Chapter 11 - What Noah Found in the Supply Wagon
Jacob Bell was sixty-seven and deeply irritated to find two strangers standing outside his door before breakfast.
He became considerably more interested when Maggie mentioned Harlan Voss.
“That skinny fellow?”
“Yes.”
“Left an hour ago.”
Cole exchanged a look with Maggie.
“Did he say where?”
“South.”
“Did he leave anything?”
Bell scratched his jaw.
“Trouble, apparently.”
Maggie explained the stolen goods.
Bell's expression changed.
“He told me Whitaker was selling surplus.”
Cole frowned.
“What surplus?”
“Flour. coffee. tack. medicine. Been selling it to me for weeks.”
Silence.
“How much did you pay?” Maggie asked.
Bell named a figure.
Far below market.
Cole swore under his breath.
Bell stepped inside.
“I kept receipts.”
Ten minutes later papers covered the kitchen table.
Every receipt carried Harlan's signature.
Several referenced Whitaker Cattle Company.
Cole read one twice.
“This money never entered our accounts.”
Bell pointed.
“He said your uncle wanted cash kept separate because of northern taxes.”
Cole laughed bitterly.
“That sounds like something Silas might say.”
Maggie examined another paper.
A second name appeared repeatedly.
Elias Boone.
“Who's Boone?”
Cole's face changed.
“Cattle buyer.”
“Friend of Silas?”
“No.”
“Enemy?”
“Competitor.”
Bell nodded.
“Harlan mentioned him.”
Cole looked up.
“When?”
“Last week. Said Boone might buy some Whitaker cattle before Kansas.”
Cole went still.
“We're not selling before Kansas.”
Bell shrugged.
“Harlan said you were.”
Maggie understood.
“This isn't just stolen food.”
Cole nodded slowly.
“He's weakening the drive.”
If supplies ran short, if riders became angry, if cattle were delayed, Silas might be forced to sell animals early.
At a lower price.
Possibly to Elias Boone.
Harlan's theft suddenly looked less like greed and more like a plan.
Bell gave them access to the abandoned trading-post supplies in exchange for payment at fair value.
Maggie negotiated hard.
Cole watched, amused.
“You enjoy this.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“I enjoy not being cheated.”
“That's almost the same expression you make when enjoying yourself.”
She gave him a look.
They returned toward camp with receipts.
Halfway there they encountered Noah riding toward them.
“Maggie!”
He looked excited.
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
“Where?”
“In Harlan's wagon.”
Cole frowned.
“We searched it.”
“You searched the obvious parts.”
Noah grinned.
“There was a board beneath the driver's seat.”
He produced an envelope.
Inside were three telegram copies.
Cole opened the first.
His face hardened.
The message was addressed to Elias Boone.
WHITAKER SUPPLIES BELOW HALF WITHIN TEN DAYS. EXPECT DELAY AT RIVER. CREW DISSATISFIED. HOLD OFFER LOW.
The second:
S.W. WILL SELL BEFORE HE RETURNS EMPTY-HANDED.
The third was worse.
C.W. STILL CONTROLLED THROUGH DEBT. NO INTERFERENCE EXPECTED.
Cole read that line twice.
Maggie watched anger replace shock.
“He knew about your debts.”
“Of course he did. Harlan kept the books.”
Noah asked, “What does it mean?”
Cole folded the telegram.
“It means Harlan was helping Boone force Silas into a bad sale.”
Maggie added, “And he expected Cole not to stop it.”
Noah looked at Cole.
“Because Silas controls his land?”
“Yes.”
Noah considered.
“That's ugly.”
Cole gave a humorless smile.
“Yes.”
Back at camp, Silas read the telegrams.
He sat down.
That scared Maggie more than anger would have.
Silas rarely sat unless he chose to.
Now his knees seemed to make the decision.
“Harlan knew everything.”
Cole said nothing.
Silas looked at him.
“The debt terms.”
“Yes.”
“The bank guarantees.”
“Yes.”
Silas stared at the paper.
“I trusted him.”
Maggie almost said, You trusted him over me.
She didn't.
He knew.
Silas rubbed his face.
“What does Boone gain?”
Cole answered.
“If we're delayed and short on food, cattle lose weight. Men quit. We can't reach Kansas on schedule. Boone offers cash here.”
“At twenty percent below expected market.”
“Maybe thirty.”
Silas stood.
“Then we cross the river.”
Levi shook his head.
“No.”
Silas turned.
“We cannot wait.”
“We cannot drown cattle either.”
“I didn't say now.”
“Good.”
Maggie unfolded the food estimates.
“With Bell's supplies, we have twelve days.”
Silas stared.
“Twelve?”
“Possibly thirteen.”
“How?”
“Beans, cornmeal, oats, dried apples.”
Cole smiled slightly.
“She negotiated.”
Silas looked at Maggie.
There was something unfamiliar in his expression.
Respect.
Not warm.
Not yet.
But real.
“You saved the drive.”
“No.”
She nodded toward Noah.
“He found the telegrams.”
Toward Cole.
“He found the receipts.”
Toward Levi.
“He kept men together.”
Then she looked at Silas.
“And you haven't saved anything yet.”
Silas's eyebrows rose.
Maggie continued.
“Harlan knows what he's done. Boone probably knows we know. Whatever their plan was, they'll change it.”
“What do you suggest?”
It was the first time Silas had asked her that without sarcasm.
Maggie looked toward the swollen river.
“We stop reacting.”
Cole nodded.
“We make them believe we're still desperate.”
Silas slowly understood.
“You want Boone to think we're forced to sell.”
“Yes.”
Silas's old sharpness returned.
“And then?”
Maggie looked at the telegram.
“We find out how much he knows.”
That evening a rider was sent south with a message deliberately easy to intercept.
WHITAKER DRIVE STALLED. SUPPLIES CRITICAL. WILL CONSIDER OFFERS.
The bait was set.
Two days later, Elias Boone himself rode into camp.
May you like
And the first person he asked to speak with was Silas Whitaker.
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