Storyteller / Shared NPC
Meanwhile, riding out from the south were the Shannon boys, both missing the sight of the other. Boone entering the hotel as Shannon, Wally and Injun Charlie passed by. Neither would have acknowledged the other had they seen one another. It was just not done.
Speed Guyer watch the riders leaving town, thinking them to be miners, and wondering where they might be headed as the circulars were not even printed yet, nor adverts in the outlaying newspapers for miners. He was just on his way to see McVay about that.
Shannon had one of those moments were he actually like the the town they were passing through, but it passed as the town passed from view, lost behind the trees that began to fill in. He filled his lungs with the fresh air, suddenly glad to be out of the confines of the town. They had a ways to ride yet, and he was thinking of the money tucked away on the pack animal that belonged to Case Steelgrave and his lot. It was a good arrangement. They loved to take the banks, but had little use for the greater share of their ill gotten gains. They needed money, there would always be a need for cash, so they took a share to get them by and meet expenses.
They were hard men who on occasion like to drink, gamble, and, have a time with the ladies. But they were always on guard for they knew of too many men that got loose tongued and were killed for what they had or worse, were jailed with nothing but a long prison term ahead of them. And that was not for the Shannon gang!
Walt followed the map precisely as it made it's way passed to ruins of what had been Whitefish out into the forested country beyond. There would be a dry river bed which was made up of rock, sand, and shale. It was a product of winter run-offs that dried out when the snow pack was melted. So they turned north again staying in the river bed on the last leg to Steelgrave's hide out.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
It was a good fifteen miles from Kalispell to what remained of the town of Whitefish. And they had been on the trail for better than three hours, nearly four. There were, in fact several buildings. Some had withstood natures fury, some were able to be somewhat rebuilt and some were simply the lean-to variety.
They stopped a good distance away to get the whole picture of what had happened. The devastation was all but unbelievable. What did remain were those buildings made of stone, or brick and mortar. Wooden buildings apparently had no chance against the blaze that razed everything in it's path. Yet one or two had been spared.
Shannon and the boys could see where those that remained had gathered whatever wood that was usable for repairs and to construct the crude lean-tos. Shannon smiled. The bank building and the Marshals Office seemed unharmed. But obviously their roofs were replaced or repaired. A brick building still stood along with the two wooden structures. Several pieces of what had been frameworks still stood. The damage to buildings and trees had been cleaned up, but what remained was far from a town.
They moved forward into the remains of Whitefish. The bank was converted into a general store and cafe, moving the iron stove must have been a chore. The Marshal's office still bore the sign, with a crudely painted one that said town hall. There were people out, watching the men ride through, which was common, as they really had little to offer, though it was clear to anyone that whatever money had been in the banks safe had been recovered and put to use for supplies and such like.
Shannon smiled. They rode on.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Riding on they passed through what had remained of Whitefish, and out into the country filled again with trees and boulders and a trail that petered out, just as Case had told them it would and the ground was littered with gravel and small rocks, no surface to be running a horse on.
Then the forest grew thicker and passage was slower, and more cautious. Lean rope for the pack animal was let out to allow the animal to follow at a short distance from Walt. This was exactly they way it had been described. This was why it would take the time Case had said it would.
They would find a wash somewhere ahead of them that would lead to the opening to reach the hide out, Walt was impressed, though his days of needing a hideout were long gone. Being chased by a posse was, for all intents and purposes, a thing of their past. Their jobs were done at night, as quietly as possible, and they vanished with nary a trace after they had emptied the bank's safe.
So, they rode on.
Case looked around at the men, "I'll be back, just goin' for a ride, couple matters I need to think on." There were some murmurs and several men nodded, but the boss did what he wanted. Case walked out and mounted his horse.
Thinking in the saddle was something Case did well, and when he was troubled about something, riding and thinking was what he did. At the moment he was contemplating what Boone might learn in town. There were those that would accept him back in their midst, while there would be others, like Guyer and Pike that would not want him back. Of course he was well aware of their disdain for him, he had beaten them in court, no one likes to lose in court, no one.
And rumors would there be? Had the Town Council taken action on this hospital project of his sisters? Would Kalispell even accept a Steelgrave to lead a project of any kind for any reason? Hopefully there would be some answers to those questions, even though Leah would have to fight her own battles, because Case could not help her, and he was smart enough to realize if he tried, it would scuttle the whole thing. Well that would be her problem, he had other things to consider. Actually, he did not need to be accepted in Kalispell, he could use Columbia Falls if need be, and actually, he could just send men in to buy the supplies that were needed. Actually he had men unknown to Kalispell, so he could send men in there as well.
And this alliance with his father, that needed some serious thought.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Pecos signaled with a mirror and Dancer rode out to see what was up. It was the bank robbers. Walt Shannon and his two partners sitting there awaiting passage to the hideout. At least Pecos waited to see who had located the entrance to the valley hide away.
"You boys are a sight for sore eyes. The boss'll be glad to see you when he gets back. Follow me." and he led them trough the passage. "It's beyond that hill, this here cabin is just for looks."
"Nice set up." Shannon said, though he had never been one for hideouts, he preferred hotels. Though they were not always available to him on the trail, which was different than on the run. "Case ain't here?"
"Nope out for a ride, thinkin' on something." Dancer informed them. "He'll be right along, don't you worry none."
He led them around the hill to where the buildings stood and up to the hitch rails where several saddled horses stood, others were in a corral not far away.
"Nice layout ya got here, not at all what I expected." Shannon said, then stepping down and flipping the reins over the rail. "We'll wait on Case to bring in the bags off the pack horse. Let everybody get a gander at the same time. We're sure you'll be happy when you see it all."
"Sure, sure. Case'll like it that. We got coffee on, not sure about anything to eat just yet." Dancer said, "come on inside. The boys'll be happy to see you."
"Hell, I hope so!" Shannon declared.
Case had no idea that Shannon had arrived at the hideout, nor about the money that they would suddenly have. What he was concerned with, money could not buy. What would his return to Kalispell be like? Would he be accepted as he had been before? Would those that had supported him, still stand by him? Could he actually turn the election in his favor?
Questions without answers, yet Boone Dawson was there and probing for information about his welcome, or not, which would tell him a great deal about his chances in the election. It really was not necessary for him to be elected to anything, but it would make a lot of things a whole lot easier.
He turned his horse back the way he had come. There were things to be done yet, Cattle to be rustled and hidden away. It struck him in mid thought, how did that place ever get over looked?
It was perfect for a ranch, not that he needed one, and perfect for the hideout they had built. At least that part of his plan was in tact.
Case walked into the room, there on the table were two sets of saddle bags, and two canvas bags, obviously not supplies. It would be the money, their share of the take from how many ever banks they had hit.
"I was beginning to wonder about you boys." Case greeted.
"Howdy Case. Took us a trip up to Columbia Falls and a couple burgs past that for a look see. But a bit close to home for right now." Shannon explained. There's what you was waitin' on. Have a look."
Case opened the saddle bags first, spilling out cash from both, the the canvas bags, doing the same. "How much?"
"Maybe thirty, forty thousand. Paper an' coin, some gold. Whatever was in their safes are in them bags. We took ours, as we said we would, that there's the lions share. More'n we'd ever need. Might outta count it, but that's be a chore. Glad that's off'a our hands.
"It looks like a chore, but will get it counted and split up soon enough. so, what have you boys got planned next?" Case asked.
"Maybe head north, see what's to see. Never been to Canada, 'course now, they got different money so maybe we'll let that lie. Can't use it here, but were we to decide to change countries, well then, that'd be all together different." Shannon surmised. "Never know what the future holds."
Case smiled because that was true, one never knew what the future was going to bring. It was the reality of things that a man might be dead the following day. The law, Indians, some rancher with a lucky shot, and then here were acts of nature, and he knew about that first hand. Nothing was guaranteed in this life, absolutely nothing.
"Well then, We thank you for this loot. Heck of a lot of it, but it'll get put to good use." He expressed. "You sure you don't need some of this?"
"Nope, we have all we need. We made us a deal about this, and we're keepin' our end of it. There'll be more in the future. That's a promise. What we could use is a couple days rest and some food before we head out."
"Not a problem there, plenty of room, and plenty of food. Just make yourselves to home, you boys are a pleasure to do business with." There was a round of vocal agreements to that statement.
"Mutually agreed. Hell, we'd have us cash buried all over Montana if it wasn't for you boys. Money we'd likely never see again. So you boys make life easier on us in that way.
"Boss, we found us a herd ripe for the pluckin'. Maybe we oughtta move on it afore they change where they're grazin' 'em, an make it more difficult." Toole suggested. "We can take close to a hunderd head easy enough, they move 'em, thet might not be the way of it."
"'Scuse me men, but Toole here is on to something, and cattle is our other business. We've customers waiting up north." Case said, not happy at being interrupted, yet realizing that what he said was true. It was why they were there, and it was what the did. "So go on and make yourselves to home while I get this job situated."
"Oh sure thing, Case, an thanks for the offer. We appreciate it, 'mon boys." Shannon said, and with that they walked outside to find the other building Case was talking about.
"Alright Toole what did you have in mind?" Case asked.
"The place is just at the foothills where they have their cattle. Now any buildin's 'er maybe a mile, mile'n a half away. What we saw was just maybe four riders wit the cattle, may not hav'ta kill any of 'em. We just filter down through the trees and then rush 'em. Maybe eight 'er ten of us, circle the heard an' push 'em back the way we come which was the long way around , and shore they'll be tracks alomst all the way to the dry river bed, maybe whot, two mile from the tree line. Hard ground to river bed, but they won't catch us, not seein's they're out numbered."
Case gave it some thought, but Toole had been plotting how they would steal a herd for quite a while, and he knew what he was doing. Besides, no County Sheriff, no problem!
"Pick your men, Toole and get it done." Case said, knowing if they got a hundred head, that would be enough to drive north, once the brands were altered.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Reb Culverson had claimed a good sized chunk of land and one corner of it sat on the river, north of Alice Fletcher's land. The rest backed up to low tree covered hills. He was not the type to block off water to any who needed it, it just wasn't who he was. He ran maybe six or seven hundred head on his range. He didn't like the fences any more than the next man but it was a necessity, and ranchers were more prone to fence off their range, it prevented the mixing of cattle, destruction of farmers property, and problems in general. But most had vulnerabilities that rustlers could exploit.
The Circle C seldom had no more than six to eight hands at any one time, which was far less than the size of the herd needs, but of course, that is on open range where they are able to spread out over many more acres. The other problem that had not been a problem for some time was the threat of rustlers.
Toole and six of his comrades sat in the trees watching. There was plenty of time. The day team of two hands had been relieved as the daylight faded, and were replace by a solitary rider. Just as Toole learned earlier. The law was laid down by Case, no killing, not unless it was absolutely necessary, which with one man it shouldn't be.
The day riders were more than a mile off, the evening man was at the south end of the herd. The plan, simple, four would go to the left, three would pinch in from the right and push the cattle into the trees and then drive them toward the dry creek bed and home. It should work like a charm.