Chapter 7

I took the flank of the wagon to the East and Mick ranged to the West while we continued to travel South to Fountain City. We had one more night to make camp before we would hit the town. If the outriders had bad intentions, then they would make their move tonight.

When we stopped for the night, it was just as the sun was going down. We had enough time to light our lanterns before the sun went below the mountains and darkness immediately fell. The ladies started the fire and began cooking dinner. Rory and I fed and watered the animals before hobbling them for the night. Mick watched from the edge of camp for signs that the outriders might be in the area.

After eating, the ladies went off the trail to take care of their personal business, and Mick and I set our bedding out. Rory had gone off in the direction away from the ladies to take a dump. That was when the trouble began. Five men came storming into camp, placing themselves between us and the wagon, and our women.

“Don’t move!” The apparent leader said, while all five had their pistols drawn.

Mick and I stood up with our hands away from our bodies and our guns. The five were lined up and looked to be bad men.

“We know you came from the gold camps. Give us your gold and no one will get hurt!”

I stepped forward and looked the masked leader in the eyes.

“How about we keep what little gold we’ve got, and you ride away alive.”

“Do you really think that you can take all five of us?”

“Nope, I’m the one whose job it is to talk you out of being shot dead. You still have a chance. Ride away.”

“I don’t think so. I think we are going to tie you up, then have a little bit to eat, and then we are going to have some fun with your women before we take your gold.”

“I’m sorry to hear you talk like that ... FIRE!”

Opal Anne, Betty Mae and Raylene had walked up behind the rider’s horses in the dark. When I shouted “FIRE” each of the wives put two bullets in the backs of three men to the leaders left. Mick had shot the rider to the leaders right in the face. Rory had come back from his shit and took out the leader’s horse with a solid shot gun slug to the center of its chest.

The scream of the leader’s mortally wounded horse scattered the other horses and by the time the mayhem had calmed, there were four dead men on the ground and one man trapped under his dead mount. Then it was just me, my Colt and the leader who was still holding his pistol.

“Before you can pull that trigger, the ladies will shoot you, my brother will shoot you and I will shoot you. Drop the gun and I’ll let you live.”

The leader threw his pistol as far as he could and looked at me hoping I would keep my word. Rory and Mick walked up beside me, one on each side.

“Rory, would you please get one of the mules to pull his horse off of him?”

“Why me, Paul?”

“Because you shot his horse.”

“OK,” Rory said very matter-of-factly.

“My brother, Mick is going to pull you free and help you stand. Then you are going to tell me why you attacked us. If you pull any tricks, then you will pray for us to kill you.” I kept my Colt pointed right between his eyes.

Rory quickly rigged a rope and hitched it to a mule and moved the horse enough that the leader could be freed. Mick helped the man stand and then helped him walk to the wagon. The wives joined us, and I sat on my saddle to question the man who had now been tied to a wagon wheel.

“So, you were going to have fun with our women, huh?” I posed.

The leader didn’t answer.

“What was the plan? There were three women and five of you. Who was going to get left out? Or were two of you going to fuck my brothers?” I asked.

“What?” Mick shouted.

“No,” the leader said quietly. “We were all gonna do the blonde and then take her with us. Then we were either gonna do the others or kill them.”

“You don’t like redheads? My wife is gonna be sorely insulted,” I said smiling at Opal Anne.

“You were all gonna rape me!?” A pissed off Raylene said, before she rushed at the leader and planted the pointy tip of her boot squarely in his groin, twice.

Betty Mae swiftly followed with a boot to the screaming man’s face, badly dislocating his jaw. Opal Anne and looking the man square in the eyes took her fingernails and dug four deep scratches across the left side of his face. Then she grabbed him by his fractured and dislocated jaw and turned his face to hers.

“This is what we do to those who dare cross us. We’re going to tie you to your horse and set you free. When you can’t get it up anymore, you remember that it was the blonde, Raylene O’Dell who broke your nuts. When people have trouble understanding you, you remember that it was Betty Mae O’Dell who broke your jaw. And when people ask what happened to your face, you remember that it was me, Opal Anne O’Dell that marked your face. Then you let everyone know that the O’Dell men are more dangerous than their women.”

Mick and Rory untied the wrecked man and lifted him onto one of his men’s horses and tied him to the saddlehorn. A slap on the horse’s rump sent it running off into the dark, the leader grunting as his ruined nut sack bounced around on the saddle. When he was out of hearing range, we all finished cleaning up camp and went to sleep.

In the morning, part of our packing preparations was to strip the four dead bodies of their weapons and money. We left the men’s bodies, and the dead horse, for the birds. If they wanted a burial, they should have died an honorable death.

Two of their horses remained near camp so we tied them up to the wagon and began the last leg of our trip to Fountain City. The rest of this leg was peaceful, and we rode into Fountain City prepared to conduct our business, spend a night in a soft bed, and be on our way in the morning.

Or first stop was the land office. After a lot of argument about why Opal Anne and I weren’t wanting to be listed on the claim, Rory and Mick registered Betty Mae’s claim and listed Betty Mae and Raylene on the legal documents. Since women couldn’t own property, they couldn’t file the claim. But they could be listed on it in case the men died; then the women could decide what men would take over the claim.

I filed our claim for the top of the plain, listing Opal Anne as well. The land office agent looked at the two of us a long time before speaking.

“Did you know that that plain is crawling with smallpox?”

“Really?”

“Yes, no white men or Indians will go near it. The smallpox got up there a long time ago and wiped out the entire settlement. The Indians keep away from it.”

“We’ve been up there, and we were wondering if anyone had a claim to it.”

“We know there was a settlement at one time, but no one wants claim to it because of the smallpox.”

“So, we could file a homestead for the plain?”

“Homestead!? Are you two deaf? The place is crawling with smallpox!”

“Well, my wife and I seem to be immune to smallpox. So, how would we make a claim for a 160-acre homestead?”

The land agent had us fill out some forms and I had to write a letter there stating that it was my homestead and I agreed to live on it and make improvements to the land. I paid a $10 fee and the land agent filled out a certificate and stamped it with his official seal. Just that fast we were the owners of the plain and all the gold on it.

We went out across the street to the hotel and met my brothers and their wives in the restaurant.

“We thought that we’d have a nice lunch,” Mick said. “And then go to the assayer’s office and see what our claim was worth. It should be a good amount.”

“Well, middle brother, before you do that, maybe Opal Anne and I should give you your share of what we found.”

“What?”

“Mick, we all agreed to split what we found.”

“But I assume that meant from Betty Mae’s claim.”

“I didn’t, but if you don’t want your share, I’m sure Rory and Raylene will take it.”

“Wait a bit! I never said I didn’t want it! I figured when you left that we lost you, Paul. When I found out that Betty Mae and Raylene had offered to fuck you ... well I know you. I figured you’d left the family behind.”

“Mick, I don’t agree with you and Rory trading off wives. I’m happy as can be that you have mostly stopped. But regardless of that, we made an agreement, all of us, and I don’t go back on my word. Out on my pack mule, I have a small pouch of gold for each of you. I think each one weighs about four pounds, but we can check that at the assayer’s and makes sure the split is even.”

“What? Four pounds at about $19 per ounce. That’s...” Rory’s eyes rolled back in his head as he did the math. “That’s about $1200!”

“For each of you,” Opal Anne added. “I told you we got all the gold out of the entire vein. I doubt there will be more where that came from, so enjoy it while you can.”

“Add that to the $2.80 per ounce for silver and we could be around $2000 for this trip for each of us!” Betty Mae exclaimed.

“Anybody want to go back to be a whore?” Opal Anne asked.

“No! I’ve got Mick and I’m not going anywhere!” Betty Mae said with a big smile.

We finished our lunch and went to the livery stable to retrieve our pokes. I slung my heavy satchel over my shoulder and followed my brothers, hand in hand with my wife, to the assayer’s office. I let Mick and Rory go first. Their work for silver paid them well, but only barely enough to cover their expenses. The gold they had found put them in the black.

They were very happy that they had made it with their own efforts. When I unloaded my gold, in the form of nuggets and dust, the amount I estimated was pretty low. Instead of four pounds for Mick and Betty Mae, and Rory and Raylene was actually 5.2 pounds. That totaled just over $1900 for each of them. Our deal had been that Mick and Rory each got 25% of what I found, and I got the remaining 50%.

My and Opal Anne’s total earnings, with the money from the sluice claim, was just over $4000. We were officially rich!

We went to the bank and set up accounts for Rory and Mick.

“Paul, aren’t you going to set anything up?”

“Yeah, but I have some personal stuff to do too. I’ll catch up with you at the restaurant.”

“OK,” Rory said.

“Do you want me to stay?” Opal Anne asked quietly.