Dark Journey Home (36 page)

“Don’t do it, Woody.”  Shouted Holderman. 

“I ain’t lettin’ nobody in.  You all just turn around
and get outta here, but leave Holderman an’ Phillips.  I’ll have a word with
them two, what got me into this in the first place, an’ them raking in most of
the money.”  Woody yelled, as he lifted the rifle higher.    

Holderman stopped walking, and began backing up, but
Garth prodded him on with the barrel of his shotgun. 

Logan
continued, “Oh
and, by the way, Perkins, the big gent with the shotgun, is Lord Beckford’s
nephew, Garth Worthington.  He gets a little nervous when folks tell him ‘no’. 
I wouldn’t advise making him nervous.  He also gets a little upset, when folks
swindle his beloved uncle, but we all told him that he couldn’t shoot you yet,
not until we’ve had a chance to sit down and have us a little talk anyway.” 

Ricardo spoke up, “Señor Perkins, if you would just
drop the rifle, and look behind you, I think this problem can be solved without
any fireworks.”  Ricardo was smiling, as the group now reached the entrance to
the front courtyard. 

Perkins frowned, “An’ I won’t fall for that either,
that’s a kid’s trick.  Look behind me, huh?  Why?  Just what is behind me?” 

Ricardo paused a moment, “Well, for one, Señor, on your
left, is the County Sheriff, and on your right, is the well-known Texas Ranger,
Jake Welby.  Señor Perkins, they both have weapons pointed right at you……for
shame……but I would advise, when you turn around, that you do it slowly, and
very, very, carefully.

“You see, Señor, while you have the discussion with my
amigo Logan here, the lawmen have been coming in through the back gate, and
getting into position.  Don’t bother asking how they opened the locked gate
either, for the housekeeper, Consuelo, she has been very cooperative, and I
believe the very kind Señorita will gladly welcome the rightful heir of old Sam
Beckford.”

Woody Perkins quickly glanced over his left shoulder,
then, with an agitated sigh, threw down the rifle, muttering, “Aw Hell, I never
killed nobody anyhow.  Where’s my daughter.  Get Trudy out here.” 

“Your daughter is safe, Perkins.”  Sheriff Denton told
him, as he walked over to pick up the rifle.  “She should be in town by now and
well taken care of.  We’ll notify her later where you are.” 

Attorney Phillips and Jinx Holderman both glared
daggers at the sullen Woody Perkins, as Perkins walked back towards the house. 
Ranger Welby hurried to the gate, and then unlatching it, allowed the group to
enter.  When Lord Beckford stepped through the entrance, he scanned the
courtyard, his blue eyes gleaming.  “By Jove, I do like what old Sam has
created here.”  He said.    

<><><> 

  The housekeeper of the ranch house at the Triple-B, Consuelo
Alvarez, had been at the ranch almost since Sam Beckford had first begun to run
cattle on the land.  Sam and his, at that time, two men, Hank Chavez and Paul
Denton, had been riding the plains, one cold winter late afternoon, looking for
strays, when they’d come upon Consuelo behind a broken down wagon, with a dead
husband, and an arrow protruding from his chest, attempting to defend herself,
with an almost empty rifle, against three Comanche renegade Indians.  She had
two rounds left in the weapon, when the three men rode up, guns blasting at the
renegades, as they rode. 

Sam Beckford had immediately taken the widow, Señora
Alvarez, back to the ranch, and given her a position as housekeeper and cook. 
A good cook, she had proven herself a treasure in those lean years.  Consuelo
had been thankful for her position, and her small room at the back of the
house.  She had been there ever since. 

The housekeeper now entered the study of the ranch
house, carrying a tray of mugs, and a large pot of coffee.  She set the tray on
the sturdy, well polished mahogany desk, then began pouring coffee, while
glancing at the white-haired gentleman, who sat in the leather chair, behind
the desk. 

She noted the faint resemblance he had to Sam
Beckford, and wondered about that.  Not at all liking the blustering, loud and
ill-mannered Woody Perkins, she saw how Woody now sat squirming in his seat,
next to a red-faced Holderman, and the attorney, Phillips. 

The other men in the room, were strong appearing, and
well-armed.  After pouring several mugs of coffee, Consuelo walked back to the
kitchen, smiling all the way.  She only hoped Trudy would return, as she’d seen
her leave by the back entrance, then ride away.  She liked the lovely Perkins girl,
and knew that no matter what was going on with Señor Perkins, that Trudy had
nothing to do with any of it.  The girl had been straining to get out from
under the strong, controlling hand of her father, but Consuelo understood what
it was like to be young, and needing the companionship of folks her own age,
and she hoped that Trudy would soon have that freedom.  The girl did have a
head on her shoulders, but only needed the chance to prove it.  Consuelo began
humming to herself in the kitchen, as she prepared lunch.

<><><> 

Back in the study, a meeting was going on, with Woody
Perkins the center of attention.  He was in the midst of ‘telling it all’, amid
scowling glances from Holderman and attorney Phillips. 

Logan
had found the
satchel which had been stashed in the parlor filled with cash, gold pieces, and
receipts from past years.  Obviously the satchel had been placed there for a
quick retreat, in case it was needed.  Lord Beckford was going through the
papers now and spoke from his seat behind the desk.  “It seems that there has
been a lot of activity on this place in the past ten years, Mr. Perkins.  You
say you were under the impression that you bought this place under honest
conditions?  Explain yourself once more please, as all I have been able to find
in all this paperwork, is a receipt for Five-hundred dollars, and signed by
Attorney Phillips here.  It is dated almost ten years ago, and has an X at the
bottom of the page; I take it that is your mark?”

“Of course, that’s my mark.  I ain’t ashamed……never
learned to write, or read, for that matter.  Phillips here, well, he read it
all to me, an’ explained that it was a deed to this here property.  Said it
would be recorded at the County Courthouse.  Never questioned the whys an’
wherefores.  All I know, is that them two come to Coyote Springs about the same
time, Attorney Phillips setting up an office in town, then after I bought this
place from him, he said the conditions of the sale was that Holderman here, be
foreman of the ranch, sort of run things, as I hadn’t done too well on my other
property.

“Chester Burns was foreman for Sam Beckford, though,
an’ never liked it much when Holderman here took over.  He’s been mad ever
since, but I had to go along with what Phillips said, cause he said that was
part of the deal.  Wasn’t up to me to argue. 

“They also, Holderman an’ Phillips that is, took most
of the money from the account at the bank, whatever was put in there, as we had
a joint account.  Gave me a good allowance though, so I had no kick comin’. 
Guess I didn’t bother to question them too much though, as things were better
for me an’ Trudy.  Never thought I’d lose the place.”  Perkins looked down,
wondering why he’d been such a fool.  Greed was all he could come up with.  Now
that he looked back on it, he figured it was too much of a good deal, had known
all along that things weren’t right. 

“Let me clarify one thing that may have been
overlooked.”  Lord Beckford broke in.  “In the first place, I would never have
sold the ranch that my cousin had worked so hard for.  In the second place, I
guess Phillips didn’t look over the legal specifics of the will.  One of the
stipulations of the will, when the property was turned over to me, was that
even if I had wanted to, the ranch could not have been sold.  That exception to
the inheritance was in the main part of the will, and I’m sure that you, Mr.
Phillips, knew exactly how that will was written.  Sam Beckford had left the
property to me, on the condition that I would not sell, transfer, or give the
ranch away in any way, except to will it to my heirs.  If I had even wanted to
sell the property, I could not have done so.  There you have it, Mr. Perkins,
clear and simple.  You were used by these two con men, for their own interests
only.  The sale, if it had taken place at all, would not have been legal anyway,
and from what I see here in all this jumble of paperwork, is only a receipt for
some kind of a payment you made to Attorney Phillips.”

Perkins glared at Holderman and Phillips, as he
snarled.  “You two crooks set me up, an’ I was too damned dumb to see it at the
time.”

“Shut your mouth, Perkins, or I’ll shut it for you.” 
Snarled Holderman, half rising out of his chair, “You’re in this just as deep,
so don’t go putting the blame all on us.”

Ranger Welby walked over to stand in front of the two,
then said, “You are in no position to be making threats to anyone, Holderman,
or Holderness, whatever your name is.”  Holderman’s eyes opened wide at the insinuation. 
Now worried, he sat back down, as Ranger Welby continued, “I did a little
investigating before coming here, it was on the way anyway.  I stopped at the
county courthouse, and of course the only deed on record, for this property, is
the one made out to Sam Beckford’s heir, Claude Beckford here.  So of course,
the deed to the ranch never changed hands, and rightfully belongs to Claude
Beckford.  We don’t need a court of law to tell us that.  You, Phillips, have
gone through law school, and should have known better than to pull a scam like
this.

“Another thing about you two men, of course you both
know you are wanted down San Antonio way.  It seems a certain Jim Holderness
and Clay Phelps skipped town just before being taken into custody.  They pulled
the same kind of scam outside San Antonio, that you two have done here.  It’s
taken the Rangers, along with help from the Pinkertons, over ten years to track
down the crooks.  The descriptions fit you two.  Don’t you boys know the Texas
Rangers always get their men?  Even if it takes a lifetime, they never give up.” 

Welby walked over to lift up a coffee mug, take a swallow,
then continued talking, “I’m surprised the folks in Coyote Springs didn’t
investigate the validity of your license to practice law, Phillips.  That
license has been suspended for over ten years, just about the time you would’ve
shown up here.  I guess the last name was doctored on the license.” 

“You can’t prove that, Ranger, that’s just all
speculation, not a word of fact.”  Phillips sputtered. 

Welby laughed, “That fancy talk may have worked for
you in court a time or two, Phillips, or whatever your name is, but not with
this old coon dog.  What I have said is fact alright.  I wired Austin from down the trail, bein’ as this setup sounded too familiar to be coincidence.  There
should be two Texas Rangers arriving in town any time now, may already be
there, to haul you two con artists back to San Antone to stand trial, that is
if you don’t cause any trouble on the trail.  If that should happen, they may
just shoot you, then hold the trial later; don’t much matter in which order it
happens.  Ranger Welby began to refill his mug with hot coffee. 

“This is ridiculous!  I have an office in town,
clients to see.”  Phillips argued. 

Sheriff Denton stood, and walked over to the two con
men, and stated a fact, “Phillips, you ‘had’ an office in town, ‘past tense’,
before the town marshal cleaned it out after you left. He was instructed to
have his deputies assist him in clearing out the place and hauling all your
files, along with all ‘doctored’ paperwork, which should be enough evidence to
put you away for a long time, back down to the city jail.  Soon as a judge
comes to town, folks will hold a trial, then you can head on down San Antone
way, for that little case down yonder.”

“You can’t be serious, you can’t arrest me!”  Shouted
Phillips. 

Ranger Welby put in his two cents, “We just did.”  He
stated a fact, then began to finish drinking his coffee. 

Sheriff Denton poured himself a refill, then said,
“Phillips, you can bet your last twenty-dollar gold piece, that you two can
consider yourselves under arrest, from this moment on.”  Lord Claude sat back
in the comfortable leather chair, and smiled.  Ricardo grinned, and Logan watched the two prisoners, as Denton pulled two sets of handcuffs out of his pocket,
and proceeded to make the arrest official.  Garth walked to the door, opened
it, and escorted the two con men to their waiting carriage.