War Of The Mountain Man

Smoke nodded. “Vicky, could I ask you some questions without your getting angry?”

“Why ... of course.” She studied his face. “It’s Robert, isn’t it?”

“Ah, yeah. It is.” Smoke really didn’t know how to get into this.

“He’s a good man, I believe. But a very strange man at times. It’s ... and please don’t think I’m criticizing him or talking behind his back; I’ve tried to discuss this with him....” She paused. “It’s almost as though he is several different people in one body. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes, Vicky, I do.”

“I’ve been worried about him ever since we came out here. My goodness, I haven’t even told this to Sally. You’re easy to talk to, Smoke.”

“Has his ... ah ... behavior been sort of odd, Vicky?”

“Why ... yes. That’s it. You’ve noticed it, too?”

“Oh, yeah. I sure have. He sort of ... ah ... rambled, I guess you’d call it, while talking with me.”

She stared at him for a moment, then rose from the chair and walked to the edge of the porch. She stood for a moment, looking at the mountains in the distance. Smoke could hear her sigh. “I don’t know what to do, Smoke,” she said. “I don’t have a penny of my own money. I am totally dependent upon Robert. He has violent mood changes. I’m frightened of him, and so is Lisa.”She turned to face Smoke.

“I know he used to meet Max Huggins in town. I thought that very odd. And I have no ides what they discussed. Except ...” she flushed deeply, “... me.”

“And Lisa,” Smoke said, taking a chance.

“Yes. Max came to the ranch lots of times. Robert would laugh and joke with him. Usually outside, away from me. But sometimes in the living room. I never could understand the ... well, call it a bond between them.”

“They’re brothers, Victoria.”

She fainted, falling off the porch.

22

Smoke yelled at a passing boy to run to the hotel and fetch Sally, then go to his office and tell his deputies to get over here.

The boy took off like he had rockets on his feet.

Smoke picked Vicky up and placed her on the couch in the living room. He was dampening a cloth at the kitchen pump when Sally ran in.

“What happened?”

“She fainted after I told her that Max Huggins and Robert were brothers.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t have a heart attack. Give me that cloth and go outside.”

Smoke went outside and sat on the porch. Sal, Jim, and Pete had just arrived, out of breath from unaccustomed running in high-heeled boots. They were typical cowboys; anything that could not be done from the hurricane deck of a horse they usually tried to avoid.

“What’s up, Smoke?” Pete asked.

He brought his men up to date. Judge Garrison rolled up in his buggy and joined the men in the front yard.

“That poor woman,” the judge said. “She certainly has a heavy cross to bear.”

“Judge,” Smoke said, “can you get Robert declared insane?”

“All I have to do is sign my name to a piece of paper. He’ll be taken to the state hospital for the insane.”

One of Joe Walsh’s hands rode up and dismounted. “Say, Smoke, I just seen Dr. Turner headin’ north toward Hell’s Creek. He was putting the whip to that horse of his. He was shoutin’ and cussin’ as he drove. Damn near ran me down. I hollered and asked him what was the matter. He said he had to get to his brother. What brother’s he talkin’ about? I didn’t know he had any kin out here.”

“We just found out that he and Max Huggins are brothers,” Smoke told him.

The cowboy’s eyes bugged out and his mouth dropped open. “Holy crap!”

Smoke turned to the judge. “Get all the legal action going that needs to be done, Judge. Committing Robert, and seeing to it that his estate is in Victoria’s hands.”

“Easily done, Smoke. I’ll have the paperwork done in an hour and wire his banks back east. You get into his strongbox or files and find out where and how much. Have the papers sent to me.”

Smoke walked back into the house.

Sally had opened Victoria’s bodice and placed a cool cloth on the woman’s head. Her eyes were open and she seemed alert. Smoke pulled a chair up close to the couch.

“I’m sorry, Vicky,” he said. “But I just didn’t know how else to tell you.”

“It’s all right, Smoke. I’m glad you did. It answers a lot of questions I had in my mind. Now I can see the family resemblance.”

Smoke told her what the cowboy had seen. “Judge Garrison is going to have him committed, and we’re going to get Robert’s estate in your hands. I need to know where he keeps his documents, bank books, and so forth.”

“I’ll show you.” She fastened a few buttons on her bodice and sat up on the couch.

“You best lay back down,” Smoke told her.

“No.” She smiled and stood up. She was steady on her feet. “If I’m to be a western woman, I’ve got to learn to be strong.”

Smoke returned the smile. “I thought you were leaving, heading back east?”

“I’m staying,” Vicky said. “I want my daughter to be raised out here. The town needs another schoolteacher, and that is what I was trained to be.”