Chapter 4: Howdy Partner

Jesse woke up the next morning at four thirty as usual, still groggy from lack of sleep. He had to force himself to roll off the couch and get ready to face the new day. He slipped out of his jeans on the way to the bathroom.

Still half asleep Jesse took his morning leak and stepped into the shower. The icy needles of water sprayed over him and shocked him into a state of almost wakefulness. He dried off and got dressed in thermal underwear and loose fitting jeans. He slipped on his parka and zipped up. Still half asleep, each movement was automatic.

The wind had risen during the night and blew the loose pack snow, seeming in all directions at once. To Jesse it appeared the world was filled with a solid white blanket that shifted constantly. He could see the outlines of his boots as dim shadows through the roiling whiteness.

Jesse grabbed a coil of light cotton rope off a peg by the door and tied one end to a post on the front porch. He tied the other end around his waist and played it out bit at a time until he came to the end. He had missed the horse barn on his first try. Slowly he went right three paces and then left six paces. He came back to begin nine paces to the right, keeping the rope taut. On the eighth pace back to the right he ran into the corner of the horse barn He inched his way to the side door and tied off the rope to the bull nose clip screwed into the door frame.

He sighed his mild relief and threw the light switch on. The dim light bulb powered by his emergency generator began to glow. He cut through the horse barn into the dairy barn. As he left the horse barn he turned the light off. Jesse opened the rear barn doors and stepped back as the milk cows shoved at everything in their way as they hurried to "their" personal stalls.

As he had done countless times before, he rationed out their grain and began to milk the small dairy herd. Jesse wasted no time as he carried the buckets of milk into the milk room, then came back and forked hay down into the manger.

"Ladies, you may stay inside today," he told them. Jesse opened the stanchions and left the door to the pasture open so they could have access to the snow when they were thirsty. He took his time as he tended to the rest of his chores. Jesse fed the hogs last of all. Then he retraced his steps and held onto the line stretched from the barn to the house. Everything was a confused mass of swirling whiteness.

Jesse started breakfast and placed another log on the fire in the fireplace. Just as he sat down to drink his coffee and wait for the breakfast steak to cook he felt as well as heard a "Thump" from the back porch that shook the whole house and rattled the dishes on the table. "What the Christ now?" he asked himself as he went to investigate.

Jesse pulled back the dead bolt on the back door and opened it. He opened the door from the covered back porch to the outside and peered out. An old powder blue Jeep Laredo had climbed up the steps to the porch. Instead of the three steps to the ground he saw the jeep's hood. The jeep seemed familiar.

He approached the front of the old blue jeep with caution. Through the streaked windshield Jesse saw a woman slumped over the steering wheel. She appeared unconscious until she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.

Although the howling wind drowned out her voice he saw her lips form the words, "Please help me." He tried to muscle the car backwards in order to get at her. It wouldn't budge. He went back into the kitchen and closed the back door without re-locking it. He shoved the kitchen table against the door to keep it closed.

Jesse threw on a heavy parka and grabbed up his thermal gloves. He hurried out the front door and made his way around the ranch house, careful to keep one hand touching the building at all times. The little Jeep that had climbed halfway up the steps to come to a rest almost to the outside door had not moved.

"Lady, I do hope you have your car insurance paid up," he mumbled to himself. He opened the door on the driver's side, reached in and jerked the shifter into neutral. He stepped back as the car coasted backward and came to a rest at the bottom step of the back porch.

Jesse dragged her out of the car and cradled her up in his arms. He carried her up the back steps and into the house. He shoved the door blocked by the table open. Jesse carried her through into the front room and deposited her on the couch. He hurried back through the kitchen and bolted the door shut.

She struggled to sit up as he came back into the front room. "Who, who are you? Where am I?" She looked around, dazed.

Jesse looked down at her as he removed his parka, "I'm Jesse Morgan and unless I miss my guess your name is Marie Ford and you have caused me all sorts of grief.

"How ... how did you know who I am?" she asked in a fear filled voice. She grabbed at her throat in a protective gesture.

"Well," he drawled, "it just seemed to make sense that's who you would be. These guys, cops from New York, have threatened me. I beat the hell out of one in Ed's bar in Walden yesterday. Another one came out here and killed a kid I had doing chores for me. Then I shot a New York cop and killed him right here in this room last night. So, while I was trying to enjoy breakfast you come along and tried to run over my house."

Suddenly they looked at each other and exclaimed, "You!" at the same time.

"You were eating lunch in that cafe in Steamboat Springs. You got a phone call and ran out. I didn't have any idea who you were."

"Yeah, you were sitting at that table, looking like you were about to pass out." He looked down at her and asked, "Who the hell is Marie Ford, and what the hell is this all about?"

Marie enunciated each word with precision,"It's all about gold and I am your new partner. My father was Captain Wallace Ford. He invested in this ranch when you got out of the service. You needed ten thousand dollars more than you had. He was made a silent partner for one fifth of this whole ranch. I have the papers. You have not paid one single dollar dividend. I want that money."

Jesse frowned at the snappish bitch in front of him. "I think I liked you more before I got to know you," he told her. "For your information, what little profit there was, minus your father's dividend, has been reinvested into this place. As I said, 'minus your father's twenty percent.' It's in the bank in Walden waiting for you. The only reason I never send it to him was because he disappeared and forgot to tell me where to get in contact with him." Jesse definitely did not like this female intruder.

"I'm sorry, but its only a couple of hundred dollars. It'll be another three years or so before we show any decent profit."

She brushed Jesse's financial statement aside. "He was in prison. Daddy dearest was a monumental con man. He even had a scheme that involved you. It seems there is supposed to be a hoard of Spanish gold on this ranch, buried in a cave. He said you were the toughest, meanest, hardest to kill bastard he ever met. That is why he never tried to steal it from you or take it by force. He was afraid of you."

"That's a load of bull," he told her. "Captain Ford was the gutsiest commanding officer I ever served with."

"Oh, Daddy was a brave man, no doubt about it. Nevertheless, he was also the sharpest swindler in the world. He actually talked an anti-war senator into obtaining an officer's commission for him, a captaincy, in the army.

"He trained with his men and was recruited into the CIA's special operations branch. That was how he hid out from the law. I have his papers out in the car, if they weren't all blown away." She lay back down on the couch and went to sleep. It was if someone had thrown a switch and turned her off.

Jesse thought about her mention of the had documents in her car and decided to check them out. He looked down at the sleeping woman, shook his head and sighed. His parka went back on. Then Jesse went to the back door, undid the deadbolt and shoved the kitchen table against it to hold it closed. He headed back out the front door and waded in the drifted snow around to the light blue Jeep sitting at the bottom of the back steps.

Jesse opened the passenger side door, saw the key still in the ignition and removed it. There were two suitcases and a small metal file folder jumbled in the back seat. The temperature had begun to drop again as the wind blew harder.

He hurried to remove all three items and stack them by the back door. Jesse went back to the car for one last quick look around and found a thin, flat attache case. He grabbed it and slammed the car door shut.

Jesse felt the chill begin to penetrate his clothing as he opened the back door and tossed everything inside the kitchen. As he used the deadlock to secure the back door again, he muttered, "I'm going to have to fix that damned thing." He shoved the table back into its usual place and set the file cabinet and attache case on top.

After Jesse shucked out of the parka and hung it up he decided to start with the attache case. It was locked. That was easy to take care of. He got up and removed the small tool belt from a peg by the door. A screwdriver and fencing hammer were all he needed. In seconds he popped the twin lid locks.

Inside was a sheaf of papers, a map and a gold nugget about the size of a baby crab apple. It probably weighed a little over three ounces, Jesse reckoned. The nugget was placer gold, rounded by centuries of water erosion. He sat and stared at the precious object. He shook his head in wonder and reluctantly put it to one side.

A centuries old appearing map, drawn on yellowed with age lambskin vellum was the next item of interest; a master cartographer must have drawn it. He stared at the beautiful instrument with appreciation. It seemed vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it before, but was not too certain where he had seen it.

After a while he set it to one side and examined the rest of the documents. He found one of the two original agreements he and Captain Ford signed. The other copy was in his strongbox safe hidden to one side of the fireplace mantle. The other papers were geologists' reports dated from before Jesse had bought the ranch.