The ride to town had not been at breakneck speed, in fact, the pace was slow by all accounts. These men knew what they were about, they understood that there were risks involved in following these particular orders from Ellias Steelgrave. First thought, try and catch them on the street unaware...like that was going to happen. End of choices. They would have to face them and tell them how the cow at the cabbage and hope for the best. There in lies the problem, the reaction.
There was the all but certain chance that Carson and the rest would simply open fire, or maybe Leah Steelgrave would step out with her double barrel eight gauge, and let 'er rip. Or, they could palaver for a while, get the message across, and maybe escape with their lives. Now it was not fear, no, it was the uselessness of trying to outshoot those in the house. Sitting on horseback facing men on flat ground, able to move while they were not, except to try and ride out there.
Kalispell would not recognize them, as they had rarely been to town, the fact was, Columbia Falls was the better choice, as none of the Steelgrave bunch were known to ride that far. Lords of the manner they were, or, so they thought. Kalispell was theirs, not that the old man did not have a differing opinion there subject, which made little difference on this day. This was not about whose town it was, this was about Evergreen business, between men from the Evergreen and men that had cut and run, as they saw it. Defending the boss's daughter or not. If the law was to get involved, it would be after it was over, so there was no worry there. Not that any of them worried much about the law anyway.
They trotted just past the bank and again slowed to a walk, they passed the Lickskillet Diner, the saloon, and the Kalispell Union office then came Oregon Street where they stopped. About eight houses up but on the right side of the street were where those that had deserted the Evergreen were holed up. Leah had number twelve, and across the rutted dirt street would be number thirteen, bad luck for who?
Dutch looked up the street in the morning light, though the sun had climbed just above the peaks to the east. He dropped his reins and unbuckled his gunbelt, then raised up and slid it off his hips, handing it to Deckerd. "I'm gonna ride on in and she what's what. You boys wait here and for Godsakes, don't do nothin' stupid!" He looked directly at Watts as he spoke, then nudged his horse forward.
Dex McKenny sat on what served a porch of the clapboard house, a Winchester across his lap and a cup of coffee in his hand as he watched the three men at the head of the street. He knew them, and he knew why they were there, it was not good any way you sliced it. Then, as he set the coffee aside and earned back the hammer on the rifle, he watched as Dutch started forward.
"Bannister! Comp'nee!" Dex called out, which would rouse everyone in the house, though they were already up and about.
Bannister stepped out on the porch and looked up the street. "Don't look like trouble, leastways for the moment. Only the three?"
"Didn't see nobody else, which don't mean nothin'." Dex replied and immediately looked the other way. He would not put it past them to have four or five riders come around the other way, though it would take them longer to get in position.
Dutch pulled up in front of the house. "Lettin' you know, the old man wants alla you dead."
"It'll take more'n you three ta get that done." Bannister replied to the threat. A door creaked across the hard-packed street, Dutch turned to look, and Bannister had his Colt in his hand in that instant.
Leah Steelgrave stood on her porch, the dreaded eight gauge in her hands. "Good morning, Dutch." She greeted.
"Miss Steelgrave." He answered, touching the brim of his hat, then looked back and the two men he could see. "It's like we figured. You boys and the woman. But you won't always have that advantage, and when you least expect it we'll come for alla yous, maybe her too."
"You got no gun, less you want to see how fast you can get that Winchester outta that saddle scabbard an' into action." Bannister challenged, knowing that was plain suicide. "I could empty your saddle right now, Dutch. Same break you'd give us, none, but I'll wait till you got a gun. You best bring every man you can when you come, gar'n'tee, it'll look like beef day at the Ingun agency. So you hurry along now, tell the old man, any threat to Leah, or her project is a threat against us, and you want to come for us, you best come a shootin'!"
"Count on it, Bannister!" Dutch was incensed that his threat had fallen on deaf ears and that Bannister had had the gall to threaten him in return. Dutch wheeled his mount and galloped back down the street.
"Rekon we're in for it now," Dex said offhandedly.
"Could be McKenny, could be," Bannister replied as they watched the three men disappear past the buildings at the corner.
Standing the shotgun against the door frame of her house she crossed the street as the other men came out. "Hello, we have some new faces this morning." She greeted.
"Do, this here's Doc Gilcrest and Carson, come to join in on the situation. Seems your Pa had some scheme to kill Marshal Guyer and that was all these two could deal with." Bannister introduced.
"Well then, welcome, I haven't been to the ranch in better than a year, so there's new faces out there."Leah said. "Men I'd not seen before like the fellow on the horse."
"Yes 'um, that was Dutch. Yer Pa, well, he's hired on mostly gun hands that's willin' ta work cows," Doc explained. "Most of the old ones is gone."
"A shame, it is a beautiful place, and to be honest, I miss it, but not nearly enough to back. Sounds like he's gotten worse." She observed.
"He has." Doc added. "Don't drink none no more. Quit it he did. But he's meaner'n a rattler poked with a stick!"
"Welcome then. Seems I have my own army." Was her response, for she knew her father, knew how he could be, and what he was capable of. What Doc Gilcrest had to say spoke volumes to her of his mental state. He was denied something he wanted, and that was enough to make him crazy angry. With her mother and the boys gone, all that was left was his anger, like he felt betrayed by those closest to him.
"So," she began, "That was bold, and I don't like his sending his messenger boys in to threaten us. I've also heard a rumor that Marshal Guyer had talked to the Army about patrols or some such, and I'm not sure I like that either. There's a Lieutenant in town at the hotel, I believe I shall go in today and have a talk with him about all of this. I don't want Kalispell to become an armed camp, even though that is exactly what you men represent. We will handle this."
"Yes Ma'am, we will."
"Ma'am, them fellers might well have a hard time of it back to the Evergreen." Doc advised her, "the old man, 'er, yer father don't take kindly to failure, and they was sent to smoke us out."
" I believe that, Doc. Why else would they have come, certainly noit to warn you, but Dutch had to make a show of it." Leah agreed.
"Miss Leah?" Bannister began, "That shave tail, he likely would be the one to talk with, I mean, sure Guyer's got what for comin' to him, but maybe the Lieutenant would be the best one to talk to. And maybe, after, maybe Guyer didn't intend for there to be troops posted in town, maybe what he talked to them about was some different."
"Wel,l I'll just get my things and put this shotgun up and then head over to the boarding house and see what this Lieutenant has to say for himself, and then, yes, hunt up Guyer and get all of this straightened out." Was her response. "I'll just be a few moments." And with that,t she re-crossed the street and went inside.
"Danged if she don't beat all!" Gilcrest said.
After the meeting with the Lieutenant, she paused a moment to reflect on what had transpired. She felt odd for the moment as if she should feel bad about the man's condition. He had been wounded in the heroic rescue of Addy and Miss Mundee and that had to account for something.
Marshal Law, or any plan for it, was non-existent. She was relieved by that. She had picked up one of the notices that the boy had left with Jemima Wigfall she read it, then re-read it and realized that there had never been a conversation about Marshal Law in the first place, as that was not the Marshal's purpose in going to the fort. Now she was angry. McVay had posed a question, and she, like many others in Kalispell reacted to it as if it were a statement. She needed to see the Marshal and apologize, even though she had not confronted him on the situation, she had intended to.
Instead, she found herself headed for the office and residence of Doctor Jonah Danforth, her long-time, or so it seemed, friend and confidant. They had not talked in some time, so it would be good to see him and run some things by him. Maybe unimportant things in light of what the Lieutenant had said, though there was just something about the whole situation that seemed about half a bubble off of plumb about the whole thing.
She stepped up to the door and knocked, hopefully, he was not with a patient.
Tag Bongo
Please, dear Lord, not another hang nail or hemorrhoid or boil, or Jemima Wigfall!
Jonah more often than not dreaded a knock on the door, for, more often than not, it meant either some kind of dull, smelly, oozing thing, or worse, an emergency, or legitimate illness that he had no real idea how to treat. But, it was a living, it was his living, and until he could decide on something else, he was here for it.
A (very) pleasant surprise awaited him when he opened the door, and he smiled, inclining his head as he resisted the urge to hug and kiss Miss Leah out of sheer joy that she wasn't a patient! Or was she?
"Are you all right?" he asked in concern. "Please, do come in. Would you like some tea?"
"I'm fine, can't a friend drop in unannounced without you thinking something is wrong besides most everything?" Then she laughed. "I just left Lieutenant Greene who is recuperating here in Kalispell at the Wigfall's Boarding House. Have you been to see him at all?"
"You have seen the paper I take it?" She asked. Marshal Law has some folks spooked even though it was clearly a question that he was asking. I don't know if that's even possible and before you ask, no, I have not been to see Speed about it. I just can't see any value in a military presence here in town for any reason, least of all the hospital."
@Bongo
"I'm fine, can't a friend drop in unannounced without you thinking something is wrong besides most everything?" Then she laughed. "I just left Lieutenant Greene who is recuperating here in Kalispell at the Wigfall's Boarding House. Have you been to see him at all?"
"Of course, you are welcome here any time." He was always happy to see her sparkling eyes, and that engaging smile..."And no, the military takes care of their own." And all the better, in his opinion, he didn't need official sorts loitering around!
"You have seen the paper I take it?" She asked. Marshal Law has some folks spooked even though it was clearly a question that he was asking. I don't know if that's even possible and before you ask, no, I have not been to see Speed about it. I just can't see any value in a military presence here in town for any reason, least of all the hospital."
"Maybe they are just flexing their muscle?" Jonah suggested, leading the way to the kitchen. "There isn't enough trouble out here with the savages, so they have to justify their presence some way." He gestured to the table. "Have a seat, please. Mrs. Armentrout left some butter cookies. Is tea all right? Or perhaps whisky?" He wasn't much of a hostess!
"Tea and Butter cookies, Jonah, you just have a way." She praised, "So you have not seen him, well, I find it quite suspicious that the Army would send a man to town to recover, meaning their physician would need to come to town regularly to tend to the Lieutenant, at the expense of his patients at the fort. I had hoped that if they sent him here they would have asked you to look in on him. Oh well."
"Although the Marshal Law business seems to be cleared up, it is clear from the flyer McVay sent 'round, that it was simply a question, not something based in fact."
"But, the builders are on the way! Possibly very close, providing the recent rain didn't bog them down somewhere, the sooner we can get it started, the faster we'll be seeing patients in a proper setting." She added, "OH, not that your office is not the proper place, but one where folks will be able to stay as long as needed." Her face beamed at the thought, the fight behind them, the building in front of them, at long last.
Tag Bongo
"It is going to be a relief to watch it going up," Jonah commented as he poured hot water from a kettle into two mugs with tea leaves, then set those on the table, followed by small containers of sugar lumps and cream. "And, I believe, once they get started, it will go up quickly, and I can't say that I won't mind having my house to myself."
He settled at the table with her, then took a cookie from the plate between them. "I'll keep the office here, and a couple of exam rooms, but it will be nice not to have to worry about long-term patients." Well, really, for the clinic they had right now, 'long-term' was really just a few days at most, anything needing more intense care was sent to Helena, or just sent home, where he'd check on them daily. The outcomes weren't often good.
"It will be beneficial for the families, too, not to have a sick family member so far from home, or to have them at home where they don't feel they can properly care for them. And, of course, there will be more staff, to share the burden." Sometimes, it was daunting, even with the help of nurses, to keep an eye on everyone.