot rang out, but the bullet went into the dirt berm I lay behind. There were no more shots as I lay there trying to think what to do, “You hurt bad?” A voice called from near me in the trees.
“Why did you shoot me?”
“I didn’t, man down the hill shot you, I come help.”
“Where is he?”
“I think he gone, he see me coming. You lay there, and I scout around to see.”
After about twenty minutes an Indian came up to where I lay in the gully, “Man gone.” He sat down on the ground, and looked at me. His long hair was plaited, and he had white paint on his face. He was rather short and chunky.
“My legs busted, did you see which way the mule went?”
“He limp, can’t carry load.”
“Have you got a horse?”
“No horse, that is why they call me walking bear, I fix sticks, carry you on travy.”
I lay there doing my best not to pass out as the Indian cut poplar poles to make travois out of. He came back with saplings, and began cross members for the travois.
“How is it you are willing to help me?”
“You from cattle place, I watch, I see people run off with cattle. Reed help us with cattle to eat when my people were starving. Can I do less?”
“You speak good English for an injun.”
“The white teacher, he teach me when I little one.”
“Sounds like he was a kind man. I didn’t know him, he was killed the day before we came.”
“You help Kate?”
“That’s what we were affixing to do, now I’m busted up bad.”
“I fix leg, get you back to cattle place, I watch cattle for you till you better.”
The Indian went of into the trees, and came back with some red berries mixed with leaves. He found a hollowed out rock and began grinding the mixture into a poultice, then spread that on the wound in my shoulder. He then bound my left arm to my chest.
Pain shot through me like a hot rock when he set my leg. He bound several splints around the leg, and bound that with deer skin strips he cut out of his own buckskin shirt. I could see goose bumps on his naked arms, but then he lifted me on the travois, and began to skid me down that mountain to the valley below. Three or four hours later he had me propped in a chair on the porch with water to hand.
“I go now. Kate and other feller come back soon?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine Walking Bear, I can’t thank you enough.”
The Indian looked at me, and began walking rapidl
y back the way we had come. Soon he was lost in the trees. I sat there without too much pain in my leg, thinking about providence again. I could clearly see the good Lords handy work toward me, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why he would want to help me. I was already a man killer, and from the way things were shaping up, I may have to kill again. When I thought about that, I thought about justice. Justice had a way of finding a man out.
Along about sundown Kate, and Rafe came riding up to the porch, “What happened to you?” Rafe asked as he got down off his horse. Kate got down quickly, and ran upon the porch, “He’s been hurt!”
“I’m ok, one of your friends helped me, and he did a fair job of patching me up.”
“I have no friends out here.”
“You may have more friends than you think, a feller by the name of Walking Bear said he knew your father. He was the one patched me up, and got me home.”
“Walking Bear? I haven’t seen him in more that four years.”
“Did you get your business done in town?”
“I did, I have a copy of the papers, and there is a copy in the land office. Those people are going to have a hard time getting this land.”
“Well, they don’t know that, and from the looks of things, we are going to have to fight to survive a winter, and be able to have