Chapter 8

A deputy marshal showed up in only a very few minutes, and he knew every one of the regulars in the poker game. Cruikshank explained that the dead man had threatened us with a cocked pistol, and I had been the one with enough presence of mind to shoot the fool before he had time to do any serious damage. The deputy marshal took his word for the whole thing; after all, who was going to dispute the word of a prominent banker when there were three other well-known men to back up the story.

The deputy said that he would call the undertaker and we could forget the whole episode. That was fine with me, because it made me a hero in the eyes of four very influential men. Cruikshank did tell me that the man was a drunk and a wastrel, and he was very sorry that he had ever lent money to the fool. The bank now owned a livery stable it didn't want; was I interested in purchasing it? I said that I would let him know pretty soon. I got the address of the livery stable, and we let the matter drop. Cruikshank also told me that the fool had regularly abused his wife and children, and they had left him to return to Dallas long before the bank foreclosed on the livery stable.

We moved to a new table and resumed our poker game until it was time for supper. I told my wives about my adventure that afternoon, and asked what they knew about the livery stable business. Man, was I in for a shock. The father of the women had run a livery stable before they got married the first time, and they had helped in the management of the business. Of course, they had done nothing officially because of the disdain that men had for women in business, but they had both worked in the office as nominal clerks while their father fronted for the business.

Anyway, they said that a properly managed livery stable was a license to coin money, and we should take a look at the facilities and the books, if there were any. In any case, they were in favor of me buying the livery stable from the bank if the price was right. They would do the actual managing of the business, and I could drop by on occasion to make it look like I was actually in charge. Men could be hired to do the grunt work of caring for the animals and lugging feed and such around as necessary.

That sounded so good, that we planned to take a look as the stable first thing tomorrow morning. Juan could drive us so that it would not look like we were too interested. While we were out, I could look into the status of my suits still at the tailor's, and we could visit a gun store for some advice about how the women could carry their guns and still look like ladies of quality.

The next morning, we found the livery stable, and it had a For Sale sign tacked to the front door. There were some workers at the stable, and a few animals were in stalls inside the main building. However, there was nothing going on that filled the potential that the women saw in the operation.

I announced to the current manager that I might be interested in buying the property and asked to look around. He agreed, but was somewhat startled when my wives wanted to join us. The pretended that it was a lark for them to visit a livery stable, and they wanted to see what went on inside. The man was dubious that women would be interested in walking where they could smell horse shit and possibly step in it, but he did not object to them coming with us.

The women had already made their division of labor: Sue listened as the man talked about what was going on, and Joan paid close attention to the physical aspects of the barn and how the workers were treating the animals. Furthermore, she looked as closely as she thought she could get away with at the animals in an effort to judge their quality.

We spent an hour at the stable, partly because of some of the inane questions that Sue asked as part of her cover as an ignorant, but amused, woman. Actually, her questions answered a serious question for me; namely, was this man the right one to be in contact with customers. I was impressed with John Ackerman and decided right then to keep him on to run that end of the business if my wives decided to buy the livery stable.

As soon as we left the stable, Joan said, "Joe, we have got ta grab that place afore somebody else finds out what a gold mine it kin be. The previous owner had ta be the most stupid man in town not ta have made a fortune with it!"

Sue chimed in with, "I agree with Joan. That livery stable is a diamond in the rough. We would be very foolish not ta grab it while we kin. What do ya think?"

"Ladies, I will defer to your opinions. I know nothing about managing such a business, and if y'all like it, that's plenty good enough for me. I'll broach the subject to Cruikshank this afternoon. Okay, now let's get our other business covered so that we can go to lunch. The prospects for profit have stirred my appetite!" That produced a laugh and we went to my tailor.

The suits were not ready yet, so we went to a gun shop. The proprietor could not suggest anything better for the women than shoulder holsters like I was wearing. We bought the shoulder holsters and didn't say much until we got home. There, I suggested that the women wear very light jackets or shawls to cover the guns. They could replace the leather straps with cloth made to look like sashes. The combination should make it possible for them even to wear their guns to church.