Rocky Mountain Justice (The Legend of Camel's Hump) (11 page)
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Authors: Jeff Noonan
T
hey didn’t find Red until the next morning when he was delivering his papers. They walked with him, describing the situation they’d found at Ike’s sheep ranch. Red characteristically didn’t say much until they were through. “Who else knows about this?” Red might be young, but he was sharp. “No one,” Jerry admitted. “We don’t know who to tell. We don’t want our folks to get in trouble like Aunt Hilda and the pastor. Obviously we can’t go to the law about it.” Red thought about it for a bit, then asked “Why me?” Dawn answered him. “Because you can keep quiet and I need someone to help me that is good at moving around in the woods.”
Red stopped walking and turned to look at them. “If I do this,” he said, “I want to be armed. I’ve got a.22 rifle I can bring. Also, I want your agreement that as soon as we know what we’re dealing with, we’ll tell some adults – or maybe even the FBI if we can figure out how to contact them.” Jerry thought about this for a minute. They had never considered the FBI – to them that was a big city organization that was back east, fighting the Mafia or something. Trust Red and his imagination to come up with that. He mentally dismissed that idea, but seriously considered the fact that Red wanted to carry a gun. All of them had been raised with guns, so that was no problem. But his concern was elsewhere. “Red, carrying your.22 isn’t a problem. But let’s be clear about one thing. Your job is to get the hell out of there if there’s a problem. You can get through the woods faster than anyone I know and that’s why we’re sending you with Dawn. It’s your job to warn us so that we can all fight if we have to. Got it?” Red grinned and readily agreed. He was secretly very proud that the big guys had trusted him.
Then Jerry turned to Dawn and said, “Dawn, are you planning to carry a gun?” He knew that she was as good with a gun as any of them. She answered slowly, “I could, I guess. I have that old.38 pistol that Dad asks me to carry in the woods for fear of bears. But I don’t like the idea of having to use it on a human being.” At this, Jerry exploded, “Damn it, Dawn! This is serious! You aren’t going out there on a picnic! If these guys see you, they might even try to kill you! If you are gonna do this, you’d better be ready to defend yourself!”
Dawn was shocked. Jerry had never said a cross word to her before. But she understood his concern, so her reply was an easy one. “OK Jerry, OK. Don’t get so excited. I’ll shoot those buttheads if I have to, I guess.”
By now, Ray had a quizzical, half-smiling, look on his face. “You’re going to use your little.38 caliber pistol if you run into a bear? Your Dad thinks you can shoot at a bear with that popgun? Sounds like a sure way to get killed to me, doesn’t it, Red?” Red replied, “Oh my God! I wouldn’t shoot a gopher with that thing. It would probably just chase after me and shove the little bullet where the sun can’t shine.” By now Jerry was laughing. “Well, it would probably do as much good as that popgun of yours, Red.”
Then Jerry turned serious. “Please carry your guns, Guys. You need to have something that discourages them from chasing you. But don’t shoot at them unless you have absolutely no choice. We don’t need a killing on our conscience, not even theirs.” With that the plan was settled. Starting that afternoon, Dawn and Red would start a program of daily surveillance on the sheep ranch, reporting back to Jerry and Ray each evening.
They all squeezed into Jerry’s coupe and went for a drive toward Camel’s Hump. Jerry parked where he and Ray had been a few days earlier and the four moved quietly through the woods until they were on the knoll above Ike’s place. Jerry showed them how to take cover behind the bushes and then they left, walking back to the car. There had been no sign of life at the sheep ranch this early in the morning.
When they got back to town, Jerry dropped Dawn and Ray off and helped Red finish his paper route. Then he went to the construction site to get organized for the day ahead.
Jerry had a hard afternoon that day. His mind just wasn’t on the project. His imagination raced, thinking of all the things that could be happening at the sheep ranch while he was here hammering nails! He had total confidence in Dawn and he knew that Red was the best backup person that she could have. But still his mind wandered and his fears mounted. Finally, he called it a day and with Ray, he raced to Otto’s soda fountain where they had agreed to meet.
On entering the store, he spotted them setting calmly at the big table. They looked like they hadn’t a care in the world. He instantly felt the relief that flooded his body, relaxing the muscles that had unconsciously been so tight all afternoon. He had a huge smile of relief as he walked over and sat down. Ray followed him, having the same silly, relieved, smile on his face. They hadn’t talked about it, but both of them had been worried.
When they were seated, he looked at Dawn questioningly. She smiled. “All quiet on the western front, my dear.” Red amplified the comment. “Nothing happened out there. Ike just sat on the porch reading all afternoon and his wife puttered around, feeding chickens and stuff like that. No excitement at all.” He sounded disappointed. “But I had an idea. Let’s take a camera with us. If we do see anything, we can take pictures and then we would have some real evidence if we need it!” Jerry had to laugh at his little friend’s earnestness. “Red, you do have an imagination, I’ll give you that.” But then he became serious. “But actually that is a really good idea. Does anyone here have a camera?” At that Ray laughed bitterly. “Yeah, had a good one. It’s with all my other earthly possessions!” Then Dawn chimed in with, “I have one. Red and I already talked about it. I’ll bring it with us tomorrow.”
In the days that followed, construction of the home continued and the little band of spies kept watch on the sheep ranch, although nothing untoward had yet been seen. Apparently Ike kept the prisoner locked up, and out of sight, in the stone building as a matter of routine.
The Fourth of July came and the town celebrated. This was normally the biggest community celebration of the year, since it was the only one that fell on a day in which the Montana weather could be counted on to be pleasant year after year. This year, the town’s celebration was a bit different from past years. The community pot-luck picnic and the games were all normal except that they were held in the field adjacent to the Moore’s new place instead of in town. While the women and children celebrated, the men worked on the house for the entire three-day weekend. By Tuesday morning, the shell was complete and the crew was finishing the roof.
Over the long weekend, the two young spies had continued intermittently visiting the sheep ranch. When they arrived on Saturday afternoon, there was no sign of life around the ranch house. There was no change when they visited again later in the evening. But Sunday afternoon, Red and Dawn finally got a good look at the prisoner.
They had been on the knoll for about a half an hour, when Bird brought the prisoner out to work in the vegetable garden. The girl went right to work as Bird walked back and forth, swinging her leather whip by her side. After a long while, the girl straightened up and stretched. Bird immediately yelled. “Get busy, Woman. I ain’t staying out here in the sun any longer than I have to!” The prisoner turned to look at her tormentor and, for the first time, the watchers heard her talk. “You aren’t one of The People; you’re just a fat white man’s slut. You don’t have the right to even talk to me.” She was standing tall and straight when she said it. Bird said nothing further. She walked to where the girl was standing and, without a word, slammed her across the face with the butt end of the leather whip. The girl went down hard. Bird grabbed her hair and began dragging her across the yard to the stone prison. Even from where they were, the two watchers could see that her face was bloody and she was only semi-conscious. Red mumbled “Oh my God” under his breath as Dawn grabbed her camera. She managed to get off a few quick clicks before the prisoner and her tormentor disappeared into the stone shack. A moment later, with Dawn still clicking the camera shutter, Bird came out and locked the door before walking calmly back to the house.
It was just a few minutes later, as Dawn and Red were preparing to leave, that Ike came out of the house. Ike walked over to his vehicle, got in and started the engine. When the sound of the pickup’s big motor broke the silence, Bird came running out of the house. She joined Ike in the pickup and they were soon gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust from the dirt roadway.
With everyone gone, Dawn sat back down behind the knoll. Red looked at her quizzically, wondering what she was thinking. “C’mon, let’s go. Nobody’s here to watch any more. Let’s get back to the celebration.” But Dawn had other ideas. “No Red. I’m gonna go down there and try to talk to her. The windows must be open in this heat, so she should be able to talk. Even if we can’t get her out of there, maybe we can give her some hope.” She thought for a moment and then said, “Watch the road. If you see anyone coming, whistle loud enough so I can hear you.” Red objected, “I can’t whistle! I never learned how.” “OK. Then just yell. But do it while they are too far away to hear it.” With that, she started down the hill. Ike’s old sheepdog spotted her and started barking, but she just put her hand out and approached slowly. Soon the dog was walking by her side as she scratched behind its ears. Red watched as she cautiously approached the stone prison, going around to the side window furthest away from the roadway.
As she approached the stone building, Dawn was sure that her heart was going to burst. She admitted to herself that she had never been so scared in her life. Finally she was standing beside the low window. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she began knocking firmly on the windowsill. Twice she knocked with no response. Finally, after the third knock, she heard a stirring inside the building. Very hesitantly the top of a head, then a face, came into view – staring up at the window. A croaking voice said “What?” followed by the sound of a person clearing their throat. The voice repeated, “What?” This time it sounded a bit stronger. Dawn said, “Can you hear me?” It was a silly question, but now that she was here, she didn’t know what else to say. The girl on the other side responded with a “Yes” and moved closer to the window. Dawn could see her clearly now. She was younger than they had imagined. “
She’s about my age.”
Dawn thought to herself, “
An Indian and she could be really good-looking if she wasn’t so beaten up”
. “But what she said was “Hello, I’m a friend.” The girl looked at her through the bars and asked, “Who are you and why are you here?” Dawn thought for a moment before she replied. She didn’t want to leave her name with the girl for fear of it being revealed after she left. So she said, “I just happened to go by and noticed that someone was here in this shed. Who are you and why are you here? Why were you beaten like this?” The words came tumbling out. Dawn wasn’t sure what she could say to reassure this person without getting the sheriff after her and her friends.
It was the girl’s turn to hesitate. She touched a cut on her lip and winced. Then she replied, “My name is Annette. I used to live on the reservation. I was arrested for hitchhiking by Sheriff Karl. He brought me here. I don’t know how long I’ve been here now. Where am I anyway?” Dawn replied, “You are just outside of Dublin.” The girl looked confused. “Where’s that? I’ve never heard of a town by that name.” “It’s in Montana, almost to the Idaho border” Dawn answered. With that, the imprisoned girl started crying; a hopeless, choking, wail of absolute despair. She managed to choke out, “I’m from Arizona.” Then her voice failed completely and she broke into sobs. Dawn shocked her out of it with a sharp, “Stop it! We don’t have time for that now!”
While they had been talking, Dawn had taken some pictures of Annette with her old Kodak, hoping they would come out in the gloom of the little prison. Then she asked for the name and address of Annette’s family, but the girl told her that she was an orphan. Dawn started to ask more questions, but she was interrupted by Red yelling frantically, “Dawn! Get out of there! Ike’s coming back!” She waved to let Red know that she had heard and quickly told Annette, “Keep quiet. I’ll be back. It may take a few days, but don’t give up. See you soon!” With that, she was gone; running lightly through the bushes, making sure that she couldn’t be seen from the road.
Dawn and Red quickly made their way back to where they had hidden their bicycles beside the road. Mounting up, they began the long ride to the Moore place where Jerry and Ray were working on the house and the townspeople were holding their Fourth of July festivities. They couldn’t wait to tell the boys about what they’d seen and done. Dawn was adamant that they would have to do something to free the prisoner. Red counseled caution, worrying that they were legally powerless against a sheriff and his deputy, especially since the girl said that she had been arrested. Soon Dawn was so frustrated with Red that she rode ahead, just wanting to get to people who might be willing to help with her quixotic mission.
T
he new house was coming together swiftly. The Fourth of July crowd outside was thunderously loud, providing a cheerful background for the men working on the house. Jerry and Ray were inside, helping with the construction of the window frames. The children had been playing games all weekend while the women watched then and the men took turns working on the house. Everyone was in a festive mood, with the rat-a-tat drumming of the hammers being interrupted regularly as the workers opened more beer.
The only real conversation in the house was about the quality of the beverages provided for the workers. Both Otto and the bar owner, “Honest Tom” Cochran, had donated beer. Otto had donated Olympia beer, and Honest Tom had donated Great Falls Select. If the chatter in the house was any indicator, both beers tasted suspiciously like equine urine. But somehow the stack of beer bottles in the front of the house kept growing and the work went on.
The men in the building had become accustomed to the noise of the crowd in the field. Then Dawn and Red came thundering onto the porch, with Dawn’s voice raised above the crowd. “Jerry! Jerry! Where are you?” The obvious concern in her voice stopped him in mid-stride and he hurriedly went to the door, shouting, “Over here! What’s the matter? Is everyone OK?”