Friends and Enemies (4 page)

He pulled off his hat and nodded, “Yes ma'am, I am. I sensed that about your husband as well. That's what makes me even more convinced he is the right man for the job. I don't need a violent man. I need a compassionate man that won't tolerate violence.”

“I appreciate your explaining it that way,” Jamie Sue said.

Vanborg pulled some folded papers out of his suit pocket. “Here's my offer. You would get an office in Deadwood and could share our office in Rapid City. It's very modern with a typewriting machine and all. That way you'll have one at either end of your run. Like I said, you would be able to hire any two men you want to work with you to rotate duty on every train that runs through the Black Hills. In exchange, we will pay your total expenses, furnish guns, ammunition, room, and board while away from home . . . plus . . .” he glanced over at the three children.

“It's alright, Mr. Vanborg, we don't keep secrets from our children either.”

Vanborg cleared his throat. “I would like to offer you $350 per month and $250 a month for each assistant.”

Jamie Sue sat back in the seat. “That's a lot of money.”

“It's an extremely important position, and we need to hire the best man available. Plus, you and your family would have a free pass to ride on the Elkhorn, Fremont, and Missouri Valley Railroad any time you please,” Vanborg added.

“That's a generous offer, Mr. Vanborg,” Robert insisted. “But I do have a commitment to my family in Deadwood. It's not something I could back away from easily, even if I wanted to.”

“Mr. Fortune, the mines in the Black Hills are some of the richest left in our country. We would like to be able to guarantee that gold is safe on the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley. But even more important to me, I don't want any women or children ever threatened or in peril as yours were today.” Vanborg stood and replaced his hat. “I saw the results of your quick thinking. Anyone else will be pure speculation. I believe you are the exact person for the job. May I contact you in a few days in Deadwood?”

“Yes, but I'm not sure I'm your man,” Robert replied.

“Where can I find you?” Vanborg asked.

Robert glanced over at Jamie Sue. “I'll either be at Fortune & Son Hardware . . . Fortune and Troop Lumberyard, or S. Houston Fortune's Telephone Exchange.”

The nobby dressed, gray-haired man pulled out a white linen handkerchief and wiped his forehead. “My word, it sounds like your father and brothers run the whole town.”

Robert leaned back against the stiff, slick leather rail car seat. “Oh no, Daddy and my brothers just own the businesses. It's my sister and my sisters-in-law that run the whole town.”

CHAPTER TWO

Patricia, Veronica, and Little Frank had their faces pressed to the clear glass window as the train slowed down entering Deadwood.

“I don't see them yet,” Veronica whined. Her straw hat tumbled off the back of her light brown hair as she scooted away from the window. She retied the green hat ribbon under her chin.

Little Frank tapped the baseball bat against the side of his worn brown boot. “Maybe they are all on the other side.”

Patricia chewed her lower lip. “How many do you think will be waiting for us?”

“Everybody will be here. I just know it!” Veronica reached under her long white dress and tugged up her white socks.

Patricia checked her own socks and pulled at them even though they didn't need it. “I had a dream that everyone was waiting for us and there was a big parade for us down Main Street . . .” she began.

“. . . and we were riding on top of a stagecoach pulled by . . .” Veronica interrupted.

Patricia waved her hands as she continued the dream, “. . . six white horses and Grandpa Brazos . . .”

Veronica bounced up and down on the heels of her shoes. “. . . was driving it and . . .”

“I was sitting right next to him!” Patricia triumphed.

“You were not. I was sitting next to him and you were next to me,” Veronica insisted.

“Whoa!” Little Frank interjected. “You two even share the same dreams?”

Patricia and Veronica glanced at each other and blushed.

“Eh, sometimes . . .” Patricia murmured.

“Anyway,” Veronica glanced out the window at brick buildings slowly passing by, “I'll bet everyone in the family will be waiting for us.”

“Not everyone,” Robert cautioned. “Remember, there are businesses to operate. They aren't going to close down the stores just to greet us at the train. We aren't coming for a visit. They'll get to see us most every day from now on.”

Jamie Sue folded her lap blanket and stuffed it into the brown satchel. “I would guess Uncle Sammy, Aunt Dacee June, maybe Rebekah, and some of the older cousins will be there.”

“How about Grandpa?” Little Frank pressed. “I bet I'm taller than him now.”

“If he gets any more stooped, we'll all be taller than him,” Jamie Sue offered. “If he's feeling well, he will certainly be here.”

“Grandpa will,” Veronica said.

“Grandpa is always the first to greet us,” Patricia added.

Robert pulled various satchels out from under the seats. “Remember, we're three hours late. They have other chores to do, I'm sure, besides sit on a depot bench and wait for a train. So don't be disappointed if only a couple of them are waiting for us.”

A whistle pierced the air. Steam flew from the sliding wheels and the steel tracks rattled as the train rumbled to a full stop.

“But the railroad telegraphed ahead and told them we were delayed.” Veronica stared across the passenger-clogged aisle of the train.

Little Frank stared out the window toward the west. “Daddy, how come there is so much smoke in the gulch?”

Robert glanced at the buildings on Main Street. “Perhaps it's drifting down from the mines.

“It's not like living in the clear, clean air of the desert.” Jamie Sue rubbed her eyes. She could feel the taut, dry skin of her cheeks and forehead.

Little Frank was last down the aisle, his baseball bat slung over his shoulder, a satchel clutched in his hand. “I don't remember this much smoke other times we've been here.”

“Perhaps there is a fire.” Veronica fingered the silver necklace draped around her neck.

“Most of the downtown buildings are now built of brick.” Patricia seized her bag with both hands. “Grandpa told me fire wasn't as big a worry as it used to be.”

Robert motioned back toward the seats. “Make sure we gathered up everything, then let's go find the Fortune family welcoming committee.”

Jamie Sue, Veronica, and Patricia sat on the dark green painted wooden bench in front of the depot. Little Frank leaned against a street lamp pole when Robert stomped back from the baggage car.

“What's the matter, Daddy?” Veronica called out.

He rubbed his beard, then propped his hands on his hips. “Our trunks and suitcases are not on board the train. I can't believe the inefficiency of such an outfit. If I had a quartermaster do this to me, he'd be a private by now!” Robert fumed.

“At ease, Captain Fortune,” Jamie Sue cautioned.

“This is no light matter!” he grumped.

“And there is absolutely nothing we can do about it,” she countered.

“You mean, they lost all of our belongings?” Veronica gasped.

“I don't suppose they are lost.” Jamie Sue's voice was soft. “They just aren't on this train.”

“I can't believe this! Everything in my satchel is dirty and wrinkled,” Patricia wailed.

Jamie Sue glanced around the platform and tried to smooth down the white lace yoke on her dress. “I'm sure our things will arrive on the next train.”

“Do you see Uncle Sammy or Aunt Dacee June or anyone?” Little Frank pressed.

Robert surveyed the depot. “There doesn't seem to be a Fortune in sight.”

In the distance, the rattle of fast-rolling wagons and the shouts of men could be heard.

Patricia rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “This isn't the way I thought it would be.” Veronica began rubbing her nose too.

Robert plucked up a satchel in each hand. “Let's walk over to the hardware. We can't expect they would just sit here all day long.”

Thick clouds of gray smoke drifted down the Whitewood Gulch. They gathered up suitcases and string-tied cartons, then hiked toward Main Street. They waited at the curb as a water wagon rumbled by them. Robert tugged down his hat and led the troupe across the empty dirt street.

A lone rig rumbled along behind them.

“Look in that carriage . . . it's Curly Mac . . .” Veronica called out.

“Who's that woman with him?” Patricia quizzed.

“It must be his aunt,” Little Frank added. “Didn't you say he was going to visit his aunt?”

“Wearing a dance hall girl's dress?” Veronica sat the brown satchel at her feet. “No one's aunt is a dance hall girl!”

“She doesn't look too young,” Jamie Sue said. “She looks older than I am.”

“Mama, you're pretty enough to be a dance hall girl,” Little Frank suggested.

“Thank you, young man, but I don't think beauty is a prerequisite for the job.”

Robert began to hike up the boardwalk. “I'll bet Daddy Brazos is at the woodstove in the hardware.”

“In June?” Veronica questioned.

“It's a cloudy day,” he replied.

“Mostly smoke,” Little Frank said.

The windows at Fortune & Son Hardware displayed everything from horseshoes to bathtubs, from cream separators to gold pans.

Robert crashed into the front door of the hardware when he turned the latch.

“What's the matter, Daddy?” Little Frank probed.

“It didn't open. The door's locked.” Robert pushed his hat back and leaned into the glass. “I don't think there's anyone in there!”

“They probably closed down the store to come meet us at the station!” Patricia exclaimed.

Veronica stood on her tiptoes and peered in. “No one was at the depot. Remember?”

Jamie Sue searched up and down the empty boardwalk. “Is it a holiday?”

Robert stepped into the dirt street. “No, and they didn't even put up their ‘Closed' sign. Not all the employees were going to come greet us. I don't know why they closed the store.”

“Are you sure we're in the right town?” Jamie Sue laughed as she slipped her arm into his. “Come on, let's go over to Abby's dress shop. She'll know where everyone is.”

“Promise you won't tell Amber about Curly Mac?” Veronica scurried to keep up. “If she goes after him, we don't have a chance.”

“She's too old.” Patricia tugged on her earlobe, and her sister did the same.

“That's what you told me last summer when she stole Quintin Troop from me.” Veronica transferred her satchel from one hand to the other.

Patricia sat her satchel down on the sidewalk. “From you? Quintin liked me.”

“That's only because he thought you were me,” Veronica purred.

As they waited on the boardwalk, a wagon full of men raced up the street from the badlands.

“What's happening?” Robert called out.

“There's a fire at the mill,” one of the men shouted.

“Which mill?” Robert hollered, but the men were already out of shouting distance. He turned toward Jamie Sue. “One of the reduction mills at Lead must be on fire.”

“And it all drifts right down the gulch?” she inquired.

“I suppose so.” He led the family across the street toward Abby's Fine Paris Fashions dress shop.

Veronica stared in the window. “Look, Mama, at that beautiful green dress on the hanger. Can I have a dress like that some day?”

“Not until you can fill it out,” Jamie Sue insisted.

“Trisha and 'Nica couldn't fill out that dress if they both got into it at the same time,” Little Frank murmured.

The twins stuck out their tongues at their brother.

“You could fill it out, Mama,” Patricia added.

“Don't embarrass me,” she replied.

“Aunt Abby has such beautiful clothes,” Patricia sighed.

“Amber fills out her dress,” Little Frank muttered.

“Little Frank!” Jamie Sue scolded.

“Well, she does . . .”

“She's your cousin,” his mother reminded him.

“Can I help it if all my girl relatives are so handsome?” he countered.

“Good reply, son,” Robert said.

“Don't you school him in sweet talk, Robert Fortune!” Jamie lectured.

Little Frank tried the door. “It's locked, too, Daddy!”

All five stared through the glass window at the darkened, empty dress shop.

“What is going on?” Veronica sniveled. “Did everyone move and forget to tell us?”

“I know what it is. This is a charade. They are all gathered together to give us a surprise welcome.” Patricia chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “It's just like that party you gave Mama when she turned thirty.”

“Oh, yes,” Veronica danced on the boardwalk. “We'll walk into the room and they'll jump out and yell, ‘Surprise'!”

“What room?” Little Frank pressed. “Where are they all hiding?”

“At the Telephone Exchange!” Jamie Sue suggested. “They have that big foyer.”

“That's two blocks away,” Veronica moaned. “My satchel is getting heavy!”

“You tried to pack too many things,” Patricia said.

“I packed the very same things you did!”

“Not exactly. I didn't pack a . . .”

“Tricia!” Veronica blurted out. “Don't you dare . . .”

“What are you two fussing about?” Jamie Sue pressed.

The answer came back as a duet. “Nothing.”

“Come on,” Robert insisted. “We can all make it two more blocks. Everyone be sure and look surprised.” He glanced back down the street. The entire badlands were now totally obscured by smoke.

Little Frank trotted ahead of them, then turned around and walked backward. “Do you think they'll have orange punch and cake? We had orange punch and cake at Mama's surprise birthday.”

Jamie Sue jogged to catch up with her husband's long strides. “Robert, don't you think this is going to extremes? If this is a Fortune brothers' joke, I think they've carried it too far.”

He looped his arm in hers. “Brothers? You know Lil' Sis . . . I bet this was all her idea. We should have checked at the Telephone Exchange first thing.”

“Maybe we should have hired a hack,” Jamie Sue huffed.

Robert slowed down to let the girls catch up, their satchels in one hand and their straw hats in the other. “I haven't seen a wagon or a carriage go by since that one that was going up to the mill,” he added.

“This reminds me of the time we had to run to catch the trolley in Denver,” Little Frank said. “Maybe everyone is up at Lead fighting the fire.”

“Lead is three or four miles up the canyon. I don't think Abigail or Dacee June would be out fighting a fire in Lead,” Jamie Sue said.

“If Daddy Brazos is there, Lil' Sis is there.” Robert resumed his trudge down the wooden sidewalk. “She won't let him go anywhere out of town without her any more.”

“I've never seen a daughter so devoted to taking care of her father.”

“The commitment is mutual,” Robert murmured.

“Well, Rebekah is not one to fight fires,” Jamie Sue said. “Fires are much too dirty.”
I can't imagine soot on those beautiful fingernails of hers. Forgive me, Lord, that sounds so petty and jealous.