Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (27 page)

“Me
,
neither,” he said.  “I’m glad we have the buffalo robe
to put down first and the bear
skin over us wi
th a lot of blankets in between.”  He gave her hand a squeeze and offered a smile as he added, “A
nd a warm woman to sleep with.”

She pinched his thigh, but
grinned up at him
.
  “I wouldn’t do this job without you.  I couldn’t stand it.  All the running, fighting and hard living. 
It’s only worth it because you’re with me.”

Man dropped her hand and put his arm around her.  “Same for me, honey.”

“I have
an
eerie
feeling
about this trip
.”

“It’s just the snow,” he assured her, “and leaving Dan the way we did.  It’ll pass once we’re on the trail.”

She looked out the window when they neared the cut in the hill where they were stranded before.  It was clear of snow now, but it was collecting on the sides of the cut.  “They need to
make it wider,” she said.

He followed her gaze.  “T
ons of rock
would have to be moved.  I expect the cost would be prohibitive.”

They both napped until the conductor came in the door and shouted, “Boise next stop.”

Man stood and reached for Kate’s hand and she slid over and stood.  They were
ready when the train stopped.

“Fifteen minutes for those going on,
” the conductor
said.

Man and Kate walked to the pens and climbed up the ramp where their animals were waiting.  Man put the packsaddles on the mules while Kate saddled the horses.

Man took the reins of the horses and Kate grabbed the lead rope for the mules and followed Man down the ramp.

A brakeman came by and Man asked, “Wh
ere would we find the s
heriff’s office?”

He
shrugged.  “I don’t know.
I’ve never been into town.”

The train whistle sounded and began to move.  “I
expect
we can find it,” Kate said.  They turned tow
ard the main part of town.  Man pulled Arabian to a stop
when they spotted a policeman.

“Where can we find the s
heriff’s office?” Man asked.

The police officer
pointed. 
“
Stay on Emerald
Street and
turn left on Allumbaugh
Street.  And then, turn
right on Barrister.  You’ll see the sign.”

“Thanks,” Kate said.

“Would you be Marshal Manches
ter and Deputy Marshal Kate?” the police officer
asked.

“Yes
,” Kate
replied.
  “That’s us.”

“We heard you were coming.  I hope you catch those skunks after what they did.”

“Did they do something here?” Man asked.
The policeman’s remark pointed in that direction.

“Yes, it was awful.  But, I better keep my mouth sh
ut.  I’ll let Dave
Updike
, the s
heriff of Ada County fill you in on the gory details.”

They found the s
heriff’s office without a problem
.  They stepped down and
tied t
he animals to a hitching rail near
the side of the jail
.  They
went to a door with ‘O
ffice
’
printed above it.

Man opened the door and stepped back for Kate
to enter first.  A man with a deputy s
heriff badge on his vest saw them and stood from behind a de
sk.  “Can I help you?”

“We’re here to see Sheriff
Updike
,” Man said.

“
May I tell him your name?”
the d
eput
y
s
heriff asked
.

Man pulled his heavy coat open and showed his badge.  Kate did the same.  Man made the introductions.

“We were
notified you were coming,” the d
eputy said.  “Follow me.”  He walked down a hallway and tapped on a door.

“The two federal marshal
s are here to see you,” he said.

The door opened and an older man with a pistol on his hip
stood in the doorway
.  He spo
rted a
handlebar moustache that was turning more gray than black.  Tobacco juice stained the lower portion.

“You made damn good time getting here.  I sent the wire t
his morning.  I’m Dave
Updike
, s
heriff of Ada County.”

“Marshal Homer Manchester and my partner, Deputy Marshal Kate,” Man said.  “But, I prefer to be called just Man.  I’ve had that nickname since I came on the Oregon Trail.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you two,” Sheriff
Updike
said.

“We stopped a policeman for directions and he told us that Al Valdez and Bob Engledow did something here, but said you would give us the details.”

“Pull a chair to the table and I’ll fill you in on what we know,”
Updike
said.

Kate and Man removed their coats as the big stove in the corner of the office was giving off a lot of heat and the office was warm.

When they were seated,
Updike
brought cups and a pot of coffee.
  He poured and put the pot back on the stove.

“We got a report last night from a small community south of here, called Mountain Home.  Two men went into a store and walked to the counter.  The larger of the two men pulled his pistol and shot the
owner
of the store
in the chest.  His name was
Tom
Carbon, his wife Clarice was in the back and came
running
.  The smaller man grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming.
 
The two men tied her hands and legs and put a gag in her mouth.  They carried her out to a wagon parked in front.”

“How do you know this?
” Kate asked.  “
I mean, if they shot
Tom
Carbon
in the chest?
”

“He was severely injured, but h
e wasn’t
killed
.  I’ll get to that part in a moment. 
Tom
had seen the wagon when they arrived.  He said they came back
inside
and looted his cash box and
searched for more money.  The one called Al was complaining that if Bob hadn’t shot him, he would have talked and told them where he hid the cash.

But, i
t didn’t matt
er.  T
hey found the stash
,
anyway.  I
t was hidden in the back ro
om.  B
ack to what happened.
Tom
said they went through the store and loaded supplies in the wagon.  Mostly food, blankets, ammunition, and they took
Tom
’s rifle, a new Henry.  They also loaded all the horse feed he had in the back room.

Tom
was
lying
behind the counter and heard them talking.  He heard them call each other by name, Al and Bob.  But, in addition to that, he hear
d
them talking about his wife Clarice.   Bob said she wasn’t as good a looker as
Lucille was
, but she would do until spring.  I had read about the kidnapping of Lucille
Shobert
in Coeur d’Alene and by them using the names Al and Bob and Lucille, it was easy to put together that the men were Valdez and Engledow.  I sent a wire to Chief
Marshal
Meek.”

“What
happened to
Tom
Carbon
?” she asked.

“A customer came in and found him.  He was taken to a doctor in Mountain Home and the constable was called. 
Tom
told him the
information I gave you.  But,
he
died when the doctor was operating on him to remove the bullet.”

“Where
is Mountain Home?” Man asked.

“Take the main road south and it’s a three or four hour ride.  I wouldn’t try it tonight.  From the information I’m getting, it’s snowing hard north of us and moving south.  I expect the
front will roll in here soon.  The reports say t
he temperature
will drop
drastically after it moves through.”

“Where is a good place to sleep tonight?” Kate asked.  “We want a hotel with a stable for our horses and pack mules.”

“I would recommend the Boise Hotel
.  I
t has a good café,” Updi
ke said.  “Go back toward town and you will see it.
  It’s not far.”

“One more question,” Kate said.  “
How do we find the store in Mountain Home?”

“It’s about a
mile or so out of town.  You’
ll go by it on the way in.  There’s a sign, Carbon General Store.  But, I doubt it will help any.  The tracks of the wa
gon are covered with snow. 
Constable Blake tried to follow them, but they were already covered.  He said they left the store going west.”

Man and Kate stood to leave.  Sheriff Updike stood and walked toward the front door
with
them
.  Before they got the
re, he asked, “Could I
look at one of the Wa
lker Colts I was told you carry?  I’ve heard so much about them.”

Man pus
hed his coat back and handed one of his
pistol
s to Sheriff
Updike
.  The police officer
handled it as
if it were
a piece of fragile glass.  Sev
eral d
eputies joined him to see the weapon
and Kate pulled one of her
s
from h
er holster for them to inspect.

“How did you happen to be fortunate enough to have four of them?”
Updike
asked.

Kate went through the familiar
explanation, which
they had often relayed.

“I hope you have the opportunity to put them into use when you catch up with those killers,” one of the deputies said.

Man nodded as he dropped his Walker in his holster.  Kate took h
ers from the deputy s
heriff who
was holding it up for a better look at the workmanship.

They left the s
heriff’s office and rode toward the hotel.  Man spotted the telegraph
office and
reported to Chief Marshal Meek.

The
hotel
c
lerk was startled when the two m
arshals walked into the lobby wearing their deerskin clothes with two pistols on their hip and a rifle on each shoulder.  They didn’t want to leave them on the saddles in a strange stable.

Man opened his coat and showed his badge.  The clerk smi
led and said, “Welcome
, m
arshals.
I
hope you’
re here to arrest the two men that killed
Tom
Carbon and abducted Clarice.
  We’re all surprised that happened.  She was quite handsome once, but is closing in on the double nickel.
”

“That makes me realize we need a description of her,” Kate said.

“Well,” the clerk said, “I suppose I could say she’s tall for a woman, thin,
only
a touch of gray in her brown hair. 
Plain, I’d say.  But s
he
does
always wears a gold necklace
she says was given
her by her grandmother.”

“We
hope to fin
d them,
” Man said, “
but with the snow, it’
ll be difficult to find their hideout.”

“There are a lot
of abandoned cabins in the area,” the clerk said.
 
“
I do a lot of hunting in that area.  A lot
of
trappers and prospectors built them, but soon moved on when they found no
ore
and the fur market faded.”

“A report said they left the Carbon Store and went west,” Kat
e said, “but that means nothing.  T
hey may have circled and gone in any direction.”

“If I was you,”
the clerk said, “I would go west
out of Mountain H
ome and scout out the Snake River Basin.”