Hell on the Prairie (19 page)

“
Bring in those four loose mules,” the leader
told them. “I know where we can sell them.”

“
Yes, sir!” They pivoted their horses and took
off at a full gallop.

When the older fellow finished cutting the harness
off the team, they balked.

“
C’mon!” He yanked on the rope he’d tied
around Zeus’s neck. Poseidon took umbrage and kicked the man in the
shins. The foul-mouthed robber hopped around and cussed a blue
streak as the blond fellow lashed both mules with his
quirt.

Any man who’d treat an animal like that was lower
than gopher poop. While I couldn’t tolerate a man who was mean to
animals, the mules needed to cooperate so none of them got hurt.
“Zeus, Poseidon, calm down. Hermes and Hephaestus, you follow
along, now.”

The mules looked at me and snorted their
disagreement.

“
You be good boys. I’ll be along
shortly.”

With a scowl, the older man mounted his horse. He
waved his rope at the mules. “H’yaw.”

As I watched those two dirty rotten thieves take
away four of my best friends in the world, it all hit me –Pa was
next thing to dead, I had no plans of my own, and the dollar and
fourteen cents in my vest pocket wasn’t enough to pay a doctor,
rent a hotel room, and buy feed for the mules. Or me.

I scrambled back on the wagon to tend to Pa. He
didn’t even moan from pain, which worried me even more, and blood
soaked his clothes and the seat. At least they didn’t take my
Henry. It was on the floorboard of the wagon where I’d dropped it
when Pa was hit. Since those other two would be riding up any
minute, I grabbed some cartridges and reloaded.

Pa bled something terrible so I grabbed my spare
shirt and used it for bandages. Nothing would stop the bleeding,
though, and life was leaving him, sure as shootin’. I didn’t have
time to mourn, but I did get mad. I jumped off the wagon and flung
my hat on the ground, swearing those miserable turds would answer
to justice. I wanted to see them hang.

I heard hooves pounding and felt the earth shake. My
mules were coming at me at a dead run. Such big animals running
straight at you can be a dang sight scary, but I knew they’d
protect me. Mules ain’t like horses, who shy and run from
everything. A mule will stand and fight if he thinks he has a
chance.

They formed a circle around me to protect me from
the two low-down crooks bent on taking everything important to me,
including my father’s life. He was still on the wagon seat
–couldn’t do any more for him except get him to a doctor, if he
could make it that far.

I stepped between the front mules, Aries and Apollo,
and made sure the two men saw the business end of my rifle.

“
Hold it right there, you good-for-nothing
rascals. Throw your weapons down. All of them –pistols, knives,
rifles –anything you got.” I trained the rifle on the bigger one.
“Get off your horses, and keep your hands where I can see them. Try
me, and this one dies.”

I ain’t too keen on killing a man, but if it was
them or me, then they’d be buzzard pickings. They weren’t
dismounting. That made me even madder.

“
This here Henry’s quite a rifle –I can fire
off a dozen shots with it in less than a minute.”

I guess that done it because they hit the ground
quick, hands out. Once they dismounted, I got a clearer look at the
pair. The big one stood over six feet tall judging by his horse,
which I reckoned to be sixteen hands or better –he was almost as
big as my smallest mule. The outlaw had a handsome face and broad
shoulders –more than likely thought he was God’s gift to women, but
he also seemed familiar. He stood spraddle-legged like a man who’d
spent more time in the saddle than on the ground.

The shorter one gawked at me and I stared back at
him. There was no mistaking that face and those blue eyes –a
younger version of Obadiah Parry. Brown hair parted like Pa’s, and
standing the same with his weight on his left leg as Pa did when he
was younger. He was a couple inches taller, though. Close to six
feet, likely.

He blinked as if he was waking up from a nightmare.
“Don’t I know you?”

“
Zeb?” I couldn’t decide whether to hug him or
shoot him.

“
Elsie?”

For a moment we sized each other up. “My own brother
is stealing my mules and robbing us?”

“
Dang, Elsie, put that gun down! I’ll
explain.”

He had a whole lot of explaining to do. “Who’s your
friend?”

“
You know him, too. Hank Lockhart.”

Hank was the neighbor boy who’d disappeared the same
day as my brother. “What in tarnation are you doing in Kansas,
scaring folks half to death and taking what ain’t yours?”

“
I’ll tell you if you put that gun
down.”

“
You’ll tell me anyhow. We gotta get Pa to the
doctor –your other friend like as killed him already. Blood’s
pouring out of his chest. He might’ve expired while we’re standing
here talking.”

Zeb raised his hands. “Don’t shoot, Sis. But I want
to see my pa.”

I waved him over to Pa with the rifle barrel. “You,
too, Hank. I want you both in the same spot. Easier to shoot you
that way. And you know sure as coyotes howl that I can hit what I’m
aiming at.”

“
Yes, I remember.” Hank followed Zeb to the
wagon, and the mules followed Hank. One suspicious move and they’d
be all over him, and I reckoned he knew enough about mules to
understand that.

My brother petted Obadiah on the forehead. “Pa?”

The old man gurgled and winced, then his lips curled
into a gruesome smile. “My boy... came home.” And then he breathed
his last.

I got all choked up and danged near started to cry
but I didn’t want tears interfering with my aiming, so I blinked
them back as best I could. Our pa wasn’t the best pa in the world,
but he was our only pa. He loved us and we loved him –there was
never a doubt.

When I got to where I could talk, I said, “Ain’t a
day gone by but what Pa didn’t find some reason to mention you,
Zeb. He never forgot about you and never gave up hope. I’m glad he
didn’t know what come of you.”

“
I ain’t a bit proud of it.” Zeb hung his
head. “Back on the farm, spring of ’64, me’n Hank was plowing, when
some soldiers came down on us, rifles pointed right at us. Asked
what side we was on and Hank said, ‘Your side.’ They didn’t wear
uniforms, just regular clothes, so we didn’t know. Pa never took
sides and I paid no mind. Just didn’t want to get shot. Turns out,
we hooked up with some bushwhackers and some of them, including us,
went with the Danby gang after the war.”

I nodded, hoping he didn’t think I was judging, for
we’re not to do that, but it was hard to believe my own brother was
one of the raiders that burned our family out of house and home.
Even if he wasn’t with the scoundrels who burned our place, how
many families had he ruined? Still, I could see that a
fourteen-year-old boy wouldn’t have much choice in the matter,
whether bushwhackers or jayhawkers, if they decided he was to ride
with them.

“
You’ve explained one year. How about the six
years since?”

Hank shrugged. “We didn’t have nothing to do nor
money or way to get any, and with what we done during the war, we
didn’t want to go back home.”

“
I can’t believe the boy who rescued orphan
bunnies would turn to hurting people.”

He studied the dirt, but didn’t utter a word. I
sensed there must be some good left in him deep down.

“
You were sixteen when they took you, Hank.
That’d put you at twenty-three now. Are you ready to be a man
yet?”

“
Are you gonna put that Henry down?” Zeb
asked.

“
Don’t know’s I can trust either of you.
Yayhoos like you ruined our family and our neighbors,
too.”

Zeb’s cheek flinched, just like it had when our mama
used to holler at him for chasing the chickens. “We ain’t gonna
hurt you, Sis.”

“
Well, you two should be ashamed of
yourselves. And it’s stopping right here, right now, you
hear?”

“
Yes, ma’am,” both men muttered.

“
Right this minute.” I lowered the rifle, but
still had it at the ready. “We got things to do. First, Pa needs
burying –we’ll take him to the undertaker at Wolf Creek. Second,
we’re getting those mules back from your two friends who thought
they needed them more than me. Third, we’re turning your friends
over to the law.”

Zeb pushed his hat up and his cheek flinched.
“They’re probably already hooked up with some of the others.”

“
We’ll do what we have to do. And fourth,
we’re going to California. Pa wanted to see the Pacific Ocean
before he breathed his last. Well, he didn’t, but that don’t mean
we can’t take a lock of his hair there. Besides, you two need to
get out of here, away from these hard cases you call friends.
They’ll think you turned color on them, anyway, so’s best you make
yourselves scarce.”

Hank’s horse nudged him on the back and he patted
the side of the animal’s head. “Where’s your pa’s bedroll? We can
wrap him up in it and tie him onto the saddle. I’ll walk.”

“
Good idea.” I fetched Pa’s blankets from the
wagon and gave them to Hank.

“
Hank and me will take care of Pa,” Zeb said.
“We’ll put him on my horse, though. I’ll walk.”

“
Ain’t none of us walking.” My brother did the
right thing by offering, but I had four mules so we might as well
use them. “There’s a saddle in the wagon. We’ll put Pa on Plato
–he’s the calmest of the herd. I’ll ride Apollo.”

“
You named your mules after the Greek gods in
Ma’s book.”

“
Yep. A little something to remember her by
every day.”

“
I’m sorely grieved at her passing.” His
shoulders sagged. “At first I thought you was her. You’re a
spittin’ image –your hair and all.”

“
That’s a high compliment.” I left it at that,
but Ma was a beautiful woman and muleskinners ain’t. Granted, my
hair favored hers –dark brown and near to my waist when I let it
down.

Ma had gone to Heaven nearly seven years ago, so I
had plenty of time to get used to the idea of her passing, but for
Zeb, it was a new wound on top of just losing our pa. I patted his
shoulder. “Ma always held hope you’d come back to us, so she’d be
happy we’re together today.” Although she wouldn’t have been a bit
happy about how we got together.

Hank brushed down the two sweaty horses and
resaddled them. “Got any water?”

“
Not for the animals –just a little in a
canteen, but we ain’t far from Wolf Creek. There’s a good livery
there.”

He helped Zeb wrap Pa while I saddled Plato. Hefting
a saddle on an eighteen-hand mule can be a trial, but I got it
done. When the men finished with Pa, I told the mule to hold still.
“You have to be extra special careful, now. This is Pa you’re
hauling.”

Plato had to think about things. Another person
might say he’s balky, but he ain’t. Once he figured out what you
wanted him to do, he’d do it –long as it wasn’t something stupid
–and he’d probably get it done better than the way you thought he
ought to go about it.

“
Are you riding a mule?” Zeb asked. “You can
ride my horse and I’ll walk.”

“
I’m riding Apollo. He’s the one with the
front stockings.” Apollo tossed his head and whinny-brayed, making
sure they knew exactly who he was.

Once we had Pa tied on, Zeb and Hank started to
mount.

“
You could help a lady up. Apollo’s a mighty
tall animal.”

Hank came over to give me a boost, but once he had
me in mid-air, he asked, “Where’s your saddle?”

“
Under Pa. That’s the only one we –er, I have.
But don’t pay that no mind. I’ve rode all these mules
bareback.”

I had to argue with Zeb and Hank both, Hank holding
me about a foot off the ground. They thought I should ride a horse
and they’d ride bareback, but I finally convinced them that Apollo
and Plato would do as I asked. Whether they’d pay mind to
strangers, I didn’t know, but likely not.

Once we all got mounted, I told Apollo to find his
brothers. Truth be told, the men were harder to convince than the
mules. Talk about stubborn.

We left the wagon since the harnesses were
worthless, and everything I owned except the mules was in it. I
hoped no one stole it, but neither could I afford to leave a man
behind. Once we came upon the two dirty devils who murdered my pa
and stole my mules, I’d need both men and then some.

I rode out, Hank beside me, Zeb behind him, and
Plato behind me.

“
They’d be at the farmhouse by now,” Hank
said. “Our orders are to meet up with them there, just east of Wolf
Creek.” Hank and Zeb traded glances. They weren’t telling me
something important, and my guess was that the bunch of them
planned to rob the citizens of Wolf Creek.

“
Them mules don’t like to be away from me, and
I expect they’re dawdling.”

We rode for quarter of an hour or so when we sighted
the farmhouse up ahead. The horses and mules needed water but we
weren’t sure of what sort of hospitality we’d find there.

As we neared, Zeb told us to stop and dismount.
Hermes tried to make a snack of my hair and I batted him off.

“
Why not ride in?”

“
Because it’s time for evening chores and
there’s not one person moving. Animals are fussing to get fed and
the cows are bawling to be milked.” He cocked his head to the side.
“Best we take the animals behind that knoll so’s they ain’t
seen.”