The Chase Up Vermejo Canyon

Jacob Austin rode his bay gelding, Skipper, along Sebastian Creek in the mountains of northern New Mexico Territory. On a lead rope tied to his saddle horn was Blue, his packmule. Jacob, or Jake as he preferred, had made this ride several times since the war ended.

Jake owned one of the biggest ranches in New Mexico Territory. He'd bought five hundred acres near Wagon Mound when he mustered out of the Union Cavalry as a captain after the war, and over the next ten years had expanded that five hundred acres to three thousand. Many of those acres he'd bought from small ranchers who needed money because they were headed to the gold fields around Denver City or further north into Idaho. Jake had paid them more than the land was worth but it would be good grazing land and he wanted to expand his ranch.

Jake was riding to the cabin of Johnathan White Cloud, a half-breed Comanche, and his Paiute wife, Running Doe. Jake's reason for riding to that cabin was that he needed a good scout and tracker. Johnathan had served as Jake's scout and tracker during the war and had proven himself. As Jake once told his commanding officer, "Sergeant White Cloud could track down a white cat at midnight in the middle of a snowstorm."

Jake needed a tracker to find Clarence Johnson, or rather, to find out where Clarence had taken the sixteen horses he'd stolen from Thomas Hendy. Thomas had been Jake's second in command during the war until he'd lost his right arm due to being shot. The surgeon had amputated Thomas' right arm to save his life.

That had ended the war for Thomas, so he went west to start a new life. By the time the war ended, Thomas was raising horses and cattle on a small ranch north of Colmor, New Mexico Territory.

Jake had stayed in touch with Thomas after the war because Thomas had saved Jake's life on two occasions, the last of which was when Thomas had taken the minié ball intended for Jake and had subsequently lost his arm. When one of Thomas' wranglers rode up to Jake's ranch and explained that Thomas needed his help, Jake knew he didn't have any other option. He had to go help Thomas. He'd turned his ranch over to his foreman, saddled his horse and a pack mule, and started for Colmor.

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Thomas Hendy had asked for Jake's help for one reason and that reason was that because New Mexico was still just a territory, there was little law enforcement. Thomas hadn't bothered to send a letter to the territorial governor asking for help. He'd sent a wrangler to Jake's ranch because he thought Jake could get his horses back. He wasn't expecting Jake's help for free. He intended to pay Jake well because Jake was good at keeping his own stock from being stolen. Word got around among the horse thieves and rustlers that when Jake caught up with you he didn't bring you back to Santa Fe to stand trial. You just were never seen again.

When Jake rode into Thomas' ranch three hours after he'd started, Thomas walked out of the ranch house to greet him.

"Mornin' Cap'n Austin. I see you decided to come see what's going on."

Jake waved his hand at Thomas.

"Tom, the war's been over for ten years now. I'm just Jake. Your wrangler said you were missing some horses?"

Thomas nodded.

"Happened two days ago. I had fifteen mares and my best stud out in a little valley north of here. Two of my wranglers went out to bring them back to the barn, but when they topped the ridge, they saw four riders driving them north.

"Two wranglers were no match for four men, so they couldn't do much besides watch. One of them did recognize one of them though. His name is Clarence Johnson. Rides an appaloosa Indian pony. My man had seen him in town. I don't know about the other three except both my men said they were carrying revolvers."

"What do you need me to do, Tom?"

"Just bring back my stud and as many of my mares as you can. I can replace the mares if I have to, but that stud is the best stud I've ever had. I'll pay you a hundred and twenty dollars if you bring him back, a hundred if you can't."

Jake smiled.

"Tom, I won't let you pay me anything. I still owe you for that arm you lost. You have any idea where this Johnson is headed?"

"Yes I do. Amos, one of the two wranglers, came back here to tell me what had happened. The other started following them. He hasn't come back yet, so I guess he's still following them. The last Amos saw of them, they were headed north toward Colorado. My guess is they plan to sell my horses to some of the ranchers up there. I've sold all the horses I've taken up there for the last four years. At first it was to the gold miners for packhorses, but after the gold played out, most of them left for Idaho. Some of them started ranching and they needed horses to work their cattle. I'm sure they still do."

Jake nodded.

"I'll get started today. What do you want me to do with Johnson and his bunch?"

Thomas' voice was sharp and left no doubt to Jake about what Thomas thought.

"If there was a bounty on them, I'd say bring them back so you can collect the bounty, but there isn't. The governor of New Mexico Territory is trying to show the folks in Washington that since the war's over we're a civilized territory that should be a state. He's not posting any rewards so to the folks in Washington it'll look everything is just hunky-dory in New Mexico Territory.

"That's true in Albuquerque where he lives because he's got himself a marshal who shoots first and then finds out what happened when he feels like it. Out here, we don't have a marshal. All we have is ourselves and there aren't any of us ranchers with enough men to do much unless we're right there when it happens.

"I don't give a damn what you do with them. At least if they're all dead, they won't be stealing any more horses."

Jake had one last question.

"What's the name of the wrangler following Johnson. I wouldn't want to shoot one of your men by accident."

Thomas smiled.

"You won't mistake him for anybody else. He's as black as the ace of spades. His mother was a house slave on a cotton plantation somewhere east of Dallas. They taught her to read and she liked reading the Bible. She named him Zebulon because she liked how it sounded, or so he told me. He prefers to be called Zeb.

"Zeb served in the Union Army after the Union took the plantation, and after he was mustered out he came west across Texas to Cimmaron looking for a job. I needed a wrangler, so I hired him."

"This Zeb. He have a last name?"

Thomas shook his head.

"Not that I ever heard, but slaves didn't usually have a last name, at least not in Texas."

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Jake saw smoke coming up through the trees ahead and figured he'd found Johnathan's cabin. The land had changed a little in the two years since he'd last been there, but the bend in the creek looked about the same. As Jake turned into the bend, he saw the cabin.

Jake rode up to the cabin and was tying Skipper to a sapling when a woman came out. Her black hair had a few streaks of white and she was a little heavier than Jake remembered, he still recognized her

Jake walked up to the woman and smiled.

"Running Doe, you get prettier every time I see you."

Running Doe frowned.

"I not prettier. I two year older."

Jake grinned.

"Well, maybe it's because I'm two years older too, but I think you are. You ever decide to leave Johnathan, you can come live with me. Is Johnathan around?"

Running Doe nodded and pointed to the back of the cabin.

"He skin rabbits he shoot this morning. Need meat but too early kill deer."

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When Jake walked around the cabin, he saw Johnathan had two rabbits cleaned and was working on a third.

"Johnathan. Good to see you again."

Johnathan turned around and then grinned.

"Jake. Thought you'd forgot about us."

Jake shook his head.

"No. I didn't forget. I've just been busy. You still track like you used to?"

Johnathan nodded.

"As good as I ever could. You need a tracker?"

Jake nodded.

"I'm trying to find a horse thief who stole sixteen horses from Tom Hendy. You remember Lieutenant Hendy?"

"Yeah. Got his arm cut off after he got shot saving you from getting your head shot off if I remember right."

"Well, I need a tracker who can follow four men on horses driving sixteen more horses. They're headed for Colorado."

Johnathan smiled.

"That many horses should be easy to track even for you, but I'll go so you don't get yourself shot. As I remember, you don't know enough to keep your head down when the bullets start flying. I just need to be back by the time cold weather sets in so I can lay in some meat for the winter."

Jake nodded.

"Shouldn't take that long. When can you start?"

Johnathan lifted the rabbit he'd been skinning.

"How about tomorrow morning? I'll have Running Doe cook up these rabbits for our supper. You can sleep by the fireplace tonight."

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The next morning, Jake had saddled Skipper and was putting the panniers on Blue's packsaddle when Johnathan came from behind the cabin leading two horses, both with saddles and bridles. Jake stopped and asked Johnathan what he was doing.

Johnathan smiled.

"Just getting ready to go find your horses for you. I figured it'd be faster if I rode a horse instead of walked."

"You need two horses?"

"No. This roan's for me and the paint is for Running Doe. She walks slower than I do and I figured she'd hold us back even more."

Jake frowned.

"Johnathan, what we're going to be doing is nothing for a woman to be doing. She stays here. With any luck we won't be -"

"I go too. Take pemmican so fire not say we there. Fix if get hurt. Take rifle, shoot bad man before shoot you."

Jake hadn't heard Running Doe come out of the cabin, and when he turned he saw her carrying a bag in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other. She looked up at Jake and grinned.

Jake looked at Johnathan.

"Johnathan, tell her she can't go."

Johnathan frowned.

"You tell her. If I do, she'll be nagging me all winter long. Gets cold here in winter and I like sleeping in a warm bed."

Jake walked over to Running Doe and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Running Doe, I appreciate that you want to help me, but this is a man's job, not a woman's job. You need to stay here."

Running Doe just smiled.

"You big man. Think big man do everything. I do things too. Ride good. Track good. Shoot good."

Before Jake could reply, Johnathan chuckled.

"Jake, you ain't gonna change her mind unless you hog-tie her in the cabin. Even if you did that, she'd just get loose and follow us. She'd be mad at us both, and believe me, you don't want to make Running Doe mad at you.

"The last man who did was heading for Colorado to find him some gold. He stopped here when he saw the smoke from the cabin. He didn't try to do anything to her. He just got down off his horse and said he hoped the women in Denver City looked as good as she did.

"She was cleaning some fish in the creek and when he said that, she stood up and said, "Me no whore. Me fix so you not need whore."

"Well, before he could stop her, she cut through his braces with two swipes of her knife and his trousers fell down to his ankles. Running Doe grabbed his bushwhacker before he could pull up his trousers and held her knife over it. She grinned at him and said he wouldn't need a whore if she cut it off."

Running Doe giggled.

"I not going cut off. Just make think so. He try pull up trousers while run to horse. He funny. I laugh. He ride away fast."

Johnathan chuckled

"Jake, you still want her to stay here? What she says about shooting is right. I've seen her put a bullet in a deer's eye at twenty yards with that Winchester. There'll be two of us and four of them. Might be good to have another gun along."

Jake sighed.

"All right, she can come, but she better stay back if somebody starts shooting."

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As they rode into the mountains, Jake explained where he thought the horse thieves were headed.

"Tom's man said he saw them riding north. What I figure is they'll have to head east and north for Vermejo Canyon. Due north is mountains and they wouldn't try to take sixteen horses up and down those slopes. Vermejo Canyon runs for almost forty miles and the north end would lead them west to the flatlands were the Rio Grande starts. From there, they'd have mostly open country into Colorado. We need to catch up with them before they reach the flatlands.

Johnathan nodded.

"How far ahead of us are they?"

Jake shrugged.

"A few days. Since there's only four of them, I figure they're having to go pretty slow to keep all those horses together and they have to stop early of a night so the horses can graze and get some water. They'd also have to skirt a couple ranches north of Colmor. Anybody seeing four strange men driving sixteen horses would probably have some questions. I think they're probably only making maybe fifteen miles a day, so they're probably just starting into Vermejo Canyon. We have about a week to find them."

Johnathan said he knew of a couple mountain passes that would take them to about the middle of Vermejo Canyon in a couple days.

"When we get there, we'll see if they left a trail. If they have, we'll start tracking them. If they haven't we'll just wait until they get there."

They rode on in silence for a while, then stopped to rest the horses. When Johnathan got down off his horse, Jake noticed that not only did Running Doe have a Winchester rifle in her saddle scabbard, Johnathan had one as well.

"Johnathan, how did you manage to come up with two Winchesters? I bought mine a year ago and it wasn't cheap. What'd you do... trap every animal in the mountains and sell the furs?"

Johnathan grinned.

"Running Doe and I sort of found them."

"And just how did you sort of find two Winchester rifles?"

Johnathan grinned again.

"They were with two men heading to mine gold in Idaho. Well, that's what the one who wasn't froze to death said. He died pretty quick after that. I guess being from down on the Mexican border they didn't realize it gets cold up in these mountains in winter.

"Running Doe and I were out deer hunting and found them beside a creek. They were both wet through to the skin so I figure they tried to cross the creek and fell in. Looked like they'd lit a fire of some pine branches, but they were probably too cold to get bigger wood that would burn longer. The one was froze dead when we got there. The other was froze enough all he could do was talk a little. I got a fire going, but he was dead before it got hot enough to do him any good.

"The ground was froze too hard to dig, so we just rolled them together and piled some rocks from the stream bed over them. It didn't make sense to leave two good rifles out there, so we took them and all the cartridges they had. Came in handy that winter. We got enough deer to last the winter and make that pemmican you're gonna eat for the next few days."

"Did they have names?"

Johnathan shook his head.

"I suppose they did, but the one who was still alive never told me their names.

Jake shook his head.

"Probably some city folk looking to strike it rich. Either that or farmers who sold everything thinking they were going to get rich. Bought most of my ranch from fools like that. No idea about what it takes to survive out a winter out here.

"Well, we'd best get moving. I'd like to be there before this Johnson and his gang get there. It'll be a lot easier stopping them than chasing them down."

After a supper of Running Doe's pemmican they turned in for the night. Jake slept by where they'd tied the horses. Johnathan and Running Doe slept in two bedrolls about twenty feet away.

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As Jake lay there listening to the sound of the horses moving around a little, he thought about Johnathan and Running Doe. They'd been together since they were about twenty and they were a good fit together because they were both different.

Johnathan's father was a Comanche war chief named Buffalo Horn. According to the story Johnathan's mother told him, in about 1825 a trader from Missouri and his wife came to Buffalo Horn's camp to trade knives and axes for buffalo hides. A week later, the trader had been struck by a rattlesnake. Despite the remedies of the village shaman, the trader had died. Buffalo horn liked the trader's wife and she had no way to get back to Missouri by herself, so Buffalo Horn took her in as a second wife.

Johnathan was born a year later. The village shaman named him White Cloud. His mother insisted he be given an English name as well. She chose Johnathan because it was her father's name. To the Comanche he was White Cloud and he learned to speak Comanche. To his mother, he was Johnathan and she taught him to speak English.

Johnathan had grown up as a Comanche because of his father's standing in the tribe, but was never fully accepted by the Comanche because his mother wasn't Comanche. As a result, when he reached the age where he should have taken a wife, none of the Comanche fathers would agree to him marrying their daughters.

Over the years, the Comanche had raided the other tribes close to the area where the Comanche hunted buffalo. On one such raid, Buffalo Horn captured a Paiute girl named Running Doe who was about the same age as Johnathan. Buffalo Horn had taken her back to the Comanche village to trade to Mexicans as a slave, so she wasn't injured or abused like most female captives were.

When he met her, Johnathan had been taken by the girl's looks. Because the Comanche and Paiute language were related and had many similar words, he began trying to talk to her. After about six months, Johnathan had taught Running Doe enough English they could talk in English. In the process, Running Doe had decided Johnathan was a nice man, and Johnathan had learned that he felt a lot for Running Doe. Johnathan told Buffalo Horn that he wanted Running Doe for a wife and said she had agreed.

This presented Buffalo Horn with a quandary. If Johnathan married Running Doe, Buffalo Horn would have the grandsons he wanted. The problem was that Johnathan was already just half Comanche. Those grandsons would be just a quarter Comanche and wouldn't be accepted into the tribe. By allowing the marriage, Buffalo Horn could also lose his standing in the tribe.

After a lot of discussion between Johnathan and Buffalo Horn, they decided the only way Johnathan and Running Doe could be together was for Johnathan and Running Doe to leave the village. Since neither Johnathan nor Running Doe were pure Comanche, no one in the village would want them back and Buffalo Horn wouldn't be blamed.

Johnathan and Running Doe left the village one night in July of 1844 and headed to Texas. Johnathan found work on a cattle ranch there by using the name of Johnathan White and saying that Running Doe was his Mexican wife. The ranch owner believed them and since he also needed a cook and housekeeper, he hired them both.

By the time Texas seceded from the Union, Running Doe had given Johnathan two sons. Unlike many ranch owners in Texas, the owner of the ranch where they worked was a resolute free-stater and Johnathan had brought his sons up to believe the same way. The ranch owner was too old to enlist in the Union Army, but Johnathan's two sons weren't. They both enlisted in the Union Army but their enlistment was short lived. Both were killed at the Battle of Mount Zion Church in Missouri.

When Johnathan heard that his sons were both dead, he told Running Doe he was going to avenge them but he'd be back. He saddled his horse and rode to Denver where there was a Union Army encampment.

That's where Jake had met Johnathan. Jake was a US Cavalry Captain in the 1st Cavalry and one day, Major Chivington brought a man to Jake's command tent and asked Jake if he had need of a scout. Jake said he did and asked Johnathan to tell him why he wanted to join the Cavalry. When Johnathan said he was going to kill the men who killed his sons, Jake told Major Chivington he'd take Johnathan.

By the time the war was over, Jake had learned that not only was Johnathan a good scout and skilled tracker, but he was a man Jake would have trusted his life to. When they mustered out, Jake had asked Johnathan if he wanted a job, but Johnathan shook his head.

"No, Jake. I've seen enough of people, horses, and cattle for quite a while. There's a place up in the mountains of New Mexico Territory where nobody ever goes. The Comanche think it's cursed and it's too high up for farming or ranching. I'm gonna go up there and build a cabin for me and Running Doe. You're welcome to come visit anytime you want though."

"How the hell will I find you?"

Johnathan smiled.

"Just find where Sebastian Creek runs into the Charo River and follow the creek north. You'll find me."

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Jake smiled.

Johnathan had made the right decision for him and Running Doe. Jake had paid them a visit that first fall after he'd bought his ranch. They seemed happy and he could see why. The cabin sat close enough to Sebastian Creek that getting water was just a short walk. All around the cabin were trees that would hold deer, rabbits, and a wealth of berries and other wild plants that Running Doe knew and would add to their winter stores.

Jake frowned then.

He'd decided on starting a ranch, get it up an running, and then start looking for a wife. He'd accomplished turning the Lazy A into a successful ranch, but the cost had been in years off his life. By the time he was satisfied enough to look for a wife, there weren't any single women around except for the whores in Santa Fe. Life was hard in New Mexico Territory, and few decent women would come there without a husband to protect them.

As a result, he'd resigned himself to staying single. I wasn't the life he'd thought about before the war, but it wasn't bad. Jake had come came through the war alive and in one piece. There were thousands of men who'd have given anything to end up like he had. It just wasn't as good of a life as it would have been if he'd had a woman to give him a son or two to pass the ranch to.

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For two days Johnathan led them up mountain slopes and then back down the other side. The afternoon of the second day, they went through a gap in the peaks and Johnathan stopped at the rim of a shallow, wide canyon and pointed.

"That's Vermejo Canyon down there. You two stay here while I go see if Johnson and his men have been through here yet."

With that, Johnathan slipped the Winchester from his scabbard and got off his horse. He handed the reins to Running Doe and said something that Jake didn't understand. Running Doe nodded.

As Johnathan worked his way down the slope, Jake asked Running Doe what Johnathan had told her.

She grinned.

"He say not let you shoot him when come back. He say you not see good and think he bad man."

Jake frowned.

"I can see as well as ever could."

Running Doe grinned again.

"I see you take glasses from pocket."

"They're just for seeing up close. If I was going to shoot him, I'd do it when he was more than three feet away."

Running Doe chuckled.

"I make joke. He no say that. He say he be back when know if bad men already go by."

Jake had to chuckle as well. Running Doe might have gotten older, but she hadn't changed much.

"Well, I won't shoot him. If I did, I'd have to take you back home with me."

Running Doe grinned.

"You say I stay with you anytime. You change mind?"

Jake knew it was useless to keep up this banter because Running Doe wouldn't stop until she figured she won.

"Woman, don't you ever stop talking? If they are down there, they'll hear us."

Running Doe shook her head.

"They no down there. I see good. I look up and down canyon. No horses."

"Well, maybe they're hiding in the trees."

Running Doe shook her head again.

"They not smart like Running Doe. Need fire for cook. Fire make smoke. No smoke in trees."

Jake knew the only way to get Running Dove to stop was to stop talking back to her so he did. For the next two hours they sat on the ground holding the horses. Jake had dozed off when Running Dove shook him.

"Hear someone come."

Jake checked the chamber of his Winchester rifle and then stood up and looked down the slope. He recognized Johnathan's stained and battered cavalry hat.

"It's just Johnathan."

A few minutes later Johnathan walked up.

"They haven't been through here. That many horses would have left too many hoofprints to hide."

Jake smiled.

"Well, we'll wait a day or so to make sure they're coming up this canyon. If they aren't, we'll have to go back down the canyon until we find where they turned off. If they're coming this way though, we need to be ready so let's eat and then turn in early."

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The sun wasn't yet up when something touched Jake the shoulder. Jake opened his eyes to the dark blue-gray light of the impending dawn and saw Johnathan. Johnathan put his finger to his lips and whispered, "Someone's coming."

Jake threw back the blanket on his bedroll and put on the gunbelt with his Colt Army revolver in the holster.

"How many?"

"I think just one, but it's still pretty dark. He's about a hundred feet south and about even with us. He's walking and leading his horse. Running Doe is watching him."

Jake put on his hat.

"Well, maybe they have a man riding ahead to make sure they don't get surprised. When whoever it is gets here, we'll take him down and find out."

They didn't have long to wait. A few minutes later a lone man leading a horse walked into the small clearing where they'd spent the night. A few seconds after he walked into the clearing, Johnathan grabbed him and forced him to the ground. Running Doe caught the reins of his horse and led the horse to the side while Johnathan turned the man over on his back. The man reached for the knife in his belt, but Jake stepped on his wrist.

"Stranger, you got about three seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what the hell you're doing up here."

The man didn't answer that question. He just said, "You tell me who's got me on the ground first."

Jake pulled the Colt from his holster.

"I think I want to hear your story first. It's either that or I shoot you. Which'll it be."

The man relaxed then.

"Let me up first."

Jake nodded to Johnathan.

"Let him up, but keep your rifle on him."

After Johnathan let him go, the man sat up.

"I'm Zeb. I'm following the bunch of bastards that stole Mr. Hendy's horses. I walked all night to get ahead of them. Didn't look like they was gonna stop before they got to Colorado Territory, so I figured I'd get ahead of 'em and pick 'em off one at a time and then take Mr. Hendy's horses back to him."

Jake wasn't satisfied.

"What's your full name"

"My mother named me Zebulon but I go by Zeb. I don't got a last name. Slaves never got last names."

"What's Mr. Hendy's first name?"

"Thomas, but we call him Mr. Hendy."

"What's his wife's name?"

"Mr. Hendy don't have a wife. He said 'cause he's only got one arm no woman wanted him."

Jake held out his hand then.

"Well, Zeb, Tom told me he had a Negro man named Zebulon following them. I guess that's you. I'm Jake Austin and this is Johnathan White Cloud and his wife Running Doe. We're here for the same reason. How far behind you are they?"

"It took me all night to get this far so I'd say maybe half a day."

"Still four of them?"

Zeb shook his head.

"No. When they drove of Mr. Hendy's horses there were just four. Someplace between Mr. Hendy's ranch and the start of Vermejo canyon, the picked up to more. Saw that when they started up the canyon but I was staying back so they wouldn't see me so I couldn't see much more then two more riders. Once they started up the canyon, I rode faster so I could catch up to them. That first night, I tied my horse and walked closer to the fire they'd built. The four men were there but there were two women too."

"Women?"

Zeb nodded.

"Yeah, two. They wasn't young girls, they was women. I couldn't see well enough in the light of the fire to tell much more, but they was too filled out to be young girls.

"I went back to my horse and led him up to some trees beside the canyon rim and spent the night. The next morning at daylight, I saw there were six saddled horses and I counted twenty without saddles. I know where those extra horses came from and I'm pretty sure I know about the other two riders.

"About half way between Mr. Hendy's ranch and the start of Vermejo Canyon, there's a little ranch. I know about it because there's a creek that separates that ranch from Mr. Hendy's. The man who owns it is Jerome Norton. I met him once or twice when I was bringing in Mr. Hendy's cows.

"I was staying about two miles behind them and just following tracks so they wouldn't see me so I didn't see what happened. When I got to the ranch, it was empty except for Mr. Norton layin' dead on the ground. I went inside the house to see if there was anybody in there, but there wasn't.

"There was something funny about that house though. There was two rooms off the main room. One had a bed and some men's clothes on a chair. The other had two beds and there were women's dresses hanging on the wall. I think there was two women livin' there with Mr. Norton and them horse thieves took 'em. I figure the other two saddled horses were for the two women and the extra loose horses were horses from Mr. Norton's ranch."

"After I buried Mr. Norton I rode up on the canyon rim and let them stay about a mile ahead of me. Took them a while because they don't know much about herding horses. There's lots of ravines runnin' into that canyon and the horses kept running into a ravine and they'd have to go chase 'em back out. Since there was only three men drivin' them, they had to work hard to keep the horses moving up the canyon. The last man was riding with the two women and leadin' their horses. I knew they were women then because they were wearing night dresses.

"I stayed up on the rim back in some trees and followed them all that day and the next, and then decided they weren't going to stop. I walked up here so I could stop them."

Jake nodded.

"Well, the four of us can stop them when they get here. I don't know about the women. Did it look like they were with the four men?"

Zeb shook his head.

"No. Like I said, the fourth man was leading their horses and it looked to me like their hands were tied to their saddlehorns. Don't know what they plan on doin' with 'em, but them women wasn't going of their own accord."

Jake nodded.

"We need to stay up here on the canyon rim so we're shooting down and they're shooting up. We'll spread out a little. That way they won't know where all the fire's coming from. By the time they do, it'll be too late.

"That's all except for you Running Doe. You stay up here in the trees."

Running Doe shook her head.

"No stay here and watch you get shot. I go too. Stay behind rock then shoot bad man."

Jake was losing patience.

"No you won't. I'm not going to be responsible for you getting hurt. You're staying right here."

Running Doe smiled.

"I stay until you go. Then follow where you no see."

Johnathan touched Jake on the shoulder.

"Jake, Running Doe can do what she just said. I've seen her slip up to within twenty feet of a deer. I think you better let her go with us."

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After a breakfast of Running Doe's pemmican, Zeb said he had to get some sleep if he was going to be worth anything when the horse thieves got there. He spread out his bedroll while Jake, Johnathan and Running Doe watched the canyon.

The sun was high overhead when Johnathan touched Jake on the shoulder and whispered, "You hear that?"

Jake nodded.

"Yeah. Sounds like horses to me. Go wake up Zeb."

About half an hour later, the first horses walked around a bend in the canyon wall. Jake pointed.

"Here they come. We'll let them get abreast of us and then take them all at the same time. You let me shoot first."

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Jake's plan didn't work like he thought it would. He waited until half the herd of horses had passed, then sighted in on the man in front and pulled the trigger of the Winchester. That man fell out of his saddle.

As soon as the other three heard the shot, they dropped down low on their saddles and whipped the herd to a gallop. Johnathan and Zeb fired right after that, but because of the speed and the fact the others were almost laying down on their saddles they missed. Running Doe had aimed at the man riding beside the two women and her bullet hit, but didn't knock him out of the saddle. He dropped the reins of the two horses the women were riding, grabbed his arm and spurred his horse to follow the herd. In seconds, the three men and the horses were galloping away. Before Johnathan could stop her, Running Doe ran down the shallow slope and caught the two horses with the women on them. Jake and Johnathan started working their way down to the floor of the canyon.

When Running Doe stopped in front of Jake, his voice sounded angry.

"Running Doe, you could have got yourself shot or trampled. You should have stayed hidden. One of us would have caught those horses."

Running Doe smiled.

"I shoot man with women so he let go. He let go and ride away so I go help women. Other men ride away too. Nobody to shoot Running Doe."

Jake shook his head.

"It won't do any good to argue with you. At least you didn't get yourself hurt. Let's get these women up on the canyon rim and off these horses, find out who they are, and make sure they're all right before we do anything else."

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The two women both looked to be in their thirties and both said they were fine except for being tired, thirsty, and hungry. Running Doe brought them a canteen and a thick slice of pemmican.

Once they'd eaten, the tallest woman, a woman with dark brown hair, turned to Jake.

"You saved us both from being sold a brothel in Colorado. I'm Marion Dobbs and this is Hannah Sloan. Those men killed my uncle and made us go with them. I don't know how we can ever thank you

Jake pointed to Running Doe.

"I'm Jake Austin, and you should be thanking Running Doe here. She's the one who shot the man with you."

Marion turned to Running Doe then and frowned.

"You look like an Indian and I don't know as I've ever heard of an Indian saving a white woman before but I thank you for doing it."

Running Doe smiled.

"I Paiute woman, but no Paiute now. Now wife for John'than. Comanche take me for slave. He save me. That John'than, man with long hair."

Marion frowned again.

"He looks white and he has a white name. I can't hold with a white man marrying an Indian woman. It just isn't right."

Jake interrupted her before she could say any more.

"Miss Dobbs, I'd advise you to reconsider. Johnathan's full name is Johnathan White Cloud. His father was a Comanche War Chief named Buffalo Horn and his mother was the wife of a white trader who Buffalo Horn took in when her husband died. Johnathan served as my scout and tracker during the war and he and Running Doe are my friends. I don't take kindly to people talking down about my friends.

"Without him helping me find you, you and Miss Sloan would be headed to that Colorado brothel. Without what Running Doe did for you, you'd be galloping away behind that herd of horses instead of sitting here telling Running Doe she's done something you don't approve of.

"While we're talking about what you do or don't approve of, I don't want to hear anything about Zeb here. He was a slave before the war. When the Union took the plantation he was working on, Zeb went and fought for the Union and lived to tell about it. It was Zeb who found your uncle and he buried him before following that bunch, so you have him to thank as well. You'd do well to keep your mouth shut until you know what you're talking about."

"Now, you said the man Zeb found was your uncle. How was it that you and Miss Sloan, two single women, were living with your uncle? Seems to me like you two were doing something I might not approve of."

Marion frowned.

"I never said we were single. Hannah was my neighbor when we lived in Santa Fe. My husband ran the general store and Hannah's husband owned the livery stable. When the war broke out, there were rumors that the Rebels were moving from Texas into New Mexico Territory, so we ran the businesses while our husbands enlisted in the Union Army to keep them out. They were both killed in the battle at Valverde.

"It looked like the Rebels were going to keep going north and with my husband dead, I decided it wasn't safe for me to stay in Santa Fe. I sent a letter to my Uncle Jerome and asked if I could stay with him until it was safe to go back. When I told Hannah what I was doing, she asked if she could go with me and said she'd supply a wagon and two horses from the livery stable to take us there.

"We started out the same day I got the letter from Uncle Jerome saying he'd be glad to put us up. Hannah brought the wagon to the general store and we put all the food that would keep into the wagon. We also took along four Colt revolvers and most of the gunpowder, balls and caps in the store in case we had trouble along the way. After adding all our dresses and other clothing, we started for Cimmaron where Uncle Jerome's ranch was.

"It took us two days because we had to go to back up the Santa Fe Trail to get to Cimmaron. Thankfully, we didn't have any trouble. There didn't seem to be anybody on the trail, I suppose because of the war.

"When we got to Uncle Jerome's ranch, he'd made a bedroom for us that was separate from his, so what you're thinking never happened. Besides, Uncle Jerome was almost sixty.

"Hannah and I started keeping the house and helping Uncle Jerome. It was working out all right until those men rode up early one morning with a bunch of horses. They pulled Hannah and me out of our beds and made us stand outside with Uncle Jerome while they went into the house. When they came out, they had the revolvers, gunpowder and balls. They put those in their saddlebags. When they'd finished, they said we had to give them all our money or they'd kill us.

"When Uncle Jerome said he didn't have any money, they shot him. When I told them we didn't have any money either, the one who seemed to be their leader -- they called him Clarence -- he said he'd just take us with him and sell us to one of the brothels in Colorado. The only good thing about that is he told the other three men not to do anything to us. He said we'd bring more money that way.

"This Clarence had his men saddle two horses for us and made us get on them. Then they tied our hands to the saddle horn so we couldn't get away. After they took the rest of Uncle Jerome's horses, they started going north.

"They'd untie us when we stopped so we could... well they let us go a ways from where they stopped, but one of them always watched us. At night, they'd tie us back up so they could sleep. They had some jerky that they ate but they wouldn't give us any. The only time we could get a drink was if we stopped by a mountain stream that ran into the canyon.

"That's how it went until you started shooting at them. So, Mr. Austin, I think you should keep your mouth shut until you know what you're talking about."

Jake smiled. He liked both women. Marion had a lot of fire in her. Hannah seemed to let Marion do all the talking, but she wasn't some fragile flower if she'd harnessed a team and then driven a wagon all the way from Santa Fe to Cimmaron.

"You'd have been better off to go back to Santa Fe after the war ended. Why didn't you"

Marion frowned.

"We were going to until I got a letter from the man who I left to run the store. One afternoon, a bunch of outlaws walked into Santa Fe. Josh said they looked like they'd been Confederate soldiers because they were wearing gray uniform trousers. They stole a lot of things from my store and then set it on fire. Then they went to the livery stable, stole a horse for each of them, and set it on fire too. We didn't have anything left to go back to."

Jake nodded.

"I heard about that. When the war ended, there were a bunch of men who'd served in the Confederate Army and were pardoned. They didn't have anything to go back to, so they turned to robbing people. That's probably what those men were. If it's any consolation to you, they were found and killed because they wouldn't give up."

"Now, we're wasting time talking. That bunch has had about an hour to see to the man Running Doe shot and to get that herd back under control. They'll be going slower now with only two men to drive them. We need to catch up to them and figure out a way to stop them."

Hannah spoke up then.

"Mr. Austin, I know where they're going."

"Oh, and how is it that you know?"

"The man who was leading our horses told me. He said when they got to the end of the canyon they were going to head West to the Rio Grande river and then north to San Acacio. They were going to sell the horses in San Acacio and when he got his money he was going to buy me from Clarence and show me what a real man was like."

Jake turned to Johnathan.

"Johnathan, you know that area?"

Johnathan nodded.

"The Comanche used to hunt there sometimes. To get to the Rio Grande from the end of the canyon is going to be slow going because they'll have to go through some thick woods. It's only about ten miles, but with only two men, maybe three depending on how bad the third man's hurt, it will take them at least a couple days. Once they get to the Rio Grande, they'll be about two days from San Acacio. It's wide open country there so it'll be hard to sneak up on them."

Jake looked at Running Doe and frowned.

"Don't suppose it would do any good to tell you to stay here with these women until we get back with the herd."

Running Doe smiled and shook her head.

"I go too. Take care of women while ride."

"Well, if they're not going to be moving fast, we'll give them until tomorrow morning. That should be enough time for the man Running Doe shot to stiffen up enough he won't be much help.

"Running Doe, they already know we're following them so we don't need to hide a fire. I have a pot and some canned beans and bacon in my packsaddle. Think you could fix something instead of pemmican?"

Before Running Doe could answer, Marion said, "We can do that, but first... well when those outlaws took us we were still in our beds. We're not real comfortable in just our nightdresses. Would you happen to have something else we could wear? Something not so... revealing?"

Jake looked at Johnathan, Running Doe, and Zeb.

"Any of you have a spare set of clothes?"

Zeb shook his head.

"I was figuring on bein' back to Mr. Hendy's ranch in a day or two. I only brought a bedroll in case we had to spend the night somewhere."

Johnathan was nodding.

"I got some trousers and a shirt, but they're gonna be way to big for either of them. Running Doe does too, but as small as she is, there's no way either woman is going to be able to get in them."

Jake sighed, opened the left pannier on Blue and took out a pair of trousers and a shirt.

"These'll be too big too, but they'll have to do. Ladies, there's a dressing room out a ways from here. Just walk until you can't see me. It isn't fancy, but I promise we won't follow you."

Zeb, let's you and me go down and see if that dead horse thief has anything we might need."

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Supper was beans with bacon. When they finished, Jake said they should turn in so they could get an early start in the morning.

Marion asked where they were going to sleep. Jake sighed again.

"Any of you got an extra blanket?"

Running Doe grinned.

"Woman sleep with man no husband no good. Maybe make like make baby. I no 'prove. Two women sleep in same bed good. They sleep my bedroll. I sleep with John'than."

Jake chuckled.

"Mrs. Dobbs, I think you've met your match in Running Doe."

Marion smiled.

"So it would seem. Well, I slept with Hannah when we were going to Uncle Jerome's ranch. I can do it again."

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At daylight, they started riding up the rim of the canyon. They'd been riding for about an hour when they saw a saddled horse lying on its side in the canyon. Jake recognized the horse.

"That's the horse that the man I shot was riding. You stay here. I'm going to see what's going on. If you hear shooting, watch up the canyon and if you see anybody, you shoot back."

Jake eased Skipper down the steep slope of the canyon wall until he reached the bottom and then slowly rode toward the downed horse. When he was about ten feet away, he got off Skipper, pulled his Colt from the holster, and then walked up to the downed horse. The horse heard him and struggled to rise, but squealed in pain and collapsed again.

As Jake put the Colt back in his holster, he could imagine what had happened. With no rider to guide the horse, it had stepped in a deeper place on the canyon floor and fallen in front of the galloping herd. If the horse had been alone, he'd probably have gotten up and kept on running. With the other horses behind him, he didn't have a chance. They'd run over the horse, knocking him this way and that and trampling him in the process. The angle of the horse's right front leg told Jake that leg was broken.

There was no saving the horse. Jake slipped the bridle from the horse and then untied the cinches of the saddle. It took some doing but with the horse trying to rise and Jake pulling, he got the saddle and saddle blanket off to one side. Then Jake walked to the horse's head and stroked his neck for a few minutes.

As the others watched from the canyon rim, Jake took the knife from the sheath on his hip and cut the horse's throat. He stayed there stroking the horse's neck until the horse stopped breathing. Then he stood up and carried the bridle, saddle and saddle blanket to where Skipper stood. After hooking the bridle over his saddle horn, Jake swung up into the saddle and brought the other saddle with him, and then started back up the side of the canyon.

As they watched Jake work his way back up the slope, Marion asked what had had just happened. Johnathan answered her.

"Ma'am, Jake just put that horse out of his misery. You saw it trying to get up and it couldn't. Jake wouldn't leave a horse to die like that."

"But why did he sit there and stroke the horse's neck first. That seems cruel to me. It's like he was telling the horse everything was going to be all right. If the horse was going to die anyway, why didn't he just shoot it?"

Johnathan looked at Marion and frowned.

"Remember what Jake said about judging people? You're doing it again and you don't know what you're talking about.

"Jake was a Captain in the Union Cavalry and I served with him through most of the war. Jake seems hard because of what we're doing, and he can be worse to anybody who crosses him. He was that way in the Cavalry because he had to be. He'd yell at you until you felt like he was mad enough to kill you, but I never saw him raise his hand to another soldier except for one time. I was with him and saw it all.

"We out on a patrol and this private hadn't brushed his horse out when we camped for the night. He didn't brush him out before we started out the next morning either. When we stopped that night and the private took off the horse's saddle, the spots where the saddle pressed had been rubbed raw by the dirt and sweat from the day before. The private went to his sergeant and said he needed another horse.

The sergeant told Jake. Jake didn't say anything. He just walked out of his tent, looked at the horse, and then ordered the private to get the currycomb from his pack. When the private did, Jake ordered the private to take off his shirt and lean his chest up against his horse. Jake used that currycomb to scrap four raw and bleeding spots on that private's back. Then he dropped the currycomb, turned the private around and grabbed him by the neck. He told the private that he could understand a man getting killed or hurt because he did something stupid, but he wouldn't tolerate any soldier who was too lazy to take care of his horse. Then he ordered that private to walk and lead his horse while carrying his saddle and other equipment until the horse healed.

"We were only another day away from our main camp, so that private only had to do it for a day, but we were all fed and sitting around our fire by the time he staggered into camp. Jake wouldn't let him eat or drink until he'd brushed out the horse and fed and watered him. About a week after that, that private was transferred to the infantry.

"See, Jake likes people who have some sense and respect other people. He has no patience with people who put on airs or treat other people bad. He loves animals and hates people who abuse them. Jake hates looking into a horse's eyes when he shoots him so he'd do about anything to keep from doing that.

It hurt Jake to have to kill that horse so he did it in a way that the horse didn't suffer much. All the horse felt was one cut from Jake's knife. Jake stayed there to keep him calm while he bled out. It didn't hurt the horse to bleed out. He just felt like he was getting weaker and that kept him from trying to stand up and making him hurt more. When the horse died, it felt like he'd just gone to sleep."

Marion started to say something, but stopped when Jake rode up beside them and dropped the saddle on the ground.

"It was the same horse. There's blood on the saddle. They must have just kept riding because there's a Winchester still in the scabbard. I'll look in his saddlebags later."

Jake tied the saddle and bridle on top of Blue's packsaddle and then turned to Johnathan.

"Johnathan, how would you feel about doing a little scouting?"

Johnathan grinned.

"I'll go find out where they are."

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Running Doe and Marion had fixed more beans and bacon, and they'd finished eating when they heard a bird call. Jake put his fingers to his lips and whistled. A few minutes later Johnathan walked into their camp.

"Found them, Jake. They're holed up in a deep ravine about four miles from here. They've pulled a bunch of brush across it to keep the horses in that ravine. The man Running Doe shot is up and walking around so I don't think they're waiting for him to heal up. I think they've decided to wait for us to ride up the canyon. They probably figure they can kill all of us before we know what's happening."

Jake put down his coffee cup.

"This side of the canyon or the other side?"

"The other side."

"Is there a clear field of fire from this side?"

Johnathan nodded.

"There's a stand of trees up close to the canyon rim that I was hiding. I could see all three. It's maybe a hundred yards from one side to the other where they are, but if we're quiet, we can get into the cover of those trees. They won't see us until it's too late."

Jake smiled.

"Johnathan, you think you can get us up in those trees by daylight?"

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When the sun peeked over the trees on the east side of the canyon, they were spread out about ten feet apart on the west side and watching the ravine. They'd left their horses back where they'd stopped the night before so if one of them neighed it wouldn't alert the horse thieves.

Jake hadn't bothered to ask the women to stay behind. He just asked Marion and Hannah if they could shoot a gun.

"Marion and Hannah, have you ever shot a gun? I have an extra Winchester and the Colt from the man I killed."

Marion smiled.

"My husband sold revolvers, rifles and shotguns so he taught me how they work and how to shoot. I might not be a great shot, but I know how to shoot."

Jake turned to Hannah.

"How about you Hannah?"

Hanna smiled.

"My husband thought since he was leaving for the war I should know how to defend myself. He taught me how to shoot a revolver. If it's not very far away, I can hit what I shoot at."

Jake nodded.

"All right. Marion, you take the Winchester. Hannah, you take the extra Colt and my Colt. Both of you, don't be worried about hitting anything. When I start shooting, you keep shooting until you run out. That'll keep them guessing about how many men we have and make it easier for the rest of us to kill them.

"Now, keep your eyes open. They're not stirring yet, but they soon will be and we need to catch them before they can react."

It was another half-hour before the sun got high enough to light up the mouth of the ravine. Jake saw one man crouched behind a rock and watching down the canyon. The man had a bandage on his right arm and was holding a revolver in his left.

Johnathan nudged Jake then.

"Up there, about half way up the canyon wall on the left side."

Jake nodded.

"I see him. Where's the third?"

Zeb was further to their left, and crawled back to Jake.

"The last one's up on the canyon rim on that side behind a tree. I can get him, I think."

Jake nodded.

"You take that one and Johnathan and I will take the other two. We'll give you a couple minutes to get back and then I'll start shooting."

Two minutes later by his pocket watch Jake centered his sights on the man on the ground, and then pulled the trigger. The man spun around and then fell down. A second later, the man up on the canyon rim fell over and bounced off the rocks several times before he hit the ground. The man half way up the canyon wall was climbing back down when Johnathan's bullet caught him in the leg. He fell the rest of the way and then started limping back into the ravine. He didn't make it. There was a flurry of gunfire from Jake's right as Running Doe, Marion, and Hannah emptied their guns. When the smoke cleared, all three men were lying on the ground.

Jake stood up.

"Zeb, that was a great shot you made. You too, ladies. Zeb, you stay here and make sure none of them get up again while we go get our horses.

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The sun was high overhead by the time they'd dragged the three men to the side of the canyon, stripped them of weapons, and then cleaned out their camp. The only things in the camp worth taking were their saddles and bridles, and the rifles and revolvers they'd taken from Marion's Uncle Jerome's house. Once they were all packed on horses, Jake turned to Zeb.

"Zeb, you've worked most of these horses before. You tell us where you want us and we'll get started back to Cimmaron."

Zeb said he'd take the lead and Jake should bring up the rear. Marion and Hannah would ride on each side. Johnathan and Running Doe would also ride on the sides and go after any horses that strayed.

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It took them six days before they walked the herd out of Vermejo Canyon and onto the flat plain where the Hendy ranch was located. Those six days hadn't been all driving horses though. Every night they'd stopped, built a fire, and Marion and Hanna cooked a meal. While they cooked, Running Doe sometimes helped, but often she sought out Jake. Jake couldn't figure out why at first, but when all Running Doe seemed to talk about was Marion, he finally caught on.

"Jake, what you do now we get horses?"

Jake shrugged.

"I'll spend a couple days with Tom and then go back to my own ranch. What'll you and Johnathan do?"

Running Doe smiled.

"We go mountains, get meat for winter. What Marion do?"

"I don't know. If she doesn't want to stay on her uncle's ranch, I'd expect she'll go back to Santa Fe."

Running Doe shook her head.

"She say she not want go Santa Fe. I ask her what want but she no tell me. Me think she want be wife again."

Jake chuckled.

"Well, if that's what she wants, I hope she can, but there's not many men in this part of New Mexico Territory."

Running Doe had ridden off to chase a horse back into the herd then. When she left, Jake was thinking.

Marion was a strong woman, so strong there weren't many men who would put up with her. Unless she found a man who could put her in her place when she needed it, she'd always be getting herself into trouble. Jake didn't know many men who could do that.

Then he wondered what Hannah was going to do. She said she'd follow wherever Marion went. Hannah didn't seem like a woman to make up her own mind very much. Every time they'd talked about being taken by the horse thieves, it had been Marion who did all the talking. What Hannah needed was a husband who would let her decide about the house while he made the decisions about everything else.

Jake hadn't given much thought to taking a wife until he went to get Johnathan to help him. In the day he'd spent with them in their cabin, what he'd seen made him realize that while he was successful at ranching, he was missing out on the bond that forms between a man and his wife.

He'd seen that bond between Johnathan and Running Doe. It wasn't an obvious bond, like Johnathan always telling Running Doe that he loved her or anything like that. It was just a feeling that Jake had gotten that Johnathan always looked out for Running Doe and she always looked out for him.

Well, maybe some day after all this was over he'd start looking for a wife. Until then, he had a herd of horses to bring back to Tom Hendy's ranch.

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The second day, Jake noticed that Running Doe stayed with Marion and Hanna for a while before riding back to his side. She grinned.

"Marion say you good man. Say she feel safe with you."

Jake chuckled.

"The way she handled a rifle back there, she should feel safe all by herself."

Running Doe shook her head.

"Not what mean. Woman feel safe when know man protect her. That how feel with John'than. Marion feel same about you."

Jake looked at Running Doe and frowned.

"Running Doe, you wouldn't be trying to get Mrs. Dobbs and me together, would you?"

Running Doe shrugged.

"Just say what Marion say. You no like Marion?"

Jake sputtered as little when he answered Running Doe.

"Well... of course I like her. I wouldn't have let her come this far if I didn't. I like Hannah too, but that doesn't mean I want either one as a wife. Hannah is too weak and Marion's too strong for me."

Running Doe had smiled.

"John'than say man like you need wife like Marion. He say in Army he tell you when you wrong. He say you need wife to say same thing."

Before Jake could say any more, Running Doe rode off toward Marion.

As running Doe rode away, Jake was thinking. What she'd said about Johnathan was true. Jake knew he was a man who decided on what to do and then did it. More times that he could count, Johnathan had said, "Well, Captain Austin, that might work, but what would you think about this?" Johnathan's ideas always had merit and between the two of them, they'd decide on a battle plan that worked.

Maybe it was true that he needed another Johnathan by his side. It wouldn't be a wife though. Ranch life in New Mexico Territory was hard and no woman would want to live that life, and especially not a woman who'd lived in a town.

That night, Jake saw Marion looking at him while the three women talked. Running Doe would say something he couldn't hear and then Marion would look at him. If she saw him looking back, she'd smile.

Jake rolled into his bedroll that night wondering how women could find so much to talk about.

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The days until they drove the herd of horses into the corral at the Hendy ranch were about the same. They'd be moving the horses along and then Running Doe would ride up beside Jake. She'd always have something to say that included something about Marion Dobbs.

At first, Jake had ignored Running Doe's little talks about Marion, but by the fourth day he was beginning to think that maybe Running Doe was right about him needing a wife. That wife wouldn't be Marion, but Jake did go to Santa Fe a few times a year and he knew some of the rancher's along the way. Some of those ranchers had daughters. A woman who grew up on a ranch would understand what ranch life was.

Something else was nagging at Jake as well, something he'd tried to ignore but wouldn't go away. Before they'd killed the horse thieves and started back, Jake's mind had been occupied by how they'd accomplish that without getting anyone hurt. That was the same mindset he'd always had when leading his Cavalry soldiers into battle.

Now, with the risk over of any of the group being injured or killed, Jake had time to really watch Marion and Hannah and Running Doe. Each was different, but each was the same too. They were all small and their voices were soft. Jake hadn't realized it until they started back that his entire life had revolved around men, men who were strong enough and tough enough to endure what the war, and later ranch life required.

If a man touched Jake, it was by a firm handshake, a slap on the back, and a few times a punch to the gut. He'd forgotten the soft touch of his mother's hand on his cheek and how that young girl in Taos had stroked his arm and wished him well when he told her he was going off to join the Union Army. That feeling came back to him when Marion brought him a bowl of beans one night. She hadn't actually touched Jake. He'd touched her hand when he took to bowl from her, but that same feeling of soft hands on his skin came back. Running Doe had often touched him when she was trying to make a point about something, but Running Doe was married to Johnathan so it wasn't the same.

The biggest difference between men and women was one Jake had always known but hadn't really thought about until Running Doe had rescued Marion and Hannah. Men were hard. Women were soft. Jake had had the first thoughts like that when Marion and Hannah were just wearing nightdresses. He'd dismissed those thoughts then because he didn't know anything about the women. They could have been married or two of the whores that always managed to find anyplace where the Union Army was camped for very long.

Now, even though both women wore a man's trousers and shirt, that softness was still there. It was the way their hips moved when they walked. It was the way their breasts pushed out the shirt and the way they never buttoned those shirts up all the way to their necks. If they moved just right, Jake would find himself looking at the soft curve of the woman's breast peeking through the open shirt front.

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The day they rode out of the canyon and onto the flatland beyond, Running Doe had ridden up beside Jake. She smiled.

"Jake happy go home?"

Jake nodded.

"Yeah. I need to get back to my ranch and make sure everything's like I left it."

"Who you leave to run ranch?"

"My foreman. He'll do a good job, but it's not the same as me being there."

Running Doe didn't say anything for a while. When she did, she made Jake think about his future.

"Before sons went to war, if John'than sick, they do what he do. They both gone. Nobody do John'than work if he sick. Who do work if you sick? No have son to help."

"I don't get sick enough that I can't run my ranch."

Running Doe frowned.

"Some day might. You need son help when you sick and when get old. You not too old to make son yet."

Jake was becoming frustrated. Every time Running Doe started talking about something like whether she should go with him and Johnathan, he ended up having to agree with her. He wasn't going to this time.

"And just where would I get this son to help me, that is, if I wanted a son to help me?"

Running Doe chuckled.

"If you no know how make baby, father no teach good."

"Running Doe, do I look that dumb?"

Running Doe grinned.

"No look dumb, but act dumb sometimes."

"And just how do I act dumb?"

"You too dumb to see Marion like you. Marion say she want sons, daughters. No have baby before husband go to war. Say she want baby before too old. She no tell you, but she tell me."

"So you're trying to tell me I should marry Marion so she can have a baby?"

Running Doe smiled and shrugged.

"Just say what Marion say. You make up own mind."

With that, Running Doe rode away to talk with Johnathan.

Jake shook his head. Running Doe had done it again. This time, she'd made him think about a future he'd refused to consider before. Some day he might get hurt bad enough he couldn't run the ranch. If not that, he was sure to die at some point. Who would he pass the ranch to when that happened?

Jake had a sister, but she lived with her husband in Denver City and wouldn't want to move to Wagon Mound. Would she sell it to someone else, someone who would keep it going? Would he just die and the ranch he'd worked so hard to build just stop being a ranch? Would the weather cause the house and barn he'd built to slowly rot into dust and fall down?

Jake had once listened to General Mayes talking about what the Cavalry was doing to put down the Confederacy. He said every man in the Cavalry should strive to leave his mark on history, and that if the Union defeated the Confederacy, that would be their mark.

At the time, Jake had listened, but knew it was just talk to stir the soldiers to do their best. Now, he wasn't so sure. Maybe it was up to a man to leave his mark. Was his mark to be just a stone foundation and some rotting boards in a sea of grazing grounds?

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They made one short stop when they passed by Marion's uncle's ranch. Both women wanted to get their clothes and other things they'd left behind. Hannah caught her two horses from the herd and harnessed them to the wagon. Then, they both went into the house to get their things. About half an hour later, Zeb showed them where he'd buried Marion's uncle.

Jake had watched them go into the house. He wasn't prepared for the two women who came back out. Marion walked up to him and handed him his trousers and shirt.

"I thank you for the use of your clothes, Mr. Austin, but I feel much better in this dress."

Jake just nodded because he couldn't think of anything to say. Before, he knew Marion was a good-looking woman even in trousers and a shirt. Now, she'd brushed her hair and the dress fit her shape well enough he didn't have to imagine much to know she had a very inviting figure. He was still standing there with the trousers and shirt when Marion walked to the wagon.

Jake hadn't really looked at Hannah until she climbed up into the wagon seat, unwrapped the lines from the brake handle and than slapped the lines on the horse's rumps. She'd done the same as Marion and was just as good looking, but Jake thought Marion was the better of the two.

}|{

When Zeb led them through the gate of the Hendy ranch, Tom was already outside and waiting. Jake helped Zeb drive the herd into a corral beside the barn and then rode up to the porch, got off Skipper, and smiled.

"Got your horses back, Tom. There's a few extra that belonged to Mrs. Dobbs' uncle. He's dead, so I guess they belong to her now."

Tom smiled.

"I heard you coming a few minutes ago. What about the men who stole them? You take care of them?"

Jake nodded.

"They won't be stealing horses or anything else anymore."

Tom smiled.

"Well, I can breathe easier now. I assume this Mrs. Dobbs is one of the two women in the wagon. Who is the other?"

"She's Mrs. Hannah Sloan. They were both married and living in Santa Fe before the war. Marion -- that's Mrs. Dobbs -- Marion's husband ran the general store. Hannah's husband owned the livery stable. When the war broke out, their husbands enlisted in the Union Army and were killed in the Battle of Valverde. It looked to them like the Confederacy was going to take over most of New Mexico, so they both moved to Marion's uncle's ranch just north of here. That's Hannah driving.

"When the horse thieves started north, they passed that ranch. They killed Marion's uncle, took both her and Hannah, and took all the horses on the ranch. We rescued them when we caught the horse thieves the first time."

Tom grinned.

"The first time? I need to hear the whole story, so you'll have to stay for supper. All your people must be tired of riding and hungry anyway. All of you come to the house and have a seat while I have my cook, Rosy, start supper."

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When they sat down to eat, Jake asked Tom why Zeb wasn't with them.

Tom chuckled.

"Zeb has bigger fish to fry. I didn't tell you when you were here before because there wasn't time.

"When Zeb came riding up to my ranch looking for a job, he wasn't alone. He had a Negro woman with him. She worked as a cook on the same plantation as Zeb. He said if I needed a cook, Rosy was the best cook in New Mexico Territory. Well, I was getting pretty tired of cooking for myself, so I hired him as a wrangler and I hired Rosy as my cook. I imagine he's in the kitchen having a private supper with Rosy. After that, they have some catching up to do, so to speak."

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When they finished eating, Tom asked Jake and Johnathan to go to the parlor.

"I want to hear the whole story, Jake, so let's leave the women to their chatter and go to my parlor. We'll have a drink or two while you and Johnathan tell me what happened up there."

Jake had finished his story when Marion, Hannah, and Running Doe came into the parlor. Marion asked where they could spend the night. Tom smiled.

"When I built this house, I built two extra bedrooms for when I had some kids. I don't have any yet. Rosy uses one, but the other is empty and has two beds. You and Hannah can use it. I'll have Rosy bring you a couple blankets.

"Johnathan, the rest of my cowhands are out with the cattle on my south pasture and I'd imagine Zeb already has a place to sleep. You two and Jake are welcome to use the empty beds."

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The next morning while they ate the griddlecakes and ham that Rosy had cooked for them, Tom asked Jake what he was going to do next.

Jake sipped his coffee and then put the cup down.

"Well, as much as I like seeing you again, I need to get back to my ranch.

Tom smiled what Jake thought was a funny smile.

"It was good seeing you again, Jake. Why don't you spend another night here so you can start out fresh in the morning? Besides, I have something I want to show you."

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After they finished eating, Tom led Jake out to the barn and walked him up to a sort of short, narrow pen made from poles.

"I never knew when my mares were bred, so I built this breeding stall. I watch the mares and when one is ready, I tie her in this stall and then bring my stud to her."

Jake chuckled.

"Tom, you went to a lot of trouble since you only have one stud."

Tom looked at the ground.

"Well, that's not really why I brought you out here. What do you think of Hannah?"

Jake frowned.

"I saw you talking to Running Doe last night. What did she tell you?"

Tom shrugged.

"Nothing much, just that Hannah didn't have anywhere to live except Santa Fe and she didn't think her livery stable would still be there."

"Is that all Running Doe told you?"

"Well, no. She also said that Hannah told her she thought I was a good man."

Jake nodded.

"She's trying to convince you that you should take Hannah for your wife. She's been doing the same thing to me for the last week."

Tom shook his head.

"She didn't say anything like that. She just said --"

Jake cut him off.

"Let me guess. She said Hannah likes you and then asked you if you liked Hannah. She didn't happen to mention that you'll need a son to pass your ranch on to some day and that Hannah told her she'd like to have a baby, did she?"

Tom looked up at Jake.

"Yes, she did and she's right. Jake, no woman has ever given me even a look since I came back from the war missing this arm. I always wanted a family. That's why I built this ranch, to take care of a family and to have something to pass on when I go.

"I haven't known Hannah for very long, but I've known her for longer than I've known any woman since the war. Running Doe said that Hannah doesn't care about my arm. I might never find another woman who feels that way."

Jake smiled.

"Well, Tom, it isn't my place to tell you one way or the other. You'll have to ask Hannah to know if all that's true and if she'd want to stay with you."

"I thought about it most of last night. How do I ask her?"

Jake smiled again.

"You ask her the same way you asked me to bring back your horses. You just ask her."

"What if she says no?"

Jake frowned.

"Tom, do you really want this or has Running Doe just put the thought in your head? If you really want Hannah and you give up that easily, you're not the same man I served with for almost three years. That man wouldn't have pushed Hannah to do something she didn't want to do, but he wouldn't have given up trying to convince her either. I'm going to take a walk now."

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As Jake walked away, he was cursing himself for ever letting Running Doe come along. It wasn't a good decision for a lot of reasons, the least of which was that she might get hurt. He'd never dreamed that she'd start trying to be a matchmaker.

First it was him with Marion and now she'd filled Tom's head with the idea that he needed a wife and that Hannah should be that wife. Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone?

He was happy before Running Doe had put those thoughts into his head, wasn't he? He had his ranch and everything was running like he wanted it to run. Running Doe had made him question if he was really happy or not. Try as he might, Jake couldn't just forget what Running Doe had said.

Now, Running Doe had gone and done the same thing to Tom with Hannah. What made Running Doe think that just because a person liked another person they'd be good as man and wife?

Jake didn't know what Tom was going to do, but he was sure of one thing. Marion was too headstrong to ever make it work with him so he wasn't going to try. He went to find Marion and Hannah and ask them what they wanted to do next.

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He found them both with Rosy working in the garden behind the house. When he walked up, Rosy grinned and said she needed to go sweep the kitchen. Jake thought that was a bit odd, but then, he didn't know Rosy at all. Maybe she always swept the kitchen at that time of day.

He said, "Good morning ladies. I'm heading home tomorrow morning and I was wondering what your plans are. If you're going back to Santa Fe, I'll be happy to take you there."

As was usual, Marion spoke first.

"I haven't decided yet. I'm the only one left of my family since Uncle Jerome's dead so I guess I own his ranch now. I don't really want to sell it, but I don't know how to run a ranch. I have to decide what I'm going to do with it before I can figure out what I'm going to do next."

Jake smiled.

"Well, if you decide to stay on the ranch, you wouldn't really have to run it yourself. You'd just need a good foreman. That's why I could leave my ranch to help Tom. My foreman can do everything that needs doing."

Marion frowned.

"That's what Running Doe said. I'm not sure where I'd find a foreman like that though."

"Well, Running Doe doesn't know how to run a ranch either, so I'd take what she says with a grain or two of salt. As for finding a foreman, your uncle had to have had at least one man who told the rest what to do."

"Yes, he did, but I don't like him much. I could never just turn over my ranch to a man who consorts with the lewd woman in Cimmaron. The rest are just men who know how to work horses and cows. I wouldn't trust any of them."

Jake looked at Hannah then.

"Mrs. Sloan, have you decided what you're going to do?"

Hannah blushed.

"Maybe. Running Doe said Mr. Hendy likes me. From what I've seen so far, I think he's a good man."

"That missing arm doesn't bother you?"

She shook her head.

"Not really. One of the men who worked for my husband was missing an arm. He still worked hard and never said anything bad to me like the other men did. Running Doe said he got shot protecting you and that's why he lost his arm. If he'd do that for you, I think he'd always do the same for me."

Jake shook his head. Running Doe had been working on Hannah too. There wasn't anything he could do about that now.

"Well, ladies, I'm leaving tomorrow morning. If you want to go back to Santa Fe, I'll take you there, but you need to decide by tonight."

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Jake spent the rest of the day staying away from everybody except for Johnathan. At least Johnathan hadn't been trying to get him to do something he didn't think was right. They talked for a while about what Johnathan was going to do during the winter. Then, Jake asked him a question.

"Johnathan, since we rescued Marion and Hannah, Running Doe has been trying to get them married off to me and Tom. I like Running Doe. I like her a lot, but why is she doing this?"

Johnathan smiled.

"There's something you don't know about Running Doe, Jake.

"Running Doe always wanted a boy for me and a girl for her, but what we had was two boys. We tried for a third, but it never happened. Her time has passed now, but she still wants at least one daughter. It got worse for her when our boys both got killed because then she didn't have any kids at all.

"What she's done is she's sort of adopted Marion and Hannah as the daughters she never had. I know it sounds a little crazy, but haven't you ever had a cow that adopted an orphan calf? That's how Running Doe thinks of Marion and Hannah. Their parents are gone and their husbands are dead so they're sort of orphans. She's just trying to be their mother and look out for them. Like any mother, she want's her adopted daughters to get married and start a family so she has some grandchildren.

"She picked you and Tom because she knows you and she knows you wouldn't have done what you did for Tom unless he was a good man too. She figures both of you will be good husbands. Don't think she's doing something bad because she isn't. She's just trying to help two women who don't have anybody else."

Jake looked at the ground, then back up at Johnathan.

"No, I didn't know that about Running Doe. I don't know what to do about it though. I can't ask Marion to marry me. She's a city woman and wouldn't like life on a ranch."

Johnathan smiled.

"Jake, she lived on her uncle's ranch for several years. Don't you think she knows about ranch life by now?"

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Supper that night was pretty quiet. They'd all be going their separate ways the next morning and most were sad about leaving the others. It wasn't until they'd finished that Marion cleared her throat.

"I've decided to keep my ranch, but I'm not going to live there. What I'm going to do is hire a man to run it for me. I asked Zeb to join us tonight because he's the man I want to run my ranch. He'll take over what my Uncle Jerome did, managing the herds and hiring and firing men to do the work, and we'll split the profits every year. I'm giving the horses those men stole from my uncle to Zeb so he'll have horses to use.

"Mr. Hendy, Zeb has agreed to do that as soon as you can let him go. I'm sure he'll want to take Rosy with him so you'll need another wrangler and another cook."

Tom smiled.

"Zeb, are you sure about this?"

Zeb nodded.

"I am, but I don't want to leave you short a hand and a cook. Rosy and I won't leave until you find people to take our place."

Tom smiled again.

"Well, we got along without you for a little over a week. We'll manage. I don't think I'll be needing Rosy much longer either. See, I talked to Hannah about staying on here just to see if she likes living on a ranch. She'll do my cooking for me. I'm sure she'll be a fine cook. You and Rosy need to get to that ranch as soon as you can. It's hard telling what those cowhands have done after those horse thieves went through there."

Jake smiled to himself. He thought Tom had made a wise choice. He hadn't asked Hannah to marry him, but Jake figured if Hannah wanted to stay on the Hendy ranch it wouldn't be long before they were man and wife.

Jake looked a Marion.

"Well, Mrs. Dobbs, Johnathan and Running Doe are going back to their cabin in the mountains and I'm going back to my ranch. That leaves you. Did you decide yet?"

Marion smiled.

"I think I'll go back to Santa Fe and see if I can rebuild the general store, that is, if you're still of a mind to take me."

"That I am, Mrs. Dobbs, that I am."

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The next morning, there were a few tears shed between the three women, and firm handshakes exchanged by the men. After that, Zeb and Rosy mounted two of the horses they'd taken from the horse thieves and started driving the other horses north to Marion's ranch. Marion had promised she'd come back once she got settled in Santa Fe and bring Rosy what she called "proper dresses" for a foreman's wife.

Johnathan shook Jake's hand one last time and then got on his horse. Running Doe hugged Marion and then hugged Jake. She got on her paint horse, and both she and Johnathan waved goodbye as they rode off toward the mountains.

Jake smiled at Tom.

"Tom, I wish you all the luck with your new cook. You just remember what we talked about."

Tom grinned.

"I remember and I'll do that when I think the time's right. You sure you don't want to take a wagon? With the one Hannah brought, I have an extra."

Jake started to answer but Marion interrupted.

"Thank you, Tom, but if Jake took your wagon, he'd just have to bring it back. I rode a horse all the way up that canyon in my nightdress. I can ride to Jake's ranch. We'll take one of his wagons to Santa Fe.

"Hannah, you take care. I'll see you again when I come to visit Zeb and Rosy."

With a little help from Jake, Marion pulled up her skirt and mounted the appaloosa that Clarence, the leader of the horse thieves had ridden. She told Jake she thought it was fitting that she take that horse since Clarence had killed her uncle.

Jake got on Skipper, and then took Blue's lead rope from Tom. In one of Blue's panniers was a bundle of Marion's clothes and the few other things she'd taken from her uncle's house.

Jake touched his hat.

"Well Tom, be seeing you", and turned Skipper south toward Wagon Mound and his ranch. Marion fell in beside Jake on his right and a little behind.

They'd ridden for about half an hour when Marion rode up even with Jake.

"Mr. Austin, do you think Hannah and Mr. Hendy will get along?"

Jake nodded.

"Yes I do. Tom's a good man and he told me he likes Hannah. I'd expect the next time we see them, they'll be man and wife. I don't know if Hannah needs a husband yet, but Tom needs a wife. If she says yes when he asks her, he'll be a happy man."

Marion smiled.

"She'll tell him she'll marry him. She told me that. I asked her if she wasn't just feeling sorry for him because he'd lost an arm. She told me that she cared more about how a man treated her than whether had two arms or not. Honestly, I don't know if I could marry a man like Tom, a man with a missing arm. He's a nice enough man, but I mean, there have to be things he can't do that he'll want Hannah to do for him."

Wade pulled Skipper to a stop.

"Woman, you're doing the same damned thing again. Stop it."

Marion gave him a defiant look.

"And just what is this damned thing I'm doing again?"

"You're judging people when you don't know anything about them. Tom lost his arm because he pushed me to the ground when the Confederates shot at us. I owe that man my life and I know he'd lose the other arm if that's what it took to keep Mrs. Sloan safe. By the way, didn't your mother tell you it's not ladylike to swear?"

"She did, and I never had to before I met you."

Jake shook his head.

"So you're judging me because I used one swear word? Well, lady, if we were together for very long you'd hear a hell of a lot more that that one damned word."

Marion smiled.

"Running Doe said you'd be like this."

"Like what?"

"Like you're being now."

Jake frowned.

"Why the hell can't you just say what you mean instead of making me guess?"

"Because you won't like what I'm going to say."

"Well, dammit, I sure as hell won't unless you tell me."

Marion looked down at her hands.

"I don't really want to go back to Santa Fe."

"Well, now's one hell of a time to tell me that. Where the hell do you want to go?"

Marion looked up at Jake.

"You won't believe me."

Jake shook his head.

"We need to start riding again if we're going to get to my ranch by noon. When you decide you can tell me whatever the hell it is that you want to tell me, just tell me. Don't beat around the bush and make me keep guessing. I don't have time for that."

A few minutes later, Marion rode up beside Jake again.

"If I tell you you'll just say I'm running my mouth when I don't know what I'm talking about."

Jake stopped Skipper again.

"Mrs. Dobbs is it going to be like this all the way to Santa Fe?"

Marion shook her head.

"I already told you I don't want to go to Santa Fe."

"Well then, where the hell do you want to go? Albuquerque, Santa Rosa, where? I'll take you wherever the hell you want to go, but I have to know where that is to do it."

Marion smiled a weak smile.

"Just to your ranch, if you'll have me."

Jake shook his head again.

"Running Doe put you up to this didn't she?"

"Well, she did start me thinking about what I was going to do. The rest was just me.

"Mr. Austin, I know how I am. I say what I want when I want and usually without thinking much about what I'm saying. My mother always said that was because I took after my father. Most men I've met can't take a woman like me. They feel like I'm trying to boss them around, and I suppose it usually seems like I am.

"I'm not, but like you told me when I said I didn't approve of a white man taking an Indian woman as a wife, I need to learn to keep my mouth shut until I understand everything. If I went back to Santa Fe I could meet some men and maybe marry one who would let me boss him around, but he wouldn't like it and I wouldn't like him because he was letting me do that.

"I don't think you take being bossed very easy if at all. You proved that to me when you told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I thought you were an ass then, but when Johnathan explained why you killed that horse the way you did, I realized you aren't an ass. You're just a really strong man with a really soft heart.

"You showed me a man who cares about people he likes when you kept trying to keep Running Doe and Hannah and me out of danger, but you didn't have any sympathy for those men who killed my uncle. That made me see that what you are is a man I could live with and a man who would raise our sons to be just like him."

"So, what you're telling me is you think we should get married?"

Marion frowned.

"Mr. Austin, I'm thirty years old and I don't have all that much time left to have the children I want to have. My mother would roll over in her grave if she heard me say this, but I don't care if I'm married or not. I just want a man like you to live with and father our children. I'll do my best to be the woman you've wanted to be your wife even if a preacher doesn't marry us. Rosy told me they didn't have a preacher marry them. Running Doe told me the same thing. Why should we be any different?"

Jake had been listening, but he'd also been thinking. What Running Doe had told him all came back. He did need a wife and he did want a son to pass his ranch to.

Jake knew he was much like Marion said. He'd gone to help Tom because he owed Tom for saving his live, but more than that just because he considered Tom to be a friend. He couldn't stand for a woman to be put in danger and he couldn't stand for anyone hurting any animal. If someone hurt his friend or an animal, he wouldn't stop until he'd taken care of that man. Most women wouldn't understand him, but Marion seemed to.

He looked at Marion and smiled.

"Well, it makes a difference to me. There's a preacher in Wagon Mound. By the way, I can't have my wife calling me Mr. Austin. I'm just Jake."

Marion grinned.

"I'll start calling you Jake if you'll start calling me Marion."

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A year and a half later, Jake was standing beside a black, two seat spring buggy pulled by two black horses.

Jake drummed his fingers on the front seat and then yelled, "Marion, if we don't start pretty soon we won't get there before dark."

Marion came out of the ranch house with little Jerome in one arm and a bag in the other.

"Mr. Austin, it takes a mother a while to get a baby ready to travel, and when that mother is expecting, it takes longer."

Jake chuckled.

"I thought we agreed that you'd call me Jake."

Marion gently laid Jerome on the carriage seat and then put the bag behind the seat.

"When you're being nice, you're Jake. When you're being an ass, you're Mr. Austin. You're being an ass now because you're the one who caused me to be slow. Now, help me up."

Jake chuckled again as he helped Marion into the carriage seat.

"As I remember, you were pretty agreeable every time."

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Being married to Marion hadn't been easy for Jake. He'd spent most of his life around men, and women were just different. It took him a while to come to grips with just how different Marion was. She was his match as far as being stubborn and that had resulted in more than a few arguments the first few months they were married. Gradually, as they learned about each other, things started to get better.

Those things get even better when Marion told Jake she thought she was expecting, though Jake kept telling her he was worried that something might go wrong. Nothing did go wrong though, or so said the midwife Jake had brought from Wagon Mound.

Jake was proud of his baby son. He wasn't so proud of the name Jerome, but he understood why Marion had insisted on that name. Jake said he'd call his son Jerry, and Marion hadn't objected.

The reason for their trip was so Marion could check on the ranch and so the four couples could get together again. Marion had sent a letter to Hannah to tell her she'd had a son. Hannah wrote back that she'd had a daughter and that Rosy had had a daughter too. Between the two of them, they'd planned sort of a reunion. Jake had sent one of his men to tell Johnathan and Running Doe.

For two days, they sat and talked and ate and talked. After supper, the men would go to Tom's parlor for a small glass of whiskey and some remembering about how they'd gotten to where they were. The women sat around the table and let Running Doe hold each baby after they'd been nursed.

Running Doe started to cry when Marion said she was going to tell little Jerome all about his Grandma Running Doe, and Hannah and Rosy said they were going to do the same.

Running Doe had wiped her eyes then.

"I not grandma. I just Running Doe."

Marion smiled.

"Running Doe, if it hadn't been for you, none of us would have our babies. If that doesn't make you their grandma, I don't know what would. Now, you hold Jerome. I have to go outside for a while."

After the two days, they promised to meet at the Hendy ranch on the second Saturday of August every year. They kept that promise until Johnathan passed away in July of 1900. They met at that little clearing with the cabin next to Sebastian Creek and laid Johnathan to rest.

Neither Jake, Johnathan, Tom, nor Zeb dug her grave or carried her there. That was done by the five boys who grew up calling him Grandpa White Cloud. The six girls who also knew him as Grandpa White Cloud, picked wildflowers and put them on the granite headstone that Jake had packed up the mountain on a pack mule. The headstone inscription read, "Sgt. Johnathan White Cloud, Cavalry Scout and Tracker, Husband and Father." The inscription below that reads, "Can Track A White Cat Through A Midnight Snowstorm."

After Running Doe had whispered, "John'than, I go too some day", she joined Jake and Marion and their children. As Jake had once told her, she could stay with him, and Jake had told her he wasn't going to let her stay on that mountain by herself. For once, Running Doe hadn't argued with him.

Two years later, the same group gathered around the new grave the boys had dug for Grandma Running Doe. That headstone inscription read, "Running Doe White Cloud, Wife and Mother." Below that was inscribed "Grandmother To Three Families and Twelve Grandchildren."

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Over the next years, there were more funerals as the original couples went to meet their maker. The children they had kept the ranches going and had expanded most. The boys all missed WWI because of their age, but some left for war jobs. Those ranches supplied beef for the American soldiers serving overseas, and supplied the horses that pulled the caissons, cannons, freight wagons, and ambulances through the ravaged countryside of Europe.

There were some tough times in the 1920's and 1930's but just like their parents, they buckled down to keep their families fed and keep the ranches going. Then WWII broke out, and they again furnished beef for the C-rations and field kitchens that spread all across England, Europe, and North Africa from Normandy to Berlin and from Tunisia to Rome.

The Hendy ranch is still there as is the Austin ranch. If you happen to see some cattle grazing next to a barbed wire fence, look for the brands. You'll see the "Lazy A" from the Austin ranch and the "Running H" of the Hendy ranch. Jake and Tom would be pleased that their brands are still used, though now they're put on the calves and horses by "cold branding" instead of being burned into the skin with a red-hot iron.

Just on the other side of Snake Creek from the Hendy ranch is the Norton ranch. It's run by the great-great-great-great-great grandson of Zeb Norton. When Zeb and Rosy needed a last name, they asked Marion if it would be all right if they used her uncle's last name. Today, that ranch raises grass-fed beef for sale to exclusive restaurants in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Their brand is the "Bar N".

If you care to take a hike, you can follow a faint trail that starts where Sebastian Creek feeds into the Charo River and then goes north. In a bend in the creek, you'll find a small clearing that over the decades has grown up in brush and aspen trees. You'll have to look for them because they've fallen over, but when you find the two headstones, you'll know you've reached Grandma Running Doe and Grandpa White Cloud's cabin site and final resting place.

They say if you stand very still and listen hard enough, you can hear Running Doe say, "I go too."

... Or maybe that's just the breeze whispering through the aspen leaves. You'll have to make up your own mind about which it is.