Coming Home to La Petite Valley
Chapter 1

Copyright© 2014 by happyhugo

I stepped off the train in Saint Louis. I was familiar with Missouri. My father and mother moved here when they sold me the Texas ranch. My wife's sister, Abby, was married and lived close by. I joined the army here in Saint Louis because I wanted to see Pa and Ma one more time before I signed to fight for the Union. Kansas and Missouri had seen some serious fighting along the border. It was mostly guerrilla type warfare.

I had been ordered to Virginia a year before Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Some of the heaviest of fighting had occurred at that time of the war, but those were straight military actions. Now I was heading home to Texas after spending a year working in Washington on the commission that was handling reconstruction issues.

There weren't any trains directly to my ranch in Texas so I was traveling horseback. I had purchased a good animal that would carry me the distance. Yes, I was a blue belly captain. The valley in Texas where my ranch was located was peopled by men of both north and south. It was a place where neighbors meant something even if you were for or against slavery. There was little rancor so it just wasn't brought up.

The ranches weren't that large and no one carried a big crew. We all relied on helping each other during round-ups and trail drives. I feared that might have changed by now. The war had been long and bitter and Texas had seen its share. I had no idea how many of us from the valley had gone off to war, knowing fewer came home.

I waited a year after the war began before I joined up, it being difficult for me to make up my mind which side to fight on. I knew before I left of at least one of my neighbors who had been killed. I helped the widow and her three kids until some of her family showed up to help. They hadn't stayed with her long so she had to go back to depending on the neighbors.

I was married and I felt I left my wife in good hands with the neighbors when I had made up my mind to join in the fray. We were young and hadn't started a family yet. Our ranch had come to us when my parents decided to move to Saint Louis and live with my wife's sister, Abigail. Today I came down off the train and unloaded my horse from the stock car and headed over there to visit.

I was anxious because, although I had sent letters regularly home, I hadn't received any back from my wife for the last two years. I had been pressured into one extra year-long enlistment, but when it was up, I wasn't taking on another one. I needed to be home a year ago and I was headed there now. Three weeks would do it to enter the valley.

I drifted up the side street and tied my horse to the post by the back door. My brother-in-law was coming down the street. He glanced at it and came on by toward the back stoop where I was sitting. I didn't know what kind of reception I would receive for he and I had never got along. He ducked under some clothes on the line. Between the bed sheets some frilly undergarments were pinned.

He was, and probably still is, a rabid southerner. I wasn't looking to argue or fight with him over the war that his side had lost. I was just looking for any information from home.

"McBain."

"Hello Roger. I'm going home from the war. How's Abby?"

"I wouldn't know. She doesn't live here anymore. She and your parents moved out when she divorced me."

"Where are they living?"

"Boylston Street. Ask anyone along there."

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. I'm glad to be rid of the lot of you." I didn't answer. I knew it would be useless. I mounted up and headed for Boylston Street, not knowing but wondering.

This section of the city didn't have as much class as the other. It had more going for it though. There was a livery stable on the end of the street and I enquired for Abby and my parents. "McBain, sure I know him. Let's see, I don't know the number but it's the eleventh house up on this side. You must be Riley, his son."

"I am. How is Pa?"

"Better than me. I got the gout bad, but I can still hobble around. Your Pa helps me out some. Put your horse up for you? I hate to ask for pay, but times are real tough. Cost you four bits a day if I feed them. Kinda like to have you pay in advance."

"I can do that. Thanks." I paid the man. I guess business wasn't that good because he seemed overly glad for a paying customer. I went on up the street. I counted the houses and when I got to number eleven, I knocked on the door of the cottage.

Abby, Winnie's sister, opened the door. She was in my arms kissing me before I could speak. She shouted, "Ma and Pa, Riley is here. She unhanded me and pushed me into the living room ahead of her. Pa was struggling to get out of a chair and Ma came rushing in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Riley, it's been two years since we seen you."

"I know Ma. How've you been?"

"Okay I guess. Missing you. Things have gone to hell here. I think we are just about ready to move back to Texas. Abby wants to get out of town and Pa is sick of town life. Says he would never be this crippled back at the ranch."

"So, Pa, the good life in the city isn't that great?"

"Nope."

"Do you hear anything from Winnie." A look of sadness came over all their faces.

"We think she must be dead. We haven't heard from her for almost a year and a half. Some bunch of Scalawags moved into town and there have been some shootings and killings. Nobody has answered our letters to our old neighbors or Winnie for more than a year. The last we heard someone took over the town and has been slowly getting title to some of the land in the valley. It's such an out of the way place, it could happen."

"I guess I better get back there as soon as possible and find out what's going on."

"That would be a good idea, son."

Abby spoke up, "I'm going with you when you go. There's nothing here for me any longer."

"How come?"

"Roger took up with some floozy he knew when he was younger. She is supposed to be genteel, but is nothing but a tart. I wouldn't stand for it and asked for a divorce. He didn't think the court would ever give me one, but times are changing and women aren't just chattel any more. There have been seven divorces here in the city this year alone."

"I'm going by horseback and it will take me three weeks to get there. Too rough for a woman."

"I'll become a man for the trip then. If you've got a home when we get there, Pa and Ma can make the journey later."

"If you're ever found out, you will have a poor reputation."

"No worse than what a woman who has divorced her husband has. Besides, you will need someone who can watch your back if there is trouble before and after we get there."

"We'll talk about it. I'm hungry. Anything to eat in the house?"

"Beef stew and dumplings. Beef is tough but can be chewed. Pa brewed up a batch of beer and it's ready to drink."

"Good, I've dreamed about his brew ever since I've been gone."

I went into detail of what I had been doing since the surrender. "I was there at the surrender and I was one of the officers who had been designated to give out the parole of several companies of the Northern Army of Virginia. The southern men were hungry, ragged and worn out. Neither side was sad the fighting ended. I know bitterness will creep in when the soldiers have time to rest and reflect. At that time they just wanted to go home.

"I continued to be busy and there were a million details to address in dealing with the defeated army. The country has turned its attention to the west and the Indian situation. I want no part of fighting anymore. I would have had to take a reduction in rank from captain to possibly as low as sergeant. I want to get on and see if I can put together the life I interrupted by going off to war."

Ma and Pa were sad to see me arranging my journey. Abby was adamant that she was going with me. One morning she appeared in a union campaign cap with every strand of hair tucked under it. Never full breasted, she had wound her chest tightly and with thin shanks she appeared to be a small man. We both wore buckskin and boots. The matching Patterson colts she wore would detract anyone from examining her gender too closely. "I can even shoot and hit what I aim at. When I said I would watch your back, I meant I can do it."

My horse was a big gelding. The livery owner was glad to let me have a good sized mare and I bought another older mare for a pack horse. We spent six days with Ma and Pa and then one early morning we headed south toward Arkansas and Texas.

We were well armed, both of us having hand guns and Henry repeating rifles. I had a long range telescopic sight that would fit to the Henry rifle in my scabbard. The telescope was carried separately in a wooden box hung on the other side of my saddle. It could take as long as five minutes to affix, so it was only to be used on a long-range target or used from concealment. I had a Walker Colt for a side arm and had a Patterson under my shirt. I had another that I didn't speak about.

We didn't hurry particularly, but kept up a steady, mile-eating pace. We were overly careful of the other travelers we met and the ones we passed. Every night we were far off of and hidden from the trail. We had coffee and bacon for breakfast and occasionally an egg. We had some money so we bought what we could as we went along. Most usually Ab made up a mush to fry in the pan rather than dump out the bacon grease. It was heavy, filling, satisfying, and if we felt we shouldn't build a fire, it could be eaten cold. We had purchased several pouches of jerky and this was often our second and last meal.

If we had a fire, we made a stew of the Jerky. Neither of us would gain any weight, but we had enough nourishment for traveling. I had begun to use "Ab" to address Abby, saying if asked her name was Abner. She was a trooper and we shared camp chores.

We had a spot of trouble before we reached the Arkansas/Texas border. We had pulled off the trail, built a small fire and I had a rabbit spitted that I had shot during our travel that day. Ab had disappeared into the brush to take care of business. I heard a noise behind me just as I was reaching to turn the rabbit. I felt a vicious blow to my shoulder. I rolled away and pulled my Walker.

The man had his arm raised to strike me again with a chunk of wood. Christ, he could have killed me if I hadn't moved when I had. "Hold, it feller, you trying to kill me?"

"I'm jus' hungry and done smelled your food from the trail. I followed my nose. I jus' wanted to knock yous out and eat your food."

I looked behind him. Ab had a gun out and was ready to shoot. "Turn around, Mister. I cooked the food for my partner. Talk to him."

"Oh, my God, there was two of yous. I'll leave. Don't kill me."

Ab waggled the gun at him. "Sit."

I asked, "Union or Rebel?"

"Mister, iffen I guess wrong answer yous'll up an' kill me."

"Maybe, maybe not, but now's the time to tell the truth. What's your name?"

"Red Morris and I fight wi'd the Gray. I been sick a lot and not able tuh travel fast. The wars be over long time and I don't know iffen I'm ever goin' make it home."

Serious like, I said. "You couldn't have guessed wrong. I'm Union and he's Reb. Maybe someone didn't tell you but the war is over. Ab, give him a piece of jerky to chew on until the rabbit is done. Chew on it slow to get the goodness out. You go to swallowing it too soon and it just passes through you and does you no good. One of those facts you need to remember."

"Tank you, suh. I bet yous more'n a private?"

"I was. Made captain, if you're interested. We're headed for Texas. Got me a ranch there. That is if someone hasn't latched onto it while I've been gone." I poured him coffee in a spare tin can while he was working on the dried meat.

"Cap'n, I'm right sorry I hit on yous."

"Well, I might have to do the same to someone before I get home. Where are you from?" He told us. "That's only fifty miles from where we are headed in some hills around central Texas. If you ever make it home and can't find something to do, come around. If I still got a place when I get there, I'll see if I can't help you out. You good at doing anything special?"

"Not really, but I damned sure willing tuh learn. I don raised hell before I joined up."

"What did your pa do?"

"Pa raised hogs an I gathered pecans an fed em. I know some about hogs come tuh think 'bout it."

"Good enough. I guess the rabbit is done. Good thing it is a jack. Lot of meat on it. Enough to give us all a taste."

"God, yous men be white. I sure hit it lucky runnin' intuh yous."

"Yeah, but next time trying the same thing might get you dead. You'd do better going to a farm house and asking. They might chase you off, but probably not kill you."

"I'll 'member. Can I sleep here by the fire tonight? I ain't met a friendly traveler for long, long, time."

"I guess so. We don't usually camp with anyone." We talked long into the night and finally Ab crawled off into the bushes and went to sleep. I went across to the opposite side of the fire and several yards into the woods. I came awake before daylight. Red was poking up the ashes. He was down on his knees blowing on the coals, adding some dry leaves to them. Soon he had a blaze going.

I shouted, "Abner, time to get going."

Ab came out of the woods. "You're the one who is late. I watered our mounts and got water for coffee. I'll slice us up some bacon. We're out of eggs, but we got corn meal. I'll fry us up some mush."

Red couldn't believe we were going to give him another meal. He got more than that. Abner gave him a pouch of jerky and a small bit of left-over fried mush. I had a dollar in silver coins and I handed that to him with the admonition. "Remember, it is good to share with those who have less than you do. Someday you may be paid back ten fold."

"I 'member. God Bless yous two."

"Good and I hope to see you again someday. We're on our way."

We were a mile down the road when Abby finally brought up last night. "That's going to make us have to buy food sooner. Why didn't you give him a ten dollar gold piece if you were so generous?"

"If he had gold, he might have had it taken away from him and he still would have come up hungry. Some farmer's wife will feed him for a dime and glad of it."

"Guess you're right in that. Why did you do as much for him as you did, anyway?"

"Just looking to the future. When we get to the valley we may need some extra hands. He's what, maybe twenty-one or two? He'll be someone we can rely on if we're short-handed. If he makes it to the hill country, we'll see him."

I caught Ab glancing at me several times. I guess she hadn't figured me out yet. Did she think I was a pushover? Time would tell before she had it sorted out. I didn't know if I was or not, but if I met a hungry man I would feed him if I could.

We were nearly all the way across Arkansas and almost to the border with Texas when our next tight spot came up. We had three men to deal with this time. We met them while crossing a small plain. We kept going and they passed us off to the left by a couple hundred yards. They looked us over pretty closely. I didn't like the looks of them and was worried.

"We had better head for some place where we can fort up. I suspect they'll follow us and try to get our horses. I'd put money down on it anyway and I hope I'm wrong." We picked up our pace, and it wasn't before we had traveled eight miles I found a place that satisfied me. The prairie looked level, but I was looking for an old time buffalo wallow or some rough spot a tornado had created. These came up occasionally. More than one rider had been killed by riding into one unexpectedly.

"Cold camp, tonight. I'll divide up one canteen of water between the horses. That leaves us two. I hope they don't pin us down for long."

"You think they'll follow us?"

"For sure." I was right. My gelding whickered not long after full dark and was answered. "Here they come. It's dark enough so they may not know we found some place to fort up."

They didn't know exactly where we were located. "Hey, you out there, if you can hear me. Let us have your horses and we won't kill you."

We didn't answer. I had told Ab not to hesitate to shoot if she saw someone because they meant to kill us anyway. We heard some thumping and Ab whispered, asking what the noise was. "They're driving in a picket pin so the horses won't run off. We'll have all three of them to deal with." We could actually hear them advancing toward us through the prairie grass. I knew they were close and we were set.

I was staring over the lip of the wallow when I saw one man coming up. There was another darker patch behind him. Time to cut down the odds. I shot at the black indistinct blob that was furthest away. I had time to get off another shot targeting the man standing on the lip at prairie level. Then Ab's gun went off ... twice. The powder smoke drifted away. I guess my first target wasn't dead, for we could hear some groaning.

"Help me? Oh, God I'm hurtin' bad. You got any water? We weren't going to hurt you guys. Our horses were just about played out and there is a posse about a day behind us."

Ab asked, "Are you going out to him?"

"No, I'm not. Not sure and it may be a trick. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. First man I ever killed though. I'm a little shook."

I held Ab for a minute. "Sit down for a bit. If that Ranny out there keeps moaning for long, I'll ease up and knock him in the head." I didn't have to because we soon could hear his death rattle. I had heard enough of them in the last few years.

"Abby, stay still and I'll come to you. The moon will be up soon and we'll check things out then." I sidled up to her and put my arm around her. She sobbed and shuddered some. Not for long though before she pulled away from me.

"Sorry about that. You called me Abby and it made me remember I am a woman. I'm back to being Abner now."

"You're the best either way. I hope someday you can revert to being a woman all the time. For now though, you are doing a man's job and doing it damned well."

"Thanks Riley. I told you I would watch your back and that's just what I did tonight."

When the moon was up high, I went out and pulled the three dead men together up to the lip of the wash. "We'll see what they look like in the morning. I think I'll put their horses here with ours. That last guy said there was a posse behind them. We'll back track them as long as it is in our direction and meet up. We don't have a tool to bury them. The posse will get the horses and the bodies and we won't have to deal with either."

Neither of us felt like eating although we did chew on some jerky. It was the same in the morning. When I looked the dead men over, it was a poor outfit. There had two pistols between them. The man who Ab had done in only had a big knife. The horses must have been stolen.

They all had different brands. The horses seemed to be fine after a nights rest. My first shot had caught the man in the guts. He was the one who died last. The second one had caught it in the brisket. Ab's two shots had taken her victim in the chest. We loaded them onto the saddles and started following tracks. Two hours after we started we could see a five-man posse coming toward us. They spread out some and came on.

I stopped a couple hundred feet from them. "You following the tracks made by these men we got tied on those horses?"

"That's right. We had them in our jail and they killed the night man escaping. They took horses out of the livery stable and we didn't know nothing about it until the next morning. We've been chasin' them for three days. What happened back there?"

"They tried for our horses while we were forted up pretty good. That was last evening after dark. We didn't even know what they looked like until daylight this morning. We heard the gut-shot one say there was a posse after them. That's why we took the trouble to load them up and back track. Other wise I would have left them for the coyotes."

"Thanks. Good thinking. Save us some time. We'll turn around and you can ride with us. You stick around a day or two. Two of them have a $50 bounty on their heads and one is $125. You earned it."

Just then one of the posse-men reined forward. Howdy, Captain McBain, remember me?"

"Sure do, Tom Duffy. Are you still getting drunk and causing trouble?"

"Not me, Captain. Well, I might if I had the price of the drink."

"Maybe we'll do that when we get to town. Deputy, we're down from Missouri headed for Central Texas. I have a ranch there. My partner is Abner Whitaker. He was a rebel, but one of the good ones. Where are you men out of?"

"One of the border towns on the Texas line. We got a telegraph so it'll only take a day to collect your bounty. Well, let's go. No need to sit here talking. I want to get back to the wife." It took us two days to get to the town. The posse had left sudden-like after the killers and were out of food when we met up. We shared and they about cleaned us out of everything but some jerky. The deputy promised we would be reimbursed.

Ab and I got a room at the boarding house. The first thing I did was to order up a tub so we could take a bath. This was going to cause a problem I figured, Abby being a woman and unrelated. "Riley, I ain't much and I'm divorced and don't have to speak to anyone for permission. We'll have our bath just the same as two men would. I would like to be the first in the tub though."

"You got it. I can face the wall unless you take too long."

"Riley, face the wall or not, that's your choice. I have a bad feeling that Winnie is dead and if she is, I might make a try for you. If she isn't, which is what I pray every night for, I'll get her to find me a good man."

"Good enough. We'll always be friends in this life and after."

Two days later we loaded up our pack horse again and headed for the hill country several days away at the rate we traveled. We left a lot of well wishers behind us and had a little extra money in our poke. We were clean and rested and the horses were raring to go. Just being in Texas, made me feel like I was almost home. And yeah, one other little thing, Duffy was riding with us. "I'm sick of hanging around the saloon and waiting for someone to offer up a drink. Hey Captain, there's something funny about Abner. He's strange. Goes off by himself at times. He sleeps away from you and me too."

"Duffy, that's because Ab is really Abby, my sister-in-law. She said she wanted to see her sister and would watch my back while I was getting home to her. Remember she is the one who put two holes in one of those outlaws. It was dark before the moon was up too. Walk careful around her if you would."

"I will. A woman ... really?"

"Yep, a woman."

"Huh, who'd have thought it?" Duffy did treat Abner with a little more deference.

Ab laughed about it to me when she got onto him knowing she was Abby and not Abner. "But I will not be sharing a room with the two of you."


We stopped in the last town before reaching the valley and home. Our valley had its own village, but I didn't want to go in blind. I hoped Pete Black the mail carrier still had the contract. He lived here in this wide spot in the road and was friendly when delivering mail in our town.

It was 7 p.m. when I knocked. He came to the door. "Hey Pete, I was going through town and thought I'd say hi. I'll be staying here tonight and go on to the valley in the morning."

"Riley McBain. My God I haven't seen you forever. Come in, come in. I didn't know if you were coming back or not. Your wife left and your place has gone to hell. I make plans to go by your old ranch occasionally. I guess the new banker bought it. He's living there now."

I stared at him. "Winnie left? I didn't know that."

"Yeah, guess so. The story is she packed up and left for Saint Louis and her sister's place. Nobody said different. Didn't she write and tell you?"

"I haven't heard a word from her for almost two years. I've been writing, but never got a letter back. What's going on in the town, anyway? You say there is a new banker?

"Yeah. Petite Valley has a new banker, new sheriff, a couple of new saloons, and a whole bunch of riff-raff. Out of the seven ranches in the valley there are only five left. This gang moved in about two years ago. It was some months before the war ended. We personally think it's some kind of land grab."

"Which five ranches are left?"

"I disremember names. Your ranch and Tim Long's are in hands of the Scalawags. Mrs. Holcomb's and the Sinclairs are both under pressure to sell out. Jenkins is in the middle of two more where the ranchers have taken to the hills. Sarah Holcomb ran a bunch of them off of her place. All she's got is those three kids and her buildings with the land they're on."

"What about our cattle?"

"There are about all gone too. Your steers were rustled off last year in a gather. All of the other ranches lost their stock at the same time. I expect the rest will go this year. There're driving all the way to Louisiana. Some are being driven to the coast and shipped to New Orleans. Trains are reaching Kansas so there will be a new market and easier to get to. Where have you been all this time?"

"I was with General Grant when he took Richmond and he had me do some things for him. I finished up in the Interior Department a month ago."

"Things have really gone to hell around here. I don't guess there is anything you can do about it. Hell of a note you go off and fight in a war and you come home and find this."

"Yes, well I had a premonition that something was wrong. Hey, don't tell anyone I'm in the area. I want to look things over before these highbinders know I'm around yet. You may see me again. I'll be buying supplies here most likely even though it's out of my way. Has the telegraph reached here yet?"

"No, it ended about thirty miles east of here at a village they call Pineville. You know, Riley, if it is something important, I go there once a week. I could hand it to the operator. If an answer was expected I could stay over one night."

"Thanks, Pete, it's a thought and I'll keep it in mind. I'm going to slide on out of here now."

"Go careful, Riley. Your life won't be worth much if they get onto you." I waved my hand and headed where Duffy and Ab were holding our mounts.

I explained what I had learned when I reached them. "Okay, here's what I found out. We're up against a bunch of crooks. They got themselves a sheriff, a banker, and they have a couple saloons where some toughs hang out. Winnie disappeared just before they took over my ranch. The banker claims to own it now and they have taken over one more after the owner was killed. A couple ranchers left for the hills figuring it was safer there. They got all the ranchers on the ropes. The salable cattle have been gathered and trailed to Louisiana."

"What are you going to do, Riley?"

"Find out what happened to Winnie if I can. I know the widow at the next ranch and I'll see what she knows."

"Where are we going to be living?"

"I know of a nice cool cave for the summer? Pa found it when he first settled here. We've kept it a secret from everyone except family. Keeping the horses hidden will be a problem but we'll figure out something. Let's go cross country and keep off the roads."

"We're with you."

It was eighteen miles to the cave. My ranch was a little less than a half-mile away from the cave and we had arrived by a roundabout way through the hills that bordered the valley. I knew the way and the moon lighted us there. There was a ridge that stretched more than two miles lying east and west. There was a brush-covered crack in the wall and if you wormed your way through it, the crack widened and there was a quarter acre of flat ground below where the cave was hidden.

Even the entrance to the cave was disguised from random eyes by a couple of boulders bigger than a house. If you walked around the first one all you could see was another one positioned behind it. How Pa ever found the cave he never said. I used to play there as a youngster. When first married, I took Winnie there and we made love for the first time. The problem was if you rode a horse in there you couldn't get your mount around the last crack in the wall.

There was no water anywhere near. The cave itself was quite sizeable and you could stand upright and move a couple hundred feet back into the rock. I had built a fire in there one time and the smoke found its way out through some cracks in the ceiling.

We put our horses on a picket string and made a small fire for coffee. "Well I'm on my home ground. It would have been nice if I could have walked into the house and surprised Winnie. As it is all I have to offer is more camping until I find out what is going on. When it gets daylight I'll show you the cave and we can set up camp with our goods."

"What's the name of this place?"

"The Spaniards called it the "Valle del rio petite," named after the good-sized crick that runs the length of the valley. The official name now is "Petite Valley," but some who live here just call it "Small Valley."

"That figures. Captain, I'm asking, are you going after these bastards who took your place?"

"I'll tell you in a couple of days after I find out more about the situation. Just remember, though, this is my home and I have learned how to face up to do whatever it takes in the last few years. It may kill me, but either way the McBain name will be remembered whichever way it turns out. Duffy, I'm not asking you to get involved, but I'd take it kindly if you would."

"I'm yours to command, Captain. You brought us through some tough times. Guns, knives or shillelagh, I'm with you."

"Thanks."

We rolled into our blankets until daylight. "Duffy, would you go through the break in the wall and build a fire? You can get wood from those trees over there. Ab, when he gets the fire going, put some beans on. I'm sick of mush. I'm going to foot it over to the Holcomb spread and talk to Sarah. I'll be back in two hours. I'll take two canteens with me for water. When I get back, we'll head over to my home place and we can look down from the bluff to see what's going on.

"Sarah Holcomb will fill me in so I know where I have to be careful. Ab, do you have any women's duds in your pack? I can borrow some from her if you don't."

"I've got a couple of dresses. I'll see if I can get the wrinkles out of them. Why, am I going to town?"

"I don't know. How would you like to become a ghost? I was thinking if someone killed Winnie, it might spook them some if they thought she was still around. It would mystify them if they caught a glimpse of a strange woman."

"I don't know, Riley. First I'm a man and then you want me to be a ghost. Am I ever going to be a woman again?"

"If you do as well acting as a ghost as you have a man, it ought to work just like I want it to. I paused and then stated, "But then I really prefer you a woman."

"Long time before I'm a woman again, is that it?"

"Abby you're always be a woman no matter how you're dressed."

It took me a half hour on foot to come up behind the Holcomb barn. It was light now. I could hear conversation going on in the house. I went up the steps to the back stoop and knocked on the door. It went silent inside. "Who is it?"

"It's Riley McBain home from the war, Sarah." The door burst open and I had Sarah in my arms.

"Oh God, you're alive! Get in here. The whole valley has gone to hell since you left." She introduced me to the kids. They were too young to remember me. The oldest, a girl looked a lot like her mother. The kids were old enough to keep secrets. We cautioned them not to mention me.

"First, tell me about Winnie and what happened to her?"

"Oh Riley, she disappeared winter time a year or more ago. Us here in the valley think she was killed and buried. The new sheriff gave out she sold out and left, but we know she would have told one of us if that is what she planned. Where are you staying?"

"I'm camping out in the hills back of my spread. I was warned that things weren't like they should be so I'm being cautious. How are you making out?"

"Not so good. I'm being pressured to turn the ranch title into the bank. Somehow they claim Sid had borrowed money. If he did, I never knew about it. The bank took the cattle. I'm down to my last few dollars to feed me and the kids. After that, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Where are the other ranchers that were run off?"

"They are holed up in the old logging camp north of here. There are about twenty-five people and some kids living there now. The sheriff went up there and tried to tell them they had to leave, but they laughed him right out of camp. The Sinclairs are still holding down their place, but they'll be driven out eventually."

"It's that bad here?"

"It is. None of the ranches are being worked. What cows that haven't been sold or run off are running wild in the valley."

"What's behind it all? Does anyone know?"

"It's a land grab. We've heard in town about a couple of men who speak German. We think some land company is thinking it is cheaper to run us off and then sell to them. We could stand a few farmers in the area, but some of the other ranchers don't agree. We need schools and more stores and most of all is being rid of these Scalawags. The sad part of it is that it's going to happen and us that settled the valley won't get anything out of it for our efforts.

"Give me some names. I can't stay long. I have to find a place to water and hide our horses. I need a more permanent camp too."

"Names, Bert Innes, that's the banker. Brian and Ezra Sloan, they own the saloons. One is for dancing and whoring and the other is for gambling and drinking. Jeff and Gordon Parks are sheriff and deputy. When they take cattle, they get men from somewhere else. I guess the Sloans have a ranch of their own somewhere up in the panhandle. Doug Dugan, he's a cattle driver and in town a lot. He heads up the round-ups and hangs out in the saloons when in town."

"Is there anyone living on my place?"

"Bert Innes does and claims he has title. He claims to be from Boston, but his accent says Missouri. He looks harmless, but he does wear a gun in a shoulder holster. I was in the bank to demand to see him about the so-called notes and he was arguing with one of the other ranchers. Innes pulled a gun on Mr. Jenkins and backed him out of his office.

"You know there is that spring under the hill at the back of the ranch here if you want to water your horses. It might even be safe to picket them in the breaks over the ridge from there where there is also some feed. There aren't many riders around unless they are here rounding up cattle."

"What happened to Winnie's clothes and things?

"I have some of her dresses here. Innes told me she left them and I could have them for my daughter Cindy when she grew up. He brought them over."

"Nice of him."

"No, I don't think so. He was acting guilty when he gave them to me. Most of your furniture and other goods are still in the house."

"If he had her killed, I should think he would feel guilty. I have Abby, Winnie's sister with me and I have to get back to her. Sarah, I'll be in touch."

"Riley, I'm glad you came home. We need someone like you to counter what happened. Remember if you need meat, don't hesitate to take any brand. Hell, kill any of 'em, there is unbranded young stuff all over the valley."

It took me longer to walk back to camp. I checked out the spring and looked around for feed for the horses. It looked as if it would work and no one would know we were around. I had no idea what I was going to do, but it would be something.

Abby was worried when it got on to be noon before I showed up. I spent an hour telling her and Duffy what I had learned. For the next few hours I wasn't going anywhere until the beans got done. I'd have to figure out how to get better supplies. Maybe I could steal some.

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