" ... - - - ... "
Hector frowned.
"Marshal Guyer, well, all this sitting around waiting for them fellers to come here and surprise us, well, why don't you just send a couple of fellers out to scout around for them? I mean, not to ambush them or get involved with 'em or anything, I know that's out of your official jurisdiction..." taking the minutes at the local Town Council meetings had allowed the quick witted lad to pick up such gems of administrative trivia "... just to kinda find 'em and trail 'em." he wondered out loud.
"You could send Deputy Wentworth and our messenger Jake Lutz with him, case the Deputy wanted to send back a message. Lutzy knows the county between here and Missoula like the back of his hand." he offered other people's services for the potentially lethal mission with a sort of carefree and airy élan.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"I could do , well either of those things, but Deputy Wentworth has to survive the fight first. Twenty rounds, that one hell of a beating on wither of them." Speed related. "Now, I do have Marshals McNue and Cook who, have been left to help out, but they are here for Leah Steelgrave's hospital project more than anything, though I could talk to them about it."
"But you know, there is a lot of waiting around to see what happens, and are they, Love, and the Steelgrave gang, really headed this way, to Kalispell? And what is their intent? That is if they come here. There are too many questions, too may variables. So we get to sit and wait, and see what happens."
" ... - - - ... "
"I could do , well either of those things, but Deputy Wentworth has to survive the fight first. Twenty rounds, that one hell of a beating on wither of them." Speed related.
"Oh geez, yeah. Gosh. Poor Deputy Wentworth, huh? Yeah, I've been helping Bobby train, he's er... well, let's just say I wouldn't put any money on ol' Charlie there." shrugged Hector.
"Now, I do have Marshals McNue and Cook who, have been left to help out, but they are here for Leah Steelgrave's hospital project more than anything, though I could talk to them about it."
The obliging lad nodded at the names, but wouldn't have known which of the two strangers was which. Oh well, it was just an off the cuff idea, he wasn't heavily invested in it enough to fight for it.
"But you know, there is a lot of waiting around to see what happens, and are they, Love, and the Steelgrave gang, really headed this way, to Kalispell? And what is their intent? That is if they come here. There are too many questions, too may variables. So we get to sit and wait, and see what happens."
Hector had to admire the Marshal's sand. Had he been in the man's boots, he would have been like a cat on a hot tin roof awaiting the potentially lethal confrontation that might be heading their way. And whereas Hector might get caught up in the carnage, the Marshal had the responsibility for ending it.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"So you best be getting back to that key in case anything more comes through, don't you think?" There may be another operator there, he didn't know. He'd put something together for Pike, but he was on his way to San Francisco, so that might be a wasted effort by all concerned.
"Guess I'll wait and see if Pike sends word from San Francisco before I try and contact hi, might be a waste to send anything on to Portland."
" ... - - - ... "
It was days later that news came, but it wasn't via the modern miracles of Morse code and the electric telegraph, it was in the form of a dusty rider, days on the trail. However, like the telegraph operator, he toted a Western Union satchel over his shoulders. Jacob Lutz was dead beat, he had almost killed his horse, and himself, trying to get the news back to the Marshal in time for him to do something about it.
He was aching all over as he sat slumped in a chair in front of Guyer, telling what he'd seen.
"Been over to Belnap." His syntax was terse and his diction sparse. "Saw 'em about twenty miles west of Proctor heading this way. Must've been heading out of Boyer's Crossing."
"Heck Wigfall said you were looking for a bunch of bandits headed by Case Steelgrave. Couldn't miss him. So tall. Don't think they saw me. They were a ways off." he grunted. Feeling half-dead. He was worried he wouldn't be able to get up from the chair now he was in it.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
He was aching all over as he sat slumped in a chair in front of Guyer, telling what he'd seen.
"Been over to Belnap." His syntax was terse and his diction sparse. "Saw 'em about twenty miles west of Proctor heading this way. Must've been heading out of Boyer's Crossing."
"Them? Who's them?" Speed asked.
"Heck Wigfall said you were looking for a bunch of bandits headed by Case Steelgrave. Couldn't miss him. So tall. Don't think they saw me. They were a ways off." he grunted. Feeling half-dead. He was worried he wouldn't be able to get up from the chair now he was in it.
"Well now, Heck was right. Case Steelgrave and company. Out of Boyer's Crossing? Sounds about right coming from Big Flat and all." The Marshal responded, not surprised, but concerned because now he knew that Steelgrave was headed their way, whether it was to Kalispell itself, or the Evergreen, or farther north, that remained to be seen.
"How many are with him?" he asked followed by, and how fast were they coming, because they're only thirty five or forty miles off, maybe less, but that's some rough country down that way." But no matter how long they would take to reach whichever destination, they would be in his backyard if not in his town. Ether may not be good news. He sorely wished Pike was back. He would need to alert Cook and McNue, provided they were back in town.
"Yes, Dear"
"How many are with him?" he asked followed by "and how fast were they coming, because they're only thirty five or forty miles off, maybe less, but that's some rough country down that way."
"A dozen?" Jacob answered "Hard to tell from that distance with all their remounts, but yeah, about a dozen. Travellin' fast, but not so fast they'd reach here before tomorrow." He felt it necessary to explain how he had managed to get back to Kalispell so far in advance of the marauders. "I took a few risks getting here so fast: cut right over Blacktail Mountain, through Indian Territory." he informed the Marshal, by way of explanation.
He looked exhausted, but he was thinking, growing kind of angry, really.
"Mr. Guyer? Why'd folks round here put up with 'em?!" he suddenly asked, an accusing note in his voice. "Ever since I was a kid I've been having to listen to it! 'Don't tread on the Steelgrave's patch!' 'Take care not to annoy Elias Steelgrave' 'Better not complain about the Steelgrave's heads tramplin' your corn, they'll have you tarred and feathered and shot' Well, I'm sick of it Marshal!" Despite his fatigue the young man pulled himself to his feet and looked the old lawman straight in the eye.
"I've got a child on the way, and I'm not going to have him or her growing up like I did, living in fear of a bunch of swindling, immoral, no-good bunch of miserable bastards like that: no matter how many hired thugs and gun they've got!"
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Speed looked at the young man. "The old man mostly stays on his spread, send a man in for supplies, so he's pretty much in the clear. We've had no County Sheriff, so jurisdiction becomes the problem. Now when Whitefish was still standing, Case was the law there, and that protected his men and all the things they were doing. It's gone, and so is any protection Case and his gang had."
"If they're coming here looking for trouble, then they'll surely find it. I expect Marshall's Cook and McNue today sometime, and there's other's that will stand. But it's possible for them to bypass town, if that's their plan, so we just get to wait some more. It'll sort itself out, usually does. Meanwhile young man, best you get up to the Lickskillet and let your wife know your back, and then, get yourself some rest. Might have to call on you."
"Yes, Dear"
"How many are with him?" he asked followed by "and how fast were they coming, because they're only thirty five or forty miles off, maybe less, but that's some rough country down that way."
"A dozen?" Jacob answered "Hard to tell from that distance with all their remounts, but yeah, about a dozen. Travellin' fast, but not so fast they'd reach here before tomorrow." He felt it necessary to explain how he had managed to get back to Kalispell so far in advance of the marauders. "I took a few risks getting here so fast: cut right over Blacktail Mountain, through Indian Territory." he informed the Marshal, by way of explanation.
He looked exhausted, but he was thinking, growing kind of angry, really.
"Mr. Guyer? Why'd folks round here put up with 'em?!" he suddenly asked, an accusing note in his voice. "Ever since I was a kid I've been having to listen to it! 'Don't tread on the Steelgrave's patch!' 'Take care not to annoy Elias Steelgrave' 'Better not complain about the Steelgrave's heads tramplin' your corn, they'll have you tarred and feathered and shot' Well, I'm sick of it Marshal!" Despite his fatigue the young man pulled himself to his feet and looked the old lawman straight in the eye.
"I've got a child on the way, and I'm not going to have him or her growing up like I did, living in fear of a bunch of swindling, immoral, no-good bunch of miserable bastards like that: no matter how many hired thugs and gun they've got!"
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Speed sat back considering the possibilities. None of them good, unless they gave Kalispell a wide berth, which Case might well do. They had had a hideout somewhere out there in the wild country, a place that no one seemed to know of.
Tom Love? There was a question mark. He had already been through the circulars, what some folks called 'wanted posters,' but he had no paper on anyone name of Love. Maybe when the Marshals got back they would know of him.
Was Kalispell sitting in the center of an outlaws bullseye, for one reason or another? Time would tell.