Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (26 page)

Roy nodded, his eyes sparkling.  Dan turned away and went back to work.

“If Lucille says yes,” Kate added.  “
Cliff
wants to discuss the house plans with you
, both of you,
and your mother. 
He wants a place big enough to include you boys
while you’re still at home
.”

Roy nodded, as if he already knew this.  But
Dan glanced over his shoulder, listening in.  His expression had changed from stubborn defiance to uncertainty in an instant.

“I really think he’s trying to do right by not only your mother but you boys, as well,” she said.  She was overstepping her bounds, but couldn’t help herself.

Dan lifted his hammer and brought it down hard on a post.

Man cleared his throat. 
“
When we know what they want,
”
he
said, “we’ll make
an offer on price.
 
When you finish the fence, start work getting ready for the foundation on the second house.  That should take you until the weekend.  By Monday, we will know
Cliff
’s decision.”

“Yes
,
sir,” Roy said.

Man turned Arabian toward their home.

She rode beside hi
m and he reached for her hand.

“Think Dan will come around about Cliff’s intrusion into their lives?” she asked.

“In time,” Man said with a nod of certainty.  “Once he decides to trust Cliff.  Those boys have had a hard life.
  All we can do is try to help them make it better and mind our own
business.
”

“I hope you’
re right,
”
she said, looking back at the boys.  Roy was
hard
at work, but Dan had stopped and was absently tapping his hammer against his thigh as he stared off into the distance.

“When we get home,
” Man said, reaching for her hand to redirect her attention.  “
I hav
e
three things I want to do.”

“Make love,” she said with a laugh.  “A
nd what are the other two?”

“Heck, forget the other two,” he said, sending her a sly glance. 
He spurred Arabian.  “
Now
I can’t even remember the other two.”

***

Sunday afternoon
,
Man heard a noise outside and went to look.  It was
Cliff
and Lucille in his buggy with Roy and Dan in the back.

Kate and Man went outside to greet their guest
s
. 
“
Come inside where i
t’s warmer,” Kate said.  “That north wind feels like it’
s off of ice.
”

Dan
took
the lead rope for the
horses, tied it to the hitching rail,
and followed the others inside.

Kate motioned toward their table and asked, “Coffee anyone?  I have a pot ready to make.”

She didn’t wait for a reply and put the big pot on the
fire, then came to the table,
and sat beside Man.

Cliff
pulled several sheets of paper from his pocket and handed them to Man.

“I take it Lucille said yes,” Kate said with a grin.

Cliff
reached for her hand.  “Next Sunday afternoon,” he said.

“Congratulations,” Man and Kate said in unison.

“Thank you,” Lucille said.  “If it hadn’t been for you, this would not have come about.  You saved my life.”

Man spread the papers out on the table.  Roy and
Cliff
took turns explaining what he
and Lucille wanted.

When they finished, Man asked, “
Roy and Dan, d
o you have an estimate on materials and labor?”

Roy
pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket.  “
This i
s our best estimate,” he said.

“How much land,” Kate asked.

“An acre and a half,”
Cliff
replied.  “We want the southwest corner.
  I want enough r
oom for a barn and stable.  I’
ve lived in that one room for so long, I want some space and a garden.
”

Ma
n took the estimate
and he and Kate went to the bedroom
to decide on
a
cost
figure
.  They came out a few minutes later and Man handed
Cliff
a sheet of paper.  “This is our bid with no changes,” he said.  “
Any changes or add-
ons will
need to
be
discuss
ed
.”

Cliff
showed the figure to Lucille and they talked quietly for a couple of minutes. 
Cliff
stood and offered his hand to Man. 
“We agree.  B
uild us a home.”

Roy
jumped up
and went to
shake Cliff’s hand and give his mother
a hug.
  Dan held back a moment, then went to his mother when she held her arms out to him.  He gave
her
a long hug, then stepped back and gave Cliff’s hand a quick, awkward shake before stepping
back and crossing
his arms.

Kate noticed he seemed more embarrassed than angry now
, as if he didn’t quite know how to give in and accept the situation like his brother.  But he seemed to be coming around.

“We’ll start on your foundation tomorrow,” Roy said
, grinning
.  “Your new home comes first.”

Chapter
11

A policeman knocked on their door early the following Wednesday.  Man opened the door and asked him to come in out
of the cold.  He handed Man an
envelope.
“The telegraph a
gent brought this to our office.  I
t’s marked urgent.  Dunlap told me to bring it out.”

Kate had come out of the bedroom and stood beside Man.
Man opened the envelope and read it aloud.  “It’s from Chief Marshal Meek.  He said Valdez and Engledow were positively
identified near Boise.  We’
re to report to the sheriff in Boise.”

“Anything
I need to report to
Kincaid?” the policeman asked.

“Yes, tell him we’ll be on the morning train going so
uth.  I’ll notify Meek and the s
heriff in Boise we’re in route.”

Kate had already turned and hurried to the bedroom to
change clothes and
pack.  Man pulled on his coat and walked out with the policeman.  A light snow was falling.  He glanced upward at the heavy overcast sky and moaned
.  I hope we don’t get a sno
w like the last time we were on the trail
.  That last few miles home when the train stopped at the big cut was awful.  Stirrup deep snow was hard on the horses
as well as us.”

“I can relate.  My brother and I got caught in a snow like that a few years ago when we were hunting in the mountains.  It took us three days to get home when it should have been only a one day ride.”

The police officer
mounted his horse and waved as h
e turned toward Coeur d’Alene.

Man went into the barn to saddle Arabian and Red Bird and put the packsaddles on the two mules.  Kate had the two packs ready, except for last moment items.  He led the animals to the hitching rail near the house
where
Kate met him and handed him one of the packs.  He tied it on one of the mules and then wen
t for the other.  She had put the other pack
on the porch.

He went inside and saw she had his working skins laid out on the bed.  He saw a pair of long underwear
,
as well.  She was already dressed in her
buck
skins and had her Walkers on her hip. 
She was pulling her heavy sheep
skin coat on.  His was on the bed.

“I packed extra blankets in
with our buffalo robe and bear
skin as a precaution
,” she said
. 
“
I
saw the snow
flakes.”

He finished dressing and strapped his twin pistols on his thighs
.  He then reached for
the coat she was holding.

They checked the house and she said, “I have everything we need.
  The fire in the fireplace is well back and banked.
It
’
ll be okay.  He blew out the lamp and they
left
out the back door.

Roy and Dan were just arriving for work.  They saw the loaded mules and knew Ma
n and Kate were leaving.  “They’
ve been spotted?” Roy asked
from the wagon seat
.

“Yep,” Man said.
“Near Boise
.  W
e’re catching the morning train.  You know what has to be done until we get back.”

“Yes
,
sir,” Roy said.  “We’ll keep a watch on your house
, as well.  Good luck and keep your head down.”

“Thanks,” Kate said. “We need to get moving if we’re going to get to the depot in time.”

Dan spoke for the first time
and his voice dripped with venom
.
“
I
want to
go with you.  I’d like nothing more than to put a bullet
right
between Bob Engledow’s eyes.
  I could do it.  I’ve dreamed of doing it.
  I wanna come.
”

“Stay here and focus on your work,” Man said sternly, a little worried Dan might try to follow along.  “You do your job and we’ll do ours.”

Dan nodded, even though his face turned an even darker shade of red and he stared imaginary bullets into the ground
, anger bringing tears to his eyes
.

“They’ll get him,” Roy whispered encouragingly to his brother.  “They know what they’re doing.  Calm down.  Stop trying to wreck everything.”

“I mean it,” Man said again, this time pointing sharply at Dan to get his attention.  “Stay here and do your work.
  I catch you following us and I’ll shoot you in the foot.
”

Dan let out a hard breath and nodded again.  This time with resignation.
  “Just get him,” he said as he jumped down
from the wagon
and jogged to the barn.

“Don’t worry,” Roy said.  He nodded seriously.  “
We’ll do our work.  I’ll watch him.  You go do what you have to do and we’ll keep things running here.  You have my word.”

Kate and Man hesitated a moment, then set off.

“Ah, to be sixteen again,” Kate said.  “
All f
ull of spit and fire.”

“Not for all the gold in creation,” Man said, sending her a smile.
  But his smile quickly faded.  “But that boy’s right.  We need to stop these two bastards.  Let’s go
to work
.”

“I’m right beside you.”

The two m
arshals let the horses lope for a short distance to get the friskiness out of them before pulling them down to a
ground-eating
trot.

Kate took the animals to the loading area while Man went inside the depot to get tickets
.  He
arranged for a cattle car
for the animals.  He also sen
t a wire to Chief Meek and the s
heriff in Boise they were on the way.

He met Kate at the pens and led
their horses and mules into a
cattle car.  Kate helped unsaddle them as he pulled
the pack
saddles from the mules.
They heard the train
whistle, jumped down,
and went to the coach car.

The conductor was standing at the door and took their tickets.  Kate found a seat and slid over to the window.
  Man joined her.  It was cold in the car so they left their coats on.  The stove at the end of the car hadn’t had ti
me to heat the inside yet
.

“It’s snowing harder,” she said as she looked out the window.  “I hope we get through the pass before it closes again.”

“We will,” Man said.  “It’s not that far and the heavy snow has melted since the last blizzard.”

Kate put her head on his shoulder and he reached for her hand.  “It starts a
gain,” she said.  “I hope they’
re easy to find and we can get this over in a hurry.  I’m not looking forward to spending too many nights sleeping on the snow out in the open.”