Chapter 19

It seemed like the entire Estancia had turned out to wish us all safe travels. Both sides of the road, from the bottom of the slope to the bridge were lined with people, as were both sides of the road from the opposite side of the bridge to the Camino Real.

Anna and I sat on our horses at the top of the slope, watching the procession of ten outriders, twenty escorts, the coach, four gold wagons, a supply wagon, and twenty more escorts move down the slope, across the bridge, and up to the Camino Real.

Mixed in somewhere among them were Tom, Maco, as well as the cook and his helpers while Yolanda and Beth were in the coach with the babies. The way it was set up, almost made it look like a military formation. At that thought I suddenly realized what I was seeing.

It looked like a military formation, because that was the way I’d originally trained them. George had trained them even further, of course; but there really wasn’t much difference between this trip, and the original trip each family had made coming to the Estancia. On top of the formation structure, was the fact that every visible person was wearing what amounted to a de facto Estancia travelling uniform.

Everyone, including me and Anna wore camouflage pants, dark brown Apache knee high moccasins, a tan shirt, and a dark brown leather coat. All the men, except myself, were also wearing wide brimmed straw hats. Anna and I waited a few more moments and then rode down the slope to catch up with the procession.

I had known intellectually that traveling long distances with this many people and animals was much different than the way I usually traveled. While safer, it was much more difficult. Knowing I wasn’t equipped with the right experience, I turned it all over to Rodrigo as ‘road segundo’, making him responsible for finding appropriate places to stop for lunch as well as overnight camps.

He was a senior vaquero, after all, and had much more experience judging the suitability of potential overnight stops, to provide the grazing and water needed for the animals, which was my biggest concern. We had two days of emergency feed grain in case we needed it but otherwise we expected to find sufficient grazing for all the animals.

For the bulk of the fourteen-day trip Tom and I rode where we pleased in the formation. Most of the time either Anna or Yolanda was with us, as they had decided to take turns riding in the coach with Beth. When Beth wasn’t in the coach with the babies, she could be found riding next to Maco who was enjoying both the trip, and Beth’s company.

We were less than five miles outside of Santa Fe, when we stopped early in the afternoon, for our final camp. As soon as camp was set up we turned to cleaning our clothes and gear. The dust and dirt was washed off the coach and wagons, clothes were cleaned and dried, tack was cleaned and oiled, and the animals were brushed and combed.

We intentionally broke camp later than normal the next morning so that we arrived in Santa Fe just before ten. Our procession of riders, coach, and wagons made its way through town to the expected stares, comments, and wonder.

The coach pulled up outside the hotel. The ladies, escorted by the driver, guard, and one team of escorts, entered to start making arrangements for our stay. Everyone else continued down the street.

All five wagons pulled up in front of the bank. As we’d discussed at breakfast, Rodrigo sent one team around to the back of the bank to guard the back door. Four teams spread out around the wagons facing outward while three teams dismounted joining the drivers, guards, Tom and me, as we unloaded the wagons, and carried the bags straight into the bank. Hiram came out of his office as I led the long line of men back to the weighing room.

I set the bags I was carrying down on the floor near the weighing table and the others followed suit before turning and going out for more. Hiram walked in with a small smile on his face.

“You weren’t kidding about using the front door from now on, I see. It’s good to see you again, Paul,” Hiram said before asking in rapid fire. “How was the trip? How are Anna and the babies? How much did you bring this time?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s good to see you as well, Hiram. The trip was long but not too bad. Anna and the babies are fine, and the ladies are all down at the hotel making arrangements for our stay. We brought four times more on this trip than we brought last time, so you’d better get some help in here and start weighing. Oh, and please tell your guards that I have five men out back, guarding the back door. I wouldn’t want anyone getting nervous.”

With a startled look the smile left his face to be replaced by his serious business face. He nodded once, and hurriedly left the room as the line of men returned to drop off more bags. Hiram and one of the tellers watched from the hall as the last of the men dropped their bags and left for more.

“Good lord, Paul!” Hiram exclaimed as he entered the room with his assistant. “Did you bring the entire Estancia with you on this trip? There must be forty men outside from what I saw out the window.”

This time my laugh was much louder. “Hiram, there are seventy-four of us total on this trip, and, no, it’s nowhere near the entire Estancia.”

Hiram simply nodded as both he and the teller began setting the scales up, to start weighing. I started stacking gold bars on the table as more bags were coming in. As we worked I couldn’t help but watch the amazement on Hiram and his assistant’s faces each time more bags were brought in. With twenty men, each carrying two bags per trip, it took twenty trips, and over a half hour to empty all four wagons.

Tom left two teams to guard the bank after the wagons had been unloaded, taking everyone else with him to the hotel. The two teams guarding the bank rotated every hour for the three hours it took Hiram and his assistant to finish weighing the gold and I had a deposit slip. I released the two teams to continue settling in, and met Hiram in his office.

“Well, Paul, any real doubts about you having the financing needed to build a railroad have certainly been laid to rest, today,” Hiram said handing me a glass of scotch.

“It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what I need to make all my plans come to fruition,” I said taking a long appreciative sip of scotch. “I’ve got enough for now, though. We’ll see what happens as times goes on. On a different subject, Anna asked me to make sure to invite everyone to supper tonight at the club at seven. So, consider this your and Helen’s invitation.”

Hiram gave a small laugh. “Helen would never forgive me if I turned down a supper invitation at the club, much less one from Anna! I think you can count on us being there.”

Finishing my drink, I put the glass down on Hiram’s desk. “Thanks for the drink, Hiram. I’d stay for another but right now I have a date with a hot bath, clean clothes, and a shave,” I said as I opened the office door.

“Paul, your use of the front door, and the time it took to unload the wagons will have been noticed. You need to be careful while you’re in town. Santa Fe is normally pretty peaceful, but we do have our unsavory elements, just like any town, not to mention ‘the Boss’,” Hiram warned as I was walking out.

I stopped, turned, and with a hard look, said, “Thanks for the warning, Hiram; but everyone on the Estancia has learned to be careful, no matter where we are. Anyone who tries anything with us will quickly wish they hadn’t.”

He gave me a quick nod, and with a wave of my hand goodbye I walked out of the bank. I walked into the hotel lobby and found Tom and Maco sitting with Kit. I walked over and exchanged greetings with Kit.

“Kit, it’s good see you again. How long have you been in town?” I asked as I dropped his hand.

“We’ve been here two days, Paul, and it’s damn good to see you again. I’ve heard some stories about you from the Judge and Steve since we got in and I’m mighty interested in finding out just how much of the stories are true,” Kit said with a grin.

“Well, that’s going to have to wait a bit Kit,” I said and waved my arm indicating Tom, Maco, and myself. “The three of us have our marching orders from the ladies. A hot bath, clean clothes, a shave, and a haircut. You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” I finished as I accepted the bundle of clean clothes and the burlap bag of dirty clothes from Tom.

“Josefa gave me the same orders when we got here Paul. Thanks, but I’ll meet you at the club when you’re done. It’s Wednesday after all and I don’t think we’ll be seeing the ladies anytime soon the way they were talking up a storm when we got kicked out,” he replied with a low laugh.

The four of us left the hotel together, talking until we neared the club when Kit left us. Once ensconced in our tubs, Tom caught me up on the arrangements Anna had made for the week. The escorts were spread out among our hotel and two others nearby. We had a suite on the second floor with connecting rooms on both sides. Maco was in one room and Beth was in the other. Kit and Josefa were across the hall in another suite with their two young ones, William and Teresina. Maco and Beth would be having supper in the suite, minding the five kids, this evening while everyone else was at the club.

I gave Maco a glance with a cocked eyebrow.

“I just can’t seem to tell her ‘no’,” he said with a grimace.

I gave a sigh. It seemed like the time had come. “Maco what are your intentions towards Beth?” I asked with a straight face.

I struggled to keep a straight face as Maco stared at me in horror, while on the other side of him Tom was fighting just as hard to swallow a laugh.

“I love her Paul. I’m just not sure that’s enough,” Maco finally replied.

“Have you told her you love her? Have you talked with her about your doubts?” I asked quickly. “Because if you haven’t, you’re running out of time. Once she decides that you aren’t serious about her, it will be too late.”

With a resigned sigh Maco said, “I know that, Paul. I’m just trying to figure out what to say exactly, and find the right time.”

Both Tom and I erupted into laughter. “Maco you need to man up, and tell her how you feel about her. Look her straight in the eye and say those three magic little words. ‘I love you’. That’s all you need to say. All the other doubts and fears will become less meaningful, once those three words are said by both of you. As for the proper time, it sounds like tonight while everyone else is at supper would be a perfect time.”

Maco glumly nodded, and sunk further down into the tub thinking about what I had said. A few moments later he sat up straight, and looked over at me with a smile on his face.

“You mean it’s alright with you if me and Beth get married?” he asked.

“That’s a topic for a different day Maco. Whether we approve of the marriage or not won’t matter one bit, if you and Beth don’t get things clear between you. Once you’ve expressed your love for each other and talked things through; then, and only then, will it be the right time to come ask for her hand,” I told him with a straight face.

It was evident that Maco saw past my words, as he just nodded his head and sank back into the tub much more relaxed.

Washed, wearing clean city clothes, and with fresh haircuts and shaves we dropped off our well-worn, dusty, and stained travel clothes at the laundry before heading for the club. Inside the club I arranged for a temporary week’s memberships for the three of us, as well as a private dining room for supper tonight, before heading to the dining room where we found Kit, The Judge, Steve, Lucien, and Hiram having lunch. We joined them after a complete round of introductions, and ordered almost immediately from the server who magically appeared at our sides.

Lucien looked askance at Maco after the server left. “Paul make sure you or Tom are with this young man whenever he’s about town. Many establishments won’t serve Indians, and even those that do, can be gruff. Not to mention the reaction he’ll get walking down the street.”

With a laugh Tom responded before I could. “Lucien, anyone who tries to mess with Maco is going to quickly learn two things. First, they’re going to learn that Maco is one hell of a fighter, with or without weapons. Second, they are going to learn what it feels like to have a minimum of twenty guns pointed at them.”

In an even tone Lucien said, “Tell me another one, Tom. This young man is still wet behind the ears. And who would be pointing the twenty guns?”

This time Maco responded for himself as he felt behind his ears. “No. I dried behind my ears carefully after our bath a short time ago.” Looking directly at Lucien now he smiled and continued, “You Anglos have so many idiomatic expressions that it takes a while to learn them all. You’ll find that besides Apache I am fluent in both English and Spanish, and have a passing knowledge of Latin.

“More importantly, you’ll find that every man on the Estancia is more than capable of defending themselves in a fight, with or without guns. I know because I help train them every morning. As for who would be holding the guns Tom referred to, that would be the seventy men from the Estancia who made the trip with us.

“As for your unspoken question of why they would be defending me, that would be because I live and work on the Estancia, just like they do. Most of them are farmers, vaqueros, or wranglers. My job is to protect the Estancia so they can do their job. I take my job seriously, as do my cousins from the other sixty-eight Garcia Apache families living and working on the Estancia. You could ask Flat Nose and his comancheros how well we do but all ninety of them died when they tried to attack the Estancia this spring.”

By the time he was done talking Tom, Steve, and I were sporting large grins. Lucien had lost all traces of equanimity and was sputtering while Kit, Hiram, and the Judge were giving Maco open mouthed stares. Before they could recover, lunch was brought out, and we focused on eating.

Lucien put down his knife and fork about halfway through lunch. It seemed that he’d been thinking about what Maco had said.

“You have sixty-eight Apaches living and working on the Estancia? You brought seventy men with you on this trip? You wiped out a very large group of comancheros this spring? How many damn people do you have on this Estancia of yours, Paul?”

I gave Lucien a glance, swallowed what I had in my mouth and washed it down with a large sip of coffee before responding.

“You got the first part wrong Lucien. Maco said there were sixty-eight Garcia families of Apache. That means they are all cousins to each other and to Anna, Yolanda, me, and, by extension, Tom. An Apache family generally includes multiple generations so there are roughly 150 or so Apache warriors living and working on the Estancia.

“Yes, I brought roughly seventy men, the actual number is sixty-eight but why quibble? Yes, we wiped out a very large comanchero gang this spring. The actual number that attacked us and died straight out was just over eighty. We captured seven prisoners that were later transported here for trial by the Judge. We captured another two prisoners when we took their main camp a few days later. They were also transported here and tried by the Judge. As for how many people live on the Estancia, I’ve kind of lost track. Do you have a number, Tom?”

Tom gave me a grin and said, “Well, let’s see. There’re 150 cousins, give or take. There’re 80 vaqueros, 274 farmers, 8 wranglers, 7 stable/wagon yard workers, the 3 Segundos, George, the 15 masons, the Padre, and the two of us. So that’s a total of 541 men. Figure an average family size of six and you get a total of just over 3,200 people on the Estancia, give or take a few at any given time.”

“Thanks, Tom,” I said before turning to Lucien. “Any other questions Lucien?”

Steve was quietly laughing as he continued eating. The other four were looking at Tom, Maco, and me, like we had two heads as we returned to eating. Finally, Lucien just shook his head, and started eating again.

The rest of lunch passed quietly with little conversation. When we were done with lunch we left the others to their afternoon game of cards, reminding them as we were leaving, that supper was in the club at seven, and walked back to the hotel.

We found the ladies in the suite chatting and drinking the ever-present coffee. Anna beamed me one of her smiles before the greetings and introductions were made.

“You’ll need to order more coffee my love, there’s not much left.”