The Rancher's Daughter(3)
Chapter 11

Copyright© 2007 by aubie56

Author's note: For those readers who may be offended by some of the language in this story, remember that it is taking place over 100 years ago, long before political correctness, and this was the way people talked back then.


"Good evening, gentlemen. I am here to greet you on behalf of the Brotherhood.

"As you know, you are the most recent group of trainees to be assigned to the New Mexico Territory. It is part of my duty to reiterate the reason for you being here so that there can be no mistake in understanding your obligations to the Brotherhood and your rewards for faithful service.

"You are replacing a group of abject failures; you know the penalty for failure. I have no intention of sugar coating your situation, so pay attention. I will be telling you the absolute truth.

"You are here to learn how to be of service to the Brotherhood. Here, you will learn that absolute obedience is required of you. But you will be expected to require absolute obedience from your subordinates. Any thing else will be considered a failure on your part and you know the penalty for failure. Now, is there anyone here who does not think that he can live up to that standard? If so, please hold up your hand.

"Guards, eliminate that cretin!

"Gentlemen, I hope that you have learned from this little example that there is now no way for you to back out of your commitment to the Brotherhood. Incidentally, this is why we always invite more trainees to this meeting than we can process. One more of you will be eliminated, shortly, in our weeding out process.

"Now, a little history of the Brotherhood. We started out as members of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi in 1867. At that time, our purpose was to protect the White people of Mississippi from the depredations of the niggers and the carpet baggers. We were only partially successful, since we had to battle both the civil authorities and the Army. As a result of this duplication of foes, we were forced deep underground. We severed our connection to the KKK and became a separate organization, shrouded in secrecy. We have outposts all over both the Confederacy and the Union ; yes, we do not recognize the end of our noble conflict! The New Mexico Territory is now a backwater of the conflict. Therefore, it is an excellent place to train new recruits, such a yourselves.

"Since our inception in 1869, we have broadened our scope of activities and methods. We have vowed to rid the Confederacy, and eventually, the Union of all niggers, Jews, Orientals, Indians, Mexicans, Arabs, and anyone else not of pure White parentage. We will do this with murder, if such a term can be used with such inferior beings, and with economic strangulation. The Supreme Council of the Brotherhood has decreed that New Mexico is an excellent training ground because so many undesirables live here. Furthermore, many of the Whites have lowered themselves so far by aiding and abetting these undesirables that they must be eliminated, too. This particular area of southern New Mexico is so overrun with these undesirables and their supporters that we are justified in wiping the area clean.

"The Council has decided to set an example by eliminating the York family and their associates. We have successfully removed James York, but his daughter Sarah remains. Her fiance, Mat Sullivan, has also shown himself to be a problem, so he must be eliminated. The decision has also been made to eliminate anyone who works on the ranch or its subsidiaries.

"The Council has also decided to prevent the construction of the irrigation dam and system planned for the York ranch as an example of economic domination. The irrigation system cannot be allowed because it would increase the economic status of the lower class population.

"But enough of that for now. Let us consider the rewards you will achieve as members of the Brotherhood. You will receive all of the money you can spend while maintaining your cover status. You will have absolute power over your subordinates. When we can reinstate open slavery, you will have access to an unlimited number of slaves. As you progress up the ladder of the Brotherhood ruling body, you will receive more and more power. Ultimately, your potential for power over the lesser folk will be unlimited!

"Now, for a taste of that power: guards, bring in the women slaves!"


I decided that it would be a good idea for me to escape the ranch while a lot of heavy decisions were being made about the wedding. This would be a good time for me to begin a serious investigation of the circumstances surrounding the attacks on Sarah and me, so I headed into Julesburg with my four dragoon guards.

I went by to see the Justice of the Peace. I told him that I wanted to search the dead lawyer's office for any information he had on the Yorks which might help in our legal transactions. I didn't tell him, but I really wanted to look for any information there might be on the attacks. The JP said that he thought that would be OK, so I should go ahead. If anybody complained, send them to him. I expressed my thanks and left.

I had no trouble getting into the office. I unlocked the door with one of my skeleton keys and walked in as if I owned the place. I had found that a bold front could cover a multitude of sins. The office was remarkably orderly looking, as if the previous occupant had a neatness fetish. For whatever reason it was like this, the orderly arrangement made life easier for me.

I did not expect to find what I sought in any of the obvious places, but resolved to look. I did not want to miss anything from my own carelessness. I first looked through the trays of papers on the desk and then opened the desk drawer. I had to pop the drawer open with my knife blade, since I did not have a suitable key. There was the usual junk as well as extra pens and pencils, a pen knife, some paper clips, etc., and a single key. I looked around to see if I could spot where the key fit. No luck, but I took the key, anyway.

I looked at the books in the bookcase. taking each one out and riffling through the pages, hoping to find a useful loose paper. Again, no luck. A search of the filing cabinets yielded the same result. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to find anything useful.

At this point, the marshal walked in. He asked what I was doing. I told him what I had told the JP and that I had the JP's permission to be here. He grunted, said good luck, and left.

I decided to think about the problem for a bit in hopes of generating an idea. I sat in the chair behind the desk and surveyed the room, looking for something out of the ordinary or out of place. Suddenly, I noticed that one of the filing cabinets was not as deep as the others, but its front was even with the rest. Was this significant, or was it just part of the neatness fetish? I went over to the odd filing cabinet and tried pulling it away from the wall; it moved easily! Behind the cabinet I found a ten by twelve by three inch thick locked metal box. The key from the desk drawer fit its lock!

Inside the box, I found a journal and many loose papers. This was it! I had found my gold mine of information. The journal was a diary of his activities for what he called the Brotherhood. He recorded the heinous activities he had been ordered to do or supervise. The loose papers were invoices and receipts for items he had procured and expenses he had incurred. The journal also listed his income from his Brotherhood activities; he obviously never needed a client with all of the money he received from the Brotherhood. No wonder they were so pissed at him for screwing up! I knew that I had been in the office long enough, so I straightened out the office and did my best to remove all evidence of my search. I relocked the door and got on my horse to return to the ranch. My guards and I left.

At the ranch, I took the box into my office in Fort York and locked it in my safe. I went to the main house for lunch and to tell Sarah what I had found. I said that I was going to start studying it that afternoon and I would fill her in on what I found in it. I also commented that I would give the journal to her to read whenever she wanted it, but I was sure she was too busy to bother with it right now. Sarah agreed and I returned to my office.

I took out the journal and began to read. It was both amazing and disgusting. This was a record of Brotherhood activity in southern NMT in such detail that I could hardly believe my eyes. Scattered through the journal were the names and job functions of all the trainees, for that's what they were. The greatest horror to me was that most of the nefarious activities were simply done as a learning experience with no particular ultimate goal in mind, except the death of all non-Brotherhood people in southern NMT. Except for the training experience, the Brotherhood's ultimate goal could have been better achieved by unleashing a terrible, fatal plague on NMT. I wondered, with a shudder, if they had thought of that, yet.


I read until late that evening, only taking a break for supper. I did not even take part in Sarah's spirited talk of her plans for the wedding. I knew that I was setting myself up for some serious trouble with my gloom, but I could not help it. I just could not get excited by the wedding prospects while I was still so deeply immersed in the horrible activities of the Brotherhood described on the pages I was reading. When I finally came to the end of the journal, with the note of the invitation to the banquet, I could only just sit for nearly an hour and contemplate the pure evil I had just read! How was that possible?

 
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