Rebellion in the Valley (13 page)

The man riding directly behind Tobias snapped
his fingers and inquired of the others, “Hey, speaking of home, did
anyone else catch the news about the Pocahontas Mine?”

At the mention of his prospective riches,
Duffy’s ears perked straight up like one of those German hunting
dogs, preparing himself for the gush of commendations and good
wishes for all who had the good sense God gave a goose to buy into
those stocks in the first place.

“I’ve been getting wind of a few things folks
are talking about, what did you hear?”

“Talk is, they’re not selling any more stock
in the mine. Don’t know why, I guess they must have had a cap of
how many stocks they wanted to sell to keep the profit margins
higher for anyone who bought into it or something.”

“Huh,” Bruce pursed his lips. “I never knew
they limited mine stocks. Is the same true for the Querida and
Humboldt mines, do ya know?”

The man shrugged his shoulders. “No clue. I
wonder if they limited how many shares each person could buy;
sounds like whoever got in on it might make a pretty fair profit if
everything turns out right. Hey, Boss,” the man turned to Bruce,
“You ever know anyone who struck it rich? You know, just some
ordinary fella?”

Duffy couldn’t resist the urge to chuckle to
himself as he imagined this conversation taking place about him in
the near future - what a day that was going to be!

“Nah,” Bruce shrugged. “All I’ve ever known
was hard-working men who met their maker owing the bank a little
something. If anyone in these mountains ever struck it rich,
though, I bet that man would become well-known in a short
time.”

“Yeah! I’d like to be friends with a rich
man,” came the comment from the hatless man.

Duffy sat up a bit taller in his saddle,
content to ride in his silence and dream about all the cash he’d be
able to stuff in his pockets soon as those stocks paid off.

“I don’t mind telling everyone that my bottom
side is beginning to call out for a little bit of mercy,” Bruce
announced to anyone who wanted to listen.

The other men chimed in with their own
versions of agreement, adding in which parts of their anatomy
deserved immediate attention.

“There’s that holler up the way a bit, we’ll
camp there for the night. With the rains we’ve had lately, there
oughtta be a nice sized pool back in there. Course, I haven’t been
up this way in a couple of years now, so I guess we’ll just have to
wait and see.”

Cutting into the conversation, one of the men
offered some good news. “I wandered up this way some six months
back and the water was running down the wall then. Stopped and
waded in it, too,” he teased the other men.

“No kidding? Well,” Bruce nodded, “in that
case, these boots are coming off tonight, boys!”

P

The Puma Canyon road, tending to appear even
steeper and narrower once the night tied a blanket of pure black
through the deep chasm walls, breathed a sigh of relief as the
first flames of the campfire glowed in the center of the holler and
bounced off the cascading water falling down the inside of the
circular wall.

As their horses drank from the pool, the men
parked themselves near the fire and warm grub and exchanged
thoughts on the day’s journey.

“We woulda been begging for disaster, had we
been forced to keep going in the dark,” the group agreed.

Joking, one of the men mentioned that if the
fireflies were any bigger, “They might come in handy if we strung
the little buggers all together.”

Sliding another bite of his cheese sandwich
into his mouth, Bruce had to laugh at the idea.

“I’m trying to picture the family getting
together on a summer night, with grandma stringing thread on
needles for everyone to poke through a mess of the poor critters.
You suppose that could become a new pastime around here?”

“Bug-stringing? I don’t think so,” the man
laughed back. “Now, playing checkers with ladybugs and beetles? Ya
might have something there,” he teased.

Bruce shook his grinning head. “I have to say
one thing. You men sure provide the entertainment; it wouldn’t be
the same without you along to keep me company.”

With a couple of sandwiches in his hand,
Duffy made his own message clear by stomping off to a boulder over
by the pool: he did not want to be disturbed by all their foolish
talk.

A couple of the men gave each other the
shake-of-the-head once Duffy’s back had properly turned against the
lot of them and mouthed with palms facing up, “What’s wrong?”

Problem was, nobody knew what that man’s
malfunction was or when it even started.

Tobias handed a second cheese sandwich to
Bruce while he bit off a healthy chunk of his own and motioned for
the men to put Duffy out of their minds while they finished their
food and made with more small talk to pass the rest of the
evening.

“Hey, Boss,” Tobias nodded. “How many apple
trees you figure on planting this time around?”

Rubbing his chin as he calculated in his
mind, he replied with, “Oh, I imagine we might plant two or three
dozen trees. That’s about how many I ordered anyhow. Figured it out
with Richard and if all the trees bear fruit the way he’s counting
on, there should be more than plenty to feed the bunch of us plus
some to sell.”

He grinned. “And that girl of mine wants
three trees planted right close to the barn so the horses can have
a treat and the rest of us have plenty to snack on, too, as we go
about our chores. Sounds like a right good plan to me.”

Tobias bobbed his head in agreement. “Sure
does. You are aware of the fact that she is serious about those
sheep, right? I’m thinking we best get some pens built here pretty
quick, cause if I know that girl at all, she already has names
picked out for them.”

“I’m with you on that one,” her father
nodded. “I don’t suppose we could talk her out of one for dinner
once she’s done with its fur, could we?”

The hatless man raised a hand in the air. “I
would leave that one alone if I were you; who remembers that turkey
she got attached to last year?”

The men chuckled when Tobias held a finger to
his throat and pulled it slowly.

“She still doesn’t like to eat turkey near as
much as she used to after that, now that you bring it back up,”
Bruce recollected.

Duffy’s eyes squinted off in the distance as
the other men’s laughter filled up the recesses of the holler and
echoed off the inner walls of their home for the evening. His
curious glances did not go unnoticed by Tobias, who stood up at
just the right moment to stir up the fire pit a bit.

A nudge in Bruce’s ribs once Tobias sat back
down drew his attention.

“Don’t reckon you caught that, huh?” Tobias
grinned, glancing toward Duffy. Bruce caught Tobias’ hint and
replied in hushed tones.

“Nah, I reckon I got me a mess of things on
my mind tonight. What did I miss this time?”

“Just a heads-up,” he rolled his eyes
backward. “Someone’s not happy again.”

“I’ve been asking everyone the same thing:
have you and Duffy been having words back at the ranch? Or has he
had any recent runs with anyone that you know of?”

“Now that you’re coming out and asking, me
and Hailee have seen him back at home...being…different.”

Bruce looked downward and shut his eyes. How
could this situation be happening right under his nose and never
have even seen any of it coming, he asked Tobias. “I’m starting to
get the same answer everywhere I turn.”

Shaking his head as if to soften the blow,
Tobias added, “Not that either of us felt he was contemplating
doing anything mean to either of us-to anyone-it’s just that he’s
been watching the both of us lately.”

Tobias squeezed his eyes together and thought
twice before adding, “Hailee isn’t comfortable being around him
these days, Boss. He gives her the willies.”

Bruce dropped his head.

“Aaah, I had no idea,” he sighed out loud.
“How long has this been goin’ on?”

Tobias shook his head, assuring Bruce that he
wasn’t trying to stir up any problems between the two men. “I know
he’s been around the ranch longer than I have, Boss, but Hailee
talks to me a lot and tells me things that are on her mind; I
reckon you could say that we’ve gotten close to each other because
of it.”

There. He’d said it.

Bruce nodded his head. He wanted to say
something to Tobias but decided that wouldn’t be necessary;
instead, the men resumed conversation with the others as they all
finished off the coffee before turning in for the night.

P

Pre-winter mountain air bit at noses peeping
out from under bedroll blankets and hats, causing a stir within the
camp as men rolled over on the cold ground and twisted around to
work out the night’s kinks; the whiff of fresh-brewed coffee pushed
them to their feet.

The familiar scent of sausage and potatoes
caused their eyes to focus immediately on the fire ring as fists
rubbed the life back into their eyes. A second rubbing became
necessary for final confirmation once the identity of the do-gooder
revealed himself.

Duffy sat on one of the large stones near the
fire with what appeared to have been at least a second cup of
coffee and a slight grin on his face.

“Mornin,’” he offered with a nod of his head.
“Figured I might as well get the day started, seein’ as how I was
up first. The sausage and bacon might look off-kilter, cause I
think I lost some of my meat saws along the way. Horses are saddled
up.”

Stunned the man was even speaking to them,
the men exchanged looks of shock, almost afraid to even get out
from under their blankets. Had Duffy laid a trap for the whole lot
of them?

He stood, smoothed a wrinkle in his shirt and
gave a second nod before walking off toward the same boulder he’d
sat on the night before. With a startling contented grin pasted on
his face and a cup of coffee in hand, he made his way to the rear
of the holler to consume his morning beverage.

While the majority of the men shrugged and
grinned, Tobias and Bruce still eyed the strange man with
caution.

Chapter 13

D
uffy hung his head over the side of the boulder and shoved a
fist into his belly before he doubled over to make way for the
contents of his breakfast to come spilling out over the side of the
massive rock, leaving the man’s knotted body slumped over to one
side.

Just as his mind and body relaxed enough to
drift off in an early morning nap, the clanging of pots and pans
being loaded back onto the horse drew him back to reality and he
knew he had to pull himself together. There would be no turning
back at this point.

With a deep breath, the man pulled the fist
from his stomach, forcing himself into a sitting position; it took
all the energy he still possessed to urge himself to a standing
position, but it was only from habit that he found the way to his
own horse.

“Sure was nice of you to get the coffee on
this morning. We sure do appreciate it,” Bruce complimented him
with a hearty pat on the shoulder..

“Least I could do,” he muttered and turned to
stick his foot into a stirrup.

The men watched as their breath produced
visible clouds in the early morning air, demonstrating how the
temperatures had dipped so low during the night.

“This is the day it’s gonna change, Boss! I
can feel something different this morning,” Tobias commented before
lowering his voice. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that
Duffman switched saddles on us, either,” he hitched a thumb at
their horses.

Bruce nodded in acknowledgment, attempting to
keep his voice down.

“I noticed it, too. He must have gotten them
confused so early in the morning. It can be a bit on the dark side,
especially out here. I was hoping nobody pointed it out to him;
it’s almost like he’s trying to take a stab at making amends, and
I’m all for that.”

“Yeah,” Tobias nodded, his eyebrows
furrowing. “But I still don’t trust him.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Bruce nodded his
agreement. “Neither do I, but it’s all we have to work with right
now,” Bruce gave a tug of his head. “We’ll just keep our eyes and
ears open. The truth always finds a way of showing itself.”

“Alright then,” Bruce clapped his hands
together as he turned to the group of cowboys. “Let’s get up this
hill and get some business done today!”

Tugging back on the reins, three men slowed
their horses down some in order to to allow a couple others the
space to pass by; it had been decided the men carrying rifles in
the best condition should lead the way that last bit of incline. A
level spot in the road lay not too far ahead, giving the group of
riders the promise of a less uncomfortable journey than it had been
the day before.

Holding a hand up to his eyes to block the
early morning glare of sunlight as he peered upward, Tobias reached
down to his saddle bag and drew out a plug of chewing gum to keep
his mouth moist, then tugged his hat down some.

He and Bruce started upward, Bruce offering
to take the outside ledge so he could peer over the side and bring
a full report back to his beautiful and inquisitive daughter.

“Yeah, she’s gonna want to know what the
canyon looked like, smelled like, and all the details you can
remember about everything along the way, isn’t she?” Tobias chimed
in. “She gave me a list of things to watch for with that horse of
hers. I’m supposed to tell her goodnight for Hailee every
night-which I have only done twice. But if you tell her I admitted
that, well, I’ll just have to deny it!” he laughed.

Bruce laughed. “Your secret is safe with me,
Son.”

Taking an amount of pride in
the wording Bruce chose to use, he sat a mite taller in his
saddle.
Son
. If he
only knew…maybe since the day had begun so well, this could be the
day he would try to talk to Bruce a little bit about his feelings
and intentions with Hailee if nobody else was within earshot of
their conversation. Deciding he would do just that, Tobias glanced
over at Bruce again.