Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (24 page)

Man let the horses rest and fed them oats.  The last push would be hard and fast.

Kate handed him a sandwich and they ate standing in the snow, but their legs needed to be stretched. 
Man mounted and took the point, urging Arabian into a lope when the snow allowed it.  When he was winded, Kate rode to the point and Red Bird forged the way with Man leading the two mules.

When they topped a rise,
Man pulled back on the reins and backed the horse away from the crest.  “He’s no more than a hundred yards in fr
ont of us.  Stay on his tail.
I’m going to circle and get ahead of him.  If we have him between us with no escape, he may throw down his weapons.”

“We will see,” she said at low breath.

She made sure Nail couldn’t see her.  She waited until he disappeared over a hill or went behind trees bef
ore urging Red Bird into a lope.  She was closing in on him.  His c
hestnut was obviously tired and was only walking slowly.

They had gone a mile when she spotted Man in front of Bedford Nail.  He was standing on top of a rock shelf and the fugitive was caught between them.  Kate tied the mules to a
tree, pulled her Winchester,
and closed the gap between her
and Nail.

Suddenly, Man appeared in front of the outlaw with his rif
l
e aimed at his chest.  “You are under arrest,” Man shouted.  “I’m Marshal Manchester.  Deputy Kate is behind you with her rifle aimed at your shou
lder blades.  What will it be?  S
urrender or go down now
with two bullets in your heart?
”

Nail sat for a long moment and
turned the
chestnut
back toward Kate.  He went for his pistol.  Kate fired when the weapon
cleared leather and was on the way up.  Nail w
as fast, but the bullet from her
rifle was faster and scored a dire
ct hit about where his left nipple wa
s located.

The shot from his
pistol plowed harmless
ly
in the s
now in front of the dying man.

Kate hurried
forward with her rifle aimed in case it was needed.  She picked up the pistol and waited for Man to join her.
He had gone back for Arabian.

“It’s over,” she said.

“Yep,” he agreed.

He walked to the
chestnut
and saw he was standing with his head down.  Nail had pushed him with no food, with th
e exception of dry grass.  That angered him almost as much as the murder Nail had committed.

Kate turned and went back for the mules
while
Man fed Nail’s horse a generous ration of oats.

If we put one of the packs on the
chestnut
and the body on the mule it would be easier on him,” Kate suggested.
  “The pack I much lighter than the body.”

“Good idea,” Man said.
“
I can lighten the load on his pack
,
as well.
”

Man led the
chestnut
and Kate the mules as they turned back toward Coeur d’Alene.  He rode to her side and reached for her hand.  She pulled her glove
off
and held his warm hand as they rode.

It was a long ride back, but it was pleasant, the sun was out
,
and more snow had melted.  When they reached the outskirts of Coeur
d’Alene,
a young lad on a spotted pony saw the
m with the body over the mule.

He raced ahead and a gathering was already assembled at the police station
when they pulled to a stop
.  The spectators were anxious to see
who the two m
arshals
had
brought in face down over the mule.

Somebody shouted,
“That’s Bedford Nail’s
chestnut
that Deputy Kate is leading.  They got him.”

Chief Kincaid and Assistant Chief Dunlap came out to gre
et them.  A police
man took the reins of the mule and turned toward the undertaker’s office.

Man and Kate went in to file a report.  They
hurried to file the report
then went to switch their mule with Nail’s chestnut.  On the way home,
Man stopped and sent a report
to Chief Meek
that
the case
involving Elmer Knorr
was closed
.  There were no wires for him.

Exhausted after the day’s events, they were
happy to be home.  Kate went inside to cook supper while Man put the horses and mules in the barn.  He walked in and saw she had taken off
her working skins and wore a simple housedress.  She was so beautiful he had to take her in his arms for a short kiss.

She pushed him away with a cute giggle and said, “Hold your horses
,
big guy.  Supper will burn if you carry me to the bed now.”

He playfully protested, but went to the table and watched her.

Chapter 10

They were sitting at the table drinking a second cup of coffee following breakfast when they heard a knock on the back door.  Man hurried to se
e who was there and saw
Roy
and Dan
.  He greeted the two young men and invited them inside for a hot cup of coffee.

Kate recognized their
voice
s
, heard the invitation,
and was putting cups on the table when the two boys came in and sat.  Kate poured coffee for them.

Roy spoke first.  “We saw your horses and mules in the barn and fed them for you.  Did you
really
catch
Bedford Nail?  When we went into town yesterday, that was all that was being talked abo
ut.  Your reputation is growing.  N
obody was be
tting you would come back empty-handed
.”

“We got him before
he
made it
to Spokane,” Kate said.

“I’m glad
,” Roy said.  “Now, hopefully, you can bring Al Valdez and Bob Engledow b
ack face down on their horses.”

“As
soon as they’
re located, we’ll be on their trail,” Man said.  “All we can do now is wait for them to surface.  They will eventually.  Every law enforcement officer in the area is looking for them.”

“How is
the fence building progressing?
” Man asked.

“We should
finish by noon today with the north and w
est side.  Should you need to leave and be gone for a spell, we need to mark
off the south side for the home sites
.”

“We were approached by
Cliff
about
building a home for him and
your m
om,
”
Man
said
.

Roy
grinned.  “He hasn’t asked her as yet, but I expect it will be only a short time before he does.  He visits us almost every afternoon and evening and when he doesn’t
,
he picks her up to
go someplace.  We’
ve never seen her so happy.”

Dan, however, looked off at nothing, his expression flat.  He didn’t seem so happy about the new developments in his mother’s life, Kate noticed.
  But, she didn’t feel she should say anything.  He had every reason to be wary of new men in his mother’s life after all she’d been through.
  Or, maybe, as the baby of the family, he didn’t like sharing his mother’s attentions.

“How are her hands
and feet?”
she
asked
instead
.

“Her feet are still tender when she walks,
” Roy said, “
but her ha
nds and knees are fine.  They’r
e red, but
practically healed now
.”

“I’ll dress and meet you on th
e s
outh side of the forty acres an
d we’ll mark off the home sites,” Man said.
 
“
As I said, don’t build a fence on the road side, just across behind them and between them.”

“We talked to a friend about constructing the foundation and building the
fireplace,” Roy said.
 
“
He said when we had the
plans
he would give us a bid. 
If
Cliff
would give us the go-ahead
on
what he wants, we could start next week.”

“When I go into town today, I’ll drop by
Cliff
’s store and talk with him
,” Man
said
. 
“
If he wants to hold off for a while, we can still build a house for sale.  Work on the plans and we’ll go over them today.”

Roy pulled papers from the inside pocket of his coat and handed them to Man.  Kate was seated beside him and leaned over to look.

“We’ll go over them today and le
t you know,” Man said.  “There’
s no reason you can’t be working on two at the same time.  Maybe get a discount on the contract work by having two jobs.
 
I’ll check in with
D&D
today
and make sure everything is set up so you can buy what you need.  Just sign the ticket and keep an accurate record of the purchases.”

“Of course,” Roy s
aid
.  “You can trust us to build it right and as cost
-
conscious as possible.  The way we see it, if you m
ake money, so do we.  And that’
s a great incentive to do a good job.”

“We discussed the bonus,” Kate said.  “Would fifteen percent of the net suit you two?”

Roy and Dan turned to talk for a moment.  “If we clear five hundred on a
house, that
’
s
thirty-
seven dollars and fifty cents for each of us,” Roy said.  “That’s more than a month’s wages.  Yes, we would be very pleased with that.”

“In addition to the bonus,” she
said, “we discussed the salary.  S
ixty dollars a month for each of you for being our contractors.”

Both boys gulped in air in their excitement.
 
“That’s better tha
n men get working in the mines,” Dan said
, his mood now brightened
.

“Company owners make more than workers,” Kate
said
.  “You should think about opening a business account at the bank.  I predict in time, you’ll be hiring men to work for
you and you’
ll have a payroll to meet every week.  When you do, remember to treat them right and they’ll respect you and give you more than
if they’
re working only for Saturday and a paycheck.”

Both boys nodded, taking her advice seriously.

The
two boys finished the coffee and went to the barn for the wagon to haul their fencing suppl
ies to where they were needed.

“Those
are two good young men,” Kate said.

Man agreed with a nod of his head as he said, “Someday
,
maybe we can have a couple of boys like them.”

Kate grinned
at the
thought.

“Don’t forget Jeb Spencer,” she said.  “He’s a courageous young man.  I wish we knew how he and Alice are getting along.”

“Maybe this su
mmer we can go visit them.  It
would be
nice to see them and the Bowman
s again.”

Man stood and went for his coat.

“I want to go into town with you,” she said. 
“
I’m low on supplies here. 
As soon a
s I get the kitchen
cleaned,
I’
ll go dress.  You
’
ll have time to mark off the home sites
and saddle Red Bird for me
.”

Man finished showing Roy and Dan how he wanted the home sites laid
off, went back to the barn,
and saddled Red Bird for Kate.  He led the roan to the door and tied Arabian and her gelding to the hitching rail that the boys
built
by the house.

He found her pulling on
her boots when he walked in
their bedroom.  “Toss me my heavy coat and I’m ready,” she said.