Chapter 18

Zeke and I were sitting in our saddles taking one last look at the valley. The new road had been cut and graded and as we sat on Derby Ridge I could see the green lushness of the valley, marred only by the mud of the mine and the surrounding settlement being built. Despite being the scene of so much suffering it was still a beautiful place. Em and her oldest daughter were traveling a ways with us on the way back to their ranch. They had a contract to sell and deliver supplies to the miners, including beef. Her oldests’ husband, our friend Bob, would freight the supplies bought through our partnership. Zeke and I tried to give it to them but Em had a fit. “It was mostly your money that got us here. You’re good luck boys and I want to hang on to that. If you like I can plough your shares back into the company and send you financial statements twice a year, but I ain’t lettin’ you pull out.”

Her second oldest daughter and her youngest were staying to cook for the camp. The older one was being wooed by one of the engineers and the youngest had locked down on Gal to the point he couldn’t see anything but her.

Gal was so overcome when we gave him the valley minus the mine of course, that he couldn’t talk. He deserved it. He and Emily had worked out a deal where she was bringing in a herd of young stuff to run in the valley. They would sell the beef to the miners and the small settlement that was bound to spring up around it. The older girl and her engineer had already picked a spot and laid out lots.

We pitched in and built him a cabin close to the resting place of his sister. He and Em’s daughter were already planning how many bedrooms they would need to add. She was just shy of fifteen and he had just turned seventeen so they didn’t need to be in no hurry. Gal was already a man to ride beside despite his age and I remembered Julie sitting on her horse in front of the outlaws, emptying both barrels of her ten gauge before she dropped it and grabbed her pistol. I had no doubt they would be just fine.

I looked at Zeke. “Ready to go home, brother?”

“I am,” he said as he turned his horse. I looked back one more time on the trail out to see the derby still on the ridgeline. I always thought it foolish headwear. I turned back around, looking forward, smiling when we passed the sign pointing to the mine. “Elsa Mining Company, Monahan, Colorado.” was there for all to see in big bold letters. It was my last way of honoring her and Eion.

We had money now and somewhere down Texas/Mexico way was a ranch with my name on it, and a pretty senorita just waiting to be wooed and won. She just doesn’t know it yet.