Bear Claws Read online

  “She said to tell you she is the grandniece of Sacajawea. She learned her medicine from that famous Shoshone lady, who treated injuries for the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. I can assure you she knows what she is doing. She treated me for a hunting injury when my father brought me here as a boy.” Lone Eagle lifted his buckskin shirt and pointed at a scar on his side.

  Will looked at Elspeth, who shrugged. “I thought about using some sewing thread,” she said, “but I didn’t think it would stand up to twisting and pulling. I agree with Lone Eagle. You need stitches.”

  “And what will she use?” Will asked Lone Eagle.

  “Buffalo sinew.”

  Will blew out his breath. He looked back to Elspeth again, who nodded.

  “All right,” he said. “Where do we do this?”

  “Moon Woman will take you to her tepee. Elspeth can accompany you.”

  A few minutes later, Will sat shirtless in the tepee. Moon Woman lifted the bear claw necklace off Will’s neck and laid it reverently in his lap. She handed Will a piece of rawhide and motioned for him to bite on it. Moon Woman unwrapped the scrap of petticoat that had adhered to his wounds, causing them to open and seep blood. She positioned a curved, bone needle, threaded with a long, thin piece of sinew, below the first of the four eight-inch-long claw marks the bear had gouged around his side.

  Moon Woman looked into Will’s eyes and pushed with the bone needle.

  Will winced when the needle pierced his skin. He closed his eyes and clamped down on the leather mouthpiece. He could not suppress the tears that formed in his eyes, but he managed to contain the scream that desperately wanted to leap from his throat.

  After sunset, the count’s party joined Chief White Shadow and his band in feasting on the elk meat. Following the sharing of the meal, several young girls danced around a large fire to the accompaniment of drums.

  Lone Eagle sat cross-legged on the ground next to Will, who perched on a log.

  “I notice you keep your eyes on that one dancer,” Will said.

  “I had not noticed,” Lone Eagle replied.

  “You haven’t noticed anything else, all evening.” Will chuckled. He forced himself not to laugh out loud. He wasn’t sure how the new stitches would take to a more boisterous show of emotion.

  “Humph!” Lone Eagle grunted.

  A few moments later Moon Woman took the hand of the girl and led her around the fire to stand in front of Lone Eagle. The girl kept her head bowed. Moon Woman spoke at length to Lone Eagle in Shoshone.

  “What’d she say?” Will asked.

  “Moon Woman says the girl is her daughter, Butterfly Morning. Moon Woman tells me that when she was younger, she had her eyes on my father when he brought me here on our hunting trip. But he was already married to my mother and was not interested in taking another wife.”

  “And now her daughter has eyes for you,” Will said.

  “I guess.”

  “You guess?” Will laughed and winced at the same time. “There’s no guessing about it. Look how she grins.”

  “Humph!”

  Everyone gathered around the fire grew silent as they eavesdropped on the conversation between Lone Eagle and Moon Woman. Elspeth, who was observing from where she sat beside the count, spoke. “Take Butterfly Morning for a walk, Lone Eagle. Don’t be shy.”

  “Do not offend our hosts, Lone Eagle,” the count said. “It is obvious to all of us that the girl has her eyes on you . . . just as you do on her.”

  “Humph!” Lone Eagle rose and walked away from the fire. Butterfly Morning followed.

  CHAPTER 53

  “Mayor wants to see you, Paddy.” Randy Tremble swiped a rag back and forth across the top of the bar.

  Paddy had entered the Lucky Dollar through the back door flap and paused opposite Kavanagh’s bartender. “Sure, and what’s he want?”

  “Well now, the mayor don’t confide in me. You’ll just have to be finding that out for yourself.” Tremble turned his back on Paddy and busied himself straightening the bottles on the shelf behind the bar.

  Paddy took a quick look around the saloon’s dance floor seeking Sally Whitworth. Maybe she could give him a heads-up on what his godfather wanted. Since Kavanagh had told him to stay out of his sight following the abortive attempt at stealing the count’s money, Paddy had avoided further confrontation with his boss. Sally was not to be seen, however.

  He reached down and drew his Bowie knife from its sheath inside his right boot and used the big blade to slice an end off a twist of tobacco he’d taken from his vest pocket. With the tip of the blade he slipped the chaw into his jaw, then returned the knife to his boot. Staring at the office door behind which the self-appointed mayor of Hell on Wheels conducted his business, he bit down on the tobacco, releasing the bitter taste onto his tongue. He swished the wad around in his mouth until the bite of the tobacco stimulated his senses, then walked to the door.

  In response to his knock, Kavanagh’s voice called for Paddy to come in.

  Sally sat on the arm of Kavanagh’s swivel chair, running her fingers through the big man’s curly, black hair.

  “O’Hannigan,” Kavanagh said, “you’ve been avoiding me. What have you been up to since we moved from Benton to Green River?”

  “Well, now don’t ye know, I’ve just been doing like ye said to stay out of yer way, so to speak.” Paddy took off his bowler hat and held it before him with both hands.

  “Just staying out of my way, huh? Well, you’ve done a pretty good job of that. I wish you could do everything that well.”

  Paddy stared back, took shallow breaths, and forced himself to stand still. He felt his face flush, the scar on his cheek twitch. He resisted the urge to reach up and massage it.

  Kavanagh leaned forward in his chair, forcing Sally to slide off the arm. She stepped to the side of the desk.

  “It’s time you start earning your pay again,” Kavanagh said. “The count’s hunting party can’t be too far from here, I suspect. He’ll be riding in with Elspeth in tow and I want to know as soon as they are near. I don’t want to wait until they’re in town and she can slip away. She’s got some explaining to do and I intend to make her pay for double-crossing me.”

  Paddy glanced sideways at Sally. He didn’t like the broad smirk she wore on her face. He returned his eyes to Kavanagh and shifted his feet.

  “And just what is it ye’re wanting me to do, Mort?”

  “Go out a day’s ride beyond town to the north and keep a lookout for the count’s return. Hightail it back here when you see them, without you being seen of course, and give me plenty of notice so I can set up the proper reception for the returning Miss McNabb.”

  “Sure thing, Mort. Ye can count on me, and that’s the truth.”

  “I don’t care what you think is the truth. I want action this time. If you do this right, I’ll restore you to full salary. And I don’t want you distracted trying to pull off your vendetta against Braddock or that colored fellow. Concentrate on what you’re being told to do. If you don’t deliver this time, you’re fired.”

  Fired? What would he do if he lost this job? He couldn’t work for the railroad. They had fired him a year ago for thievery. He needed the meager salary his godfather paid him in order to satisfy the demands from his mother and sister for support money. He would have to find a way to get this job done right.

  “Sure, and Zeke at the livery stable won’t rent me a horse no more, Mort.”

  “Tell Randy to rent a horse and put it on my tab. He can bring it back here for you. Zeke won’t know the difference, if you don’t ride past the livery stable.”

  “I’ll need some spending cash, too, don’t ye know.”

  “No more cash for you until this thing is over.”

  “And what about food to eat while I’m waiting out there?”

  “That’s your problem. Now get out of here and get to work.”

  Paddy stopped to give Randy the instructions from Kavanagh about ren
ting a horse, then he settled his hat on his head and went out through the back door. With the couple of dollars in his pocket he could only buy some jerky and hardtack—couldn’t afford anything else. What a disgusting mess this was turning out to be.

  “Will Braddock,” Paddy hissed, “this is all yer doing. I’ll get ye. And that nigger, too. I don’t care what Mort says.”

  He kicked at a rock in the dusty path and missed it. “Bloody hell!” That’s the way everything had been going lately.

  CHAPTER 54

  On the morning of the fourth day following the arrival of the count’s party at the Green River rendezvous site, the Shoshones struck their camp. The band’s women knocked the tepees down in less time than it took Count von Schroeder and Elspeth to complete the breakfast Rupert served them at the folding table where they sat in front of their tent. While the count enjoyed his second cup of coffee, the tepee poles were strapped to the backs of the ponies, the trappings of the band’s shelters secured to the newly constituted travois, and the small band aligned itself in an organized marching order.

  Chief White Shadow walked his spotted pony over to the count’s table and nodded his head. “Goodbye,” he said, in English.

  The chief had informed Count von Schroeder the evening before, while they’d relaxed around the campfire, that he intended to lead his band north in the morning. White Shadow’s band had been summoned to join other bands who were gathering on the Shoshones’ newly established reservation north of the Wind River Range.

  “Lone Eagle?” the count called.

  Lone Eagle, who had been eating breakfast with Will beside the cooking lean-to, stepped over to the count’s table.

  “Please convey my thanks to Chief White Shadow. Tell him how much I have enjoyed meeting him and sharing these few days with him and his people.”

  Lone Eagle spoke a few words to the chief, who nodded again, raised a hand in salute, turned his pony, and trotted away. The band stepped into motion without spoken command as soon as he reached the head of the column. Women led their ponies pulling travois laden with the tepees, older children herded dogs dragging miniature travois loaded with utensils and other possessions, while the younger children skipped alongside the procession. The same group of warriors who had earlier kept a close eye on the count’s party now sped ahead of the chief to serve as scouts. Other men spread out on either side of the band to provide security.

  Will sipped his coffee from a tin cup. He felt uncomfortable drinking from the china that the count and Elspeth used. Lone Eagle returned and stood beside him. No one in the count’s party said anything while they watched the Shoshones depart.

  Butterfly Morning rode by on a small pony dragging a loaded travois behind her. She glanced quickly at Lone Eagle and Will, then turned her gaze steadily forward.

  “I recognize that travois,” Will said.

  “I gave it to her,” Lone Eagle said.

  Will smiled and nudged his friend.

  Fifteen minutes after the goodbyes had been spoken, the trailing elements of the Indians disappeared over a ridge.

  The count stood and poured the last of his coffee from his cup onto the ground. “Time for us to leave, too. It has been a most interesting end to a successful hunt. Rupert, pack it up.”

  Rupert and Homer dismantled the hunting camp, stowing the gear onto pack horses and Ruby. Conrad Eichhorn checked the collection of weapons and assembled the small arsenal and the remaining ammunition for packing. He kept out the two Winchester rifles.

  While they had rested in the camp, the skins of the specimens bound for the count’s museum had been staked out to speed their drying. Lone Eagle assisted Will in folding up the hides and binding them with rawhide thongs into compact bundles. Will noticed that his companion frequently looked to the north, where the Shoshone caravan had disappeared.

  “Are we ready?” asked the count. He looked around at each of his party who nodded that their share of the preparations was complete. “Then let us find the railroad.”

  They mounted and sorted out the pack animals. Will checked his Spencer carbine to ensure a round was chambered, then guided Buck to the front of the party. Lone Eagle did not join him.

  “I am not going with you,” Lone Eagle called out.

  Will turned Buck around and rode back to the rear of the column where Lone Eagle sat his pony. “Butterfly Morning has captured your heart, I see.”

  Lone Eagle blushed and nodded his head once.

  Will grinned. It was the first time he’d seen his friend turn such a dark shade of red.

  “What will you do?” Will asked.

  “Go with them to their reservation. Maybe Butterfly Morning will agree to leave and join me at my father’s cabin on the North Platte.”

  “And how do you propose to support a family there?”

  Lone Eagle shrugged. “I have been thinking that maybe the Army at Fort Fred Steele could use a scout.”

  “I think you could do a lot of good for the Cheyenne, as well as the Shoshones, by helping guide the Army.”

  “Perhaps. If the Shoshones have agreed to go to a reservation, it may not be long before the Cheyenne . . . and the Sioux . . . and all the others, will be forced to do the same.”

  Will cradled his carbine under one arm, took his hat off and held it in one hand, while with the other he lifted the bear claw necklace from around his neck. He held the necklace out to Lone Eagle.

  “Take this with you, Lone Eagle. You will soon be taking your father’s bones to join your mother’s in the cave on Elk Mountain. I would like you to bury this with Bullfrog Charlie. I’ve seen all the bear claws I want to.” He gently touched his side.

  Lone Eagle took the necklace and tied it to his saddle. “Thank you, Will.”

  “General Dodge owes you wages for serving as the scout for the count’s hunting party. I’ll ask him to send them to the commanding officer at Fort Steele. You can collect the money there. You will need a nest egg for you and Butterfly Morning to start your family.”

  Lone Eagle nodded and extended a hand. “Goodbye, Will Braddock.”

  Will shook Lone Eagle’s hand. “Good luck, Lone Eagle Munro. I hope we meet again . . . someday soon.”

  Lone Eagle kicked his pony and raced after the Shoshones.

  After he could no longer see Lone Eagle, Will tugged on Buck’s reins and headed back to the head of the column. He paused beside the count and Elspeth. “I’d be willing to bet that Hell on Wheels has reached Green River right along with the railroad. If so, we’ll have to sneak Elspeth in to avoid running into Paddy O’Hannigan and Mortimer Kavanagh.”

  CHAPTER 55

  Jenny poured another cup of coffee for Butch Cartwright, plunked the pot on the table, and sat down on the bench across from the female stagecoach driver.

  “Sorry the replacement teams are in such bad shape, Butch,” Jenny said. “Franz has been working to get meat back on the horses, but it’s slow business. Papa and Duncan are bringing in new teams from Fort Bridger. Once they get back, we’ll have a better selection.”

  “Can’t be helped. Not your fault. Solomon Tucker weren’t much good as a station manager. Drunk most of the time. Soon’s he got word Wells Fargo was bringing your dad in to replace him, he quit taking care of the animals.”

  The back door to the Green River Station opened and Jenny turned to see what had caused it.

  “Will!” He’d really surprised her, even though she knew he would eventually return from the hunting trip.

  Will stepped into the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

  “Hello, Jenny. Hello, Butch.”

  “Welcome back,” Jenny said.

  “Got any more coffee in that pot?” Will laid his slouch hat on the end of the table and sat on the bench beside Jenny.

  Jenny rose and retrieved a cup from a cupboard along the side wall. She returned and poured coffee for Will. “What brings you here alone?” she asked. “Where’s the rest of the count’s party?”


  Will blew his breath across the steaming cup and took a sip. “Hmm, good.” He set the cup on the table. “Elspeth needs your help, Jenny.”

  “Elspeth? I heard something about her being in trouble with Mort Kavanagh. Is that what this is all about?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  Will told Jenny and Butch how Elspeth had double-crossed Paddy O’Hannigan and her fear of retribution from Kavanagh when she arrived in Green River. “The count’s party is halted a couple of hours north of here,” he said. “I came on ahead, hoping to find you. If I can sneak Elspeth into the station, maybe you can hide her.”

  “What good’s it going to do to hide her?” Jenny asked. “She can’t stay here forever. Kavanagh and Paddy are both in town. Hell on Wheels is well established here, and they’re not going anywhere real soon.”

  “I didn’t mean for her to stay here. Just keep her hidden until you can sneak her out of here on the stage.”

  “How do you propose we do this?” Jenny looked at Will.

  “It’ll be dark soon. I’ll bring her in the back door. When are you leaving, Butch?”

  “First light. Waiting for the teams to rest. They’re short good replacements here, and I prefer the horses I came in with to any they’ve got in the corral.”

  “The count and his two companions want to take the stage. How many passengers do you have?”

  “Six, right now. There’s room for nine inside. I can reserve the remaining three seats. That’ll give us a full coach. One will have to ride topside.”

  “I don’t have a shotgun messenger this run,” Butch said. “Any of them any good with a shotgun?”

  “I’d bet Conrad Eichhorn can handle one. He’s the count’s gunsmith.”

  “Then we can accommodate everybody,” Jenny said. “What else?”

  “We’ve got a string of pack horses laden with the count’s specimens,” Will said. “I’ll have to find a way to take care of shipping them.”

  “Oh, didn’t you know?” Jenny said. “Your uncle is here. He’s managing the UP’s business in Green River.”