Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (33 page)

She pulled them to a stop beside
Bob’s body
, pulled his gun belt from him,
and searched his pockets.  She took everything including a money belt.

Clarice was watching her.  “
There’
s no need for the weapons to rust away and I’ll turn their possessions over to Chief Marshal Meek.
”

She climbed back on th
e seat and crawled in the back
to exam
ine Man
.  She
found no change.  His breath
ing was shallow, but steady,
an
d the bleeding had stopped.

Satisfied they had everything
ready
, Kate
returned to the seat and
flicked the reins.
The
mules had to work to pull the wagon through the heavy snow cover. 
She followed the
path the
ir
horses made earlier to go back to their cabin.

“I’m afraid to ask about
my husband
,” Clarice said, keeping her gaze straight ahead.

Kate glanced at her
,
not sure how to answer.  The woman had suffered enough, but would find out, eventually.

“He’s dead,” Clarice answered for her.  “I knew it.  I know it.  But, I’d hoped….”

“I’m sorry,” Kate whispered.

Clarice nodded and sat swaying slightly, seeming dazed and numb.

Kate glanced back at Man, hoping she wouldn’t soon share this woman’s grief. 
They drove on in silence,
Kate
focusing on making distance through the narrow trail in the snow.

“Why are we stopping?” Clarice asked
when they arrived at the cabin
.

“This was where we
were
staying while we searched for you,” Kate said. 
“
Our things are inside.
Go to the barn and bring our pack mules with their pack saddles,” Kate said.  “I’ll l
oad our
things from the cabin.
  Move fast.
”

Kate was waiting when Clarice brought the t
wo pack mules. “Four mules will
help us make time pulling the wagon,
” Kate said.
“It was tough on the two getting here.”

“That would be better, but we have no harness
,” Clarice said.

“We’ll improvise,” Kate said.  “I saw this done when I was on the Oregon Trail.
”
  She tied a rope to the packsaddles on the mules and then tied it to the side of the wagon.

“You r
ide one and I’ll ride the other to help pull the wagon through the snow.
I can use the buggy whip to keep the mules hitched to the wagon moving.
”

Kate pointed the mules toward the east and touched the mule she was riding with her spurs.  Clarice didn’t have spurs, but she kicked the side
s
of the mule as Kate flicked the buggy whip on the rumps of the mules hitched to the wagon.

The four mules made much better time in the heavy snow.  When they stopped for their first rest, they switched out the mules and Kate fed all the animals a generous ration of fe
ed.  Sh
e handed Clarice jerky to eat.

The nights were cold, but they had ample feed for the livestock and Clarice and Kate munched on pemmican, jerky and parched corn.  The
first night, the two women
slept on either side of Man in the back of the wagon to keep him warm. 
Kate wanted to keep moving, the sense of urgency to get Man to a doctor almost overwhelming.  But she knew if she ran the mules and
horses into the ground, they’d never reach civilization.  Still, she slept poorly and woke every few hours to examine him
.
His breathing was shallow, but he
wasn’t bleeding.

When dawn came
,
Clarice
woke and
checked
Man’s
pulse and examined his wound.
“
Being unconscious
is
best for him
,” she said
. 
“
The bouncing of the wagon wou
ld
make the pain
excruciating.
”

Kate
wanted to feed him, but was afraid he would strangle if she put something in his mouth.
  Clarice agreed that it was better she didn’t put anything in his mouth
except a little snow now and then he could swallow on reflex
.

The two women
worked getting themselves back on the trail
. 
As they drove
forward, Clarice finally
spoke.  “I don’t want to go back to Mountain Home.
  My husband is dead and there’
s
nothing for me there.  Everyone
will know what happened to me and point fingers and talk behind my back.”

Kate reached for Clarice’s hand.  “I’m sure you heard them mention a woman by the name of Lucille.  When Valdez and Engledow left Coeur d’A
lene, they took Lucille
with them as a hostage, like you.  She endured what you went through.  Lucille escaped and we found her and took her home.  Her husband had died a while ago, but now she has met a
good
man and t
hey’
re going to be married.”

“That’s not likely for me,” Clarice said.
  “At my age.”

“
If you want, I’ll
say we found you
immediately
and the blizzard ke
pt us from returning right away
.”

She let Clarice think about that for a while.
She finally spoke, in a very low tone,
“I’d appreciate that.  Still, I don’t see how I can go back home.  Not without Tom there.”

“
You could sell the store in Mountain Home,” Kate said.  “
Do you have a
house there?”

“Yes.”

“Sell it and the store, take the money and go back to Coeur d’Alene with us. 
S
tart over where nobody knows you but us
. 
Man and I can keep our mouth
s
shut.
  With Engledow and Valdez dead, no one needs to know the details.  There won’t be a trial.
”

She
lifted the bag at her feet and handed it to Clarice. 
The bag contained the money she’d taken off Bob and Al.

“This is yours,” Kate said.  “It’s what they stole from your store.”

Clarice cou
nted it and started to object.

“It’s rightfully yours
,
”
Kate said.  “
It was taken from you and I’
m
giving it back.  It never belonged to them.  T
hey stole it from you and Tom
.
”

Clarice
nodded but sat the bag on the seat beside her, as if it were dirty now
.
“
Thank you.”

As soon as they entered Boise, Kate spotted a policeman and waved
him over. 
The policeman turned his
horse, rode closer,
and looked at the two women riding the mules.  Recognition crossed
his face.  “You’re that woman deputy m
arshal
.”

“Yes,” Kate said.  “Marshal Manchester is gravely wounded and we need the
best doctor in Bo
i
se to treat a
gunshot wound.”

“
You’re in luck,” the policeman said.  “My
wife’s
uncle’s a doctor and he has an offi
ce just up the street
.  Follow me.
”
He
turn
ed his horse to lead
the way.  On the way through town, t
he
y passed more policemen who
joined the procession.

Six policemen carefully carried Man inside the doctor’s office on a blanket.  Kate removed
his gun belt and put it over her
shoulder.
She wasn’t taking any chance the Walker Colts could be stolen.
He’d want them back once he recovered.

She backed out of the room to give the doctor and his nurse
space
to work.  Clarice was standing by the door waiting
and watching
. 
Kate took notice of her bruised face and went to speak privately.  “You should stay and see the doctor while we’re here.”

Clarice shook her head stubbornly.  “
Cuts and bruises heal.  I
only need a quiet place to gather myself.  I
want to put this nightmare behind me, starting now.”

Kate turned
to the
policeman
who
seemed to be in charge.

“I need to
see Sheriff
Updike
,” she said.

The policeman turned to one of the others and ordered, “Go get
Updike
and tell him the two m
arshals are here
and one
was shot.”

The policeman
hurried away.

Kate turned back to the policeman in charge.
“Would you have one of your men take Clarice to the best hotel near here and tell the clerk I’ll be in later with government vouchers.  Tell him to honor anything she wants, such as a hot bath and food at the café.”

“Yes
,
ma’am, Deputy Marshal Kate.  If I may ask, is she the woman that was kidnapped at Mountain Home?”

“Yes,” Kate said.
“Clarice Carbon.
W
e caught up with them an
d rescued her, but t
he bli
zzard prevented us getting back sooner.  There was an awful blizzard on
the Snak
e River.  We
saw drifts over twelve
feet high.”

She left it at that.
 
“I’
m going to stay here with Man,” she added quickly.
 
“
If you would, send a wire to Chief Marshal Meek that Al Valdez and Bob Engledow are dead
,
and Clarice Carbon was rescued. 
Also, add that Man was
wounded.”

“I’ll see to it,” the policeman said.

A policeman went to Cl
arice and said, “There’s a
hotel in the next block,
ma’am.  P
lease come with me and I’ll make sure you get a nice room.”

The doctor came out of the examination room and Kate hurried to him.  The policeman that she was talking with followed, but stood well back, but where he could hear.

“I didn’t
formally
meet you,” he said.  “I’m Doctor Ashley.”

Kate nodded, barely hearing him.  “How is he?”

“Marshal Manchester is in grave condition
,”
the doctor
said.
 
“
He lost
a lot of
blood
from internal hemorrhaging.   T
he bullet did damage inside his body.  Surgery is a necessity to save his life.  However, I’m not qualified to perform th
e procedure. 
I need to contact Doctor Samuel Havins.  He’s a skilled surgeon. 
We need to get
the marshal
to the hospital and I’
ll contact
him
. 
If anybody can sa
ve his life, it’
ll be Sam.
 
I
’
ll tell you this.  At best,
the odds are less than fifty-fifty.  I realize you did your best to get him here
as fast as possible
, but the
length of time his wounds have been left untended
have worsened his condition.”

Kate stood tall with her shoulders square, and she showed no outward reaction at the
horrible
news, but she wasn’t able to control tears
that trickled down her cheeks.

A policema
n stepped forward.  “I’ll have my men take Marshal Manchester to the hospital.”

“We ca
n use the wagon parked in front,” Kate said.
 
“
It
has a soft bed inside already.”
  She
turned back to the helpful policeman.  “I d
idn’t hear your name.”

“Thornton.
Caleb Thornton,” he said.