The Gathering 4

By woodmanone copyright 2010

This story is the culmination of a trilogy that started with "The Trail West". The next section "Winterborn" took place in the same era with events that shaped and guided the characters. "The Gathering" continues in the same time frame and with the same characters and their ever changing lives.

To reacquaint the readers "The Trail West" Main Characters are Josh Kelly and Red McCall. They met on the Hobart wagon train traveling from Fort Smith Arkansas to Santa Fe New Mexico in 1862. Josh and Red worked for Mr. Hobart until they got to Santa Fe and then turned north. Jerry Barnes, whose parents had been killed during a raid on the wagon train, joined up with them for their trek to Colorado.

After many adventures on the trail they arrived in Fountain, Colorado. This was where they befriended the Maguire family; they ended up marrying the Maguire girls, Danni and Sarah.

Then in "Winterborn" in 1869 Dillon Gallagher left his beloved Virginia and his conniving father and took the trail west to Texas after serving in the Civil War. Traveling through Texas he found a home for a little over two years in Wichita Falls where he worked as a Deputy Marshall. Leaving Texas he traveled to Prescott Arizona where he discovered a family, the Edwards, in need of help. Dillon later married Elizabeth Edwards. He had to kill the bastard carpet bagger that had murdered her father and tried to take the Triple E Ranch from the Edwards through force.

The "Gathering" brings these adventurous souls together and completes the Trilogy of scenes from the Old West.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. Constructive comments and emails are more than welcome and appreciated. Please enjoy the tale.

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"There have been a lot of changes in this town in the last eight years," Josh Kelly told his wife as they strolled past the new courthouse. "The General even renamed the place Colorado Springs. There's a big difference between this resort town and the old rough and ready Colorado City."

"The General?" Danni Kelly asked.

"General William Palmer," Josh replied. "He's a railroad man that decided that he wanted to build a high quality resort here and did it. "It's sort of a shame but he's forced most of the old saloons and bawdy houses out of business. Now the town is right civilized."

"Joshua Kelly! How do you know that there were those types of houses here?"

"That first cattle drive here, after we sold the cattle, your father suggested that Red, Jerry, and I join him at one. He said it would be an education." Josh's tone and face was serious for all of about five seconds and then he started laughing. "I couldn't keep from laughing when I saw the shocked look on your face."

Danni chuckled and then said, "It's not nice to tease an expectant mother."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help teas.......Wait, what did you say?"

Now it was Danni's turn to laugh at the look on Josh's face. Guess I surprised him real good, she thought. "You're gonna be a daddy again."

"When.....?"

"He'll be born with the spring calves, I reckon," Danni replied.

"He?" Josh asked.

"I've just got a feeling it's a boy again."

Josh grabbed Danni and spun her around as he hugged her. Both of them were laughing and crying at the same time. Many people standing nearby smiled at the young couple. They were a good match; Josh was 6' 1 with dark hair and a strong lean build. Danni was tall for a woman at 5' 9 with strawberry blond hair.

Their trip to what was now Colorado Springs was the first vacation that Josh and Danni had taken since they got married. It was sort of a delayed honeymoon; delayed for close to eight years, Josh said to himself. First there was combining two ranches into the Chico Basin Cattle Company; then William our son was born. Our little Maggie came along two years later, before we really had time to recover from our son's birth. Josh smiled and thought, I miss the kids but it's been nice to have Danni to myself.

The next morning Josh and Danni were ate breakfast before starting their ride back to the CBC ranch. Josh watched Danni for a few minutes and asked, "Can you ride okay? Should we rent a surrey to get back home?"

Danni chuckled and put her hand on Josh's cheek. "You forget honey; I herded cattle with you while I was carrying our daughter. Right up until two months before she was born. I can make the ride back home okay."

Roger and Mary, a couple they had met one evening, joined Josh and Danni. Everyone ordered and got a morning cup of coffee. Roger said, "y'all still heading back home today?' At Josh's nod he asked, "Why don't you stay for another day or two?"

Mary added, "Yes please stay Danni. We can explore those new shops over at the resort."

"We'd like to but our kids are probably driving their aunt and uncle crazy by now," Danni replied. "They need rescuing, so we better get back to the ranch."

"How many children do you have?" Mary asked.

"There are two of the little hellions at home," Josh said smiling. "Our son, William Daniel is seven; he's named after his two Grandpas. Margret Molly just turned five and of course she's named after her Grandmas."

The two couples enjoyed talking as they ate breakfast but it was finally time for the Kelly's to start home. They got their horses from the livery stable, tied the two small duffels behind the saddles, and rode toward Fountain. Danni was riding Sunny, the big buckskin that Josh had ridden from Missouri and 'loaned' her before they were married; somehow the horse became her property.

Josh was on Diablo, a bay even bigger than Sunny. Mr. Hobart had given the horse to Josh for his hard work and dedication to the wagon train that Hobart ran. The only trouble with Diablo is that he doesn't like the slow pace we used coming up here and he'll like it less on the way home, Josh thought. He planned on taking it easy, never pushing the horse past an easy lope. We got a late start so it'll be dusk by the time we get back.

They had been riding for an hour before they made their first stop. Danni helped Josh water the horses and then said, "Where are you Josh? You haven't said a dozen words since we left Colorado Springs."

He smiled at his wife and replied, "Just thinking about how far I've traveled since I left Missouri." Turning to Danni he continued, "And how lucky I've been." He pulled Danni to him, kissed her, and just held her.

"I've been lucky too," Danni replied as she put her head on Josh's chest.

Josh had left Missouri because of the Civil War and a band of guerilla raiders that were trying to force him to join them. William, his father, held off the raiders and afterwards ordered Josh to leave the area; at least until the war was over. Josh turned 18 during his trek west. He traveled to Santa Fe working for the Hobart wagon train. He met Red McCall, who would become his best friend and partner, on that wagon train. Josh and Red also joined up with Jerry Barnes whose parents had been killed in a raid on the wagons.

The three of them had traveled to the Chico Basin area of Colorado; just east of Fountain. Josh and Red befriended the Maguire family; eventually marrying the Maguire girls, Danni and Sarah. Now Josh and Danni were parents as were Red and Sarah.

Josh, Jerry, and Red were able to buy a ranch that adjoined the Maguire's place. Shortly after Josh and Red married they formed a partnership with Daniel Maguire and combined the Maggie M and the Lazy L into one ranch named the Chico Basin Cattle Company.

Jerry and the Maguires, Daniel and Maggie, continued to live and work from what at one time had been the Maggie M. Josh, Red, and their wives stayed at the Lazy L in the big ranch house. The Lazy L part of the CBC ranch is where Josh and Danni were headed.

Danni leaned back and looked up at Josh. "I knew that we'd be together from that time you and Red rescued us from those three cowboys."

"You did, did you?" Josh asked smiling.

"It was just a matter of waiting for you to realize where your life was headed," Danni answered and kissed Josh. "C'mon let's get on home. I want to see William and little Maggie."

They rode the horses at an easy lope for a while and then slowed to a fast walk for a bit, giving the horses some rest. Every two hours they stopped for about 15 minutes. It was close to 4 PM when they turned off the main trail to head for the ranch.

Josh and Danni had just crossed the western border of their ranch when Diablo and then Sunny got spooked. Diablo's ears laid back and he bared his teeth. Whatever bothered Diablo caused the same reaction in Sunny. The horses were too well trained to bolt and run but it was plain to Josh that's what they wanted to do.

They were able to calm the horses a little and Josh dismounted. Handing Diablo's reins to Danni he said, "I'll go see if I can find out what spooked them." Josh pulled his new Winchester Repeating rifle from its saddle scabbard. "You stay with the horses. I'll be right back."

"Not likely Mr. Kelly," replied Danni pulling her own rifle and dismounting. "I'm going with you."

"Somebody has to hold the horses," Josh tried to explain.

"Nonsense. Diablo and Sunny are trained to ground tie; they'll stay put."

"Danni something spooked them and they might run in spite of their training. Please stay with the horses," Josh requested. He knew if he ordered his wife to stay she would just ignore him.

"Sunny would never run off and leave me." Danni started walking forward. Looking over her shoulder she continued, "If you haven't trained Diablo that well, it's your own fault. You can stay with the horses."

Josh watched her for a few steps and shook his head. Then he had to smile a little. One of the things that makes me love her so is her independence he thought. He hurried to catch up with Danni, cocking his rifle. Josh looked back at the horses and saw Diablo staring at a small grove of trees to the left; Sunny was watching Danni.

He motioned to Danni and they quietly made their way through the trees. In the clearing there were four freshly slaughtered steers within a hundred feet of each other. A huge bear was tearing chunks of meat off one of the dead animals. The killer must have made a running attack from behind the trees and caught the small herd by surprise, Josh thought. It looked up as Josh and Danni cleared the last tree. The bear stopped eating, stood up on his hind legs, and growled at them.

"If he charges, you run for the horses," Josh said. When Danni started to argue he added, "No games this time Danni. That big son of a gun can kill you with one swipe of his paw."

After a couple of seconds Danni replied, "Yes Josh. But I expect you to be right behind me."

Josh raised his rifle, aiming at the bear. Danni raised her weapon also. The bear growled one more time and dropped back to all fours. It turned and ran toward the trees on the far side of the clearing. Josh drew a big breath as the animal ran away.

"Danni, go get the horses and bring them up please. I'm going to look at the cattle."

When she returned on Sunny leading Diablo, Josh mounted. "He killed all four of them and only took a few bites out of each one."

"Is that normal?"

"No it isn't. Let's get back to the ranch; we'll talk with Red about this after supper."

Young William was standing near the hitching rail with a lariat draped over his head and shoulders. He would have his father's build when full grown but had his mother's coloring with a wild mop of reddish blond hair. He looked like someone had tried to tie him up. William turned when he heard the horses and seeing his parents yelled, "Momma, Pa, Uncle Red's teaching me how to rope." He looked as proud as could be at his efforts.

Danni and Josh climbed down off the horses. William shucked the rope and followed closely by Maggie ran to greet their parents. Maggie would be tall also when she grew up. She had the same dark coloring as her father. Sarah McCall, Danni's sister, and her husband Red watched the family reunion from the large front porch. A few minutes later the McCall twins John and Daniel who were a year older than William ran out of the house to join the group in the yard.

There could be no doubt that the twin's father was Red McCall. Both boys were stocky with almost red hair and blue eyes; they were the spitting image of Red. Sarah was almost as tall as Red but with a slender build even after having two children. Her hair was dark and she had startling grey eyes.

For a few minutes it was a loud noisy homecoming. The two dogs were barking and the children were all talking at once explaining everything that had happened while Josh and Danni were gone.

Sarah watched the melee for a few minutes and then called out, "You kids get cleaned up; it's time for supper.

The meal was only slightly quieter than the homecoming. Finally the children calmed down giving Red a chance to speak. "You got home a little later than I expected. Run into trouble on the trail?"

Josh replied, "Not much trouble but something real interesting. We'll talk after supper."

The children were excited by the return of Josh and Danni so it took a little longer to get them bedded down for the night. The evening was quiet and still with a Comanche Moon peeking in and out of a few clouds. Josh and Danni waited on the front porch with a last cup of coffee.

Red and Sarah came out to join them; laughing about the fuss the kids had made before going to sleep. "I know the house has four bedrooms, that's why we all live here. But if we get any more kids we gonna have to turn the guest house back into a bunkhouse," Red joked. "We'll have to build some bunk beds to sleep them all."

Josh and Danni chuckled and Danni said, "I guess you better get to building beds."

"What?" Red asked.

"Danni's gonna have a baby; should be born about spring calving season in April," Josh answered. Josh, Danni, and Sarah laughed at the surprised look on Red's face.

Red stuttered for a few seconds and said, "That's good news. I was just kidding Josh, but we could build another bedroom on the back of the house you know."

"No need to rush," Josh replied. "Maggie won't need her own room for five or six years yet. By that time the boys will be old enough to sleep on their own. We can move them into that third bunkhouse."

Red nodded, thought for a bit and asked, "What's was so interesting on your trip home that it held you up?"

Josh told him about the bear and the four steers that it killed. "It was a grizzly, a big silver tip," he explained. "I don't really mind a bear, mountain lion, or wolves killing a steer now and then. You can't blame them for doing what comes natural, but this is different."

"I think you're right," Red replied. "This griz is killing for sport, not for food. Something needs to be done."

"He's a real big animal; I'd say he's about 900 or 1000 pounds," Josh added. "This bear has run into men with rifles before. I thought he was going to charge and raised my rifle; he took off into the trees when he saw the gun."

"It's getting late, time for bed," Sarah said. "C'mon Red you two boys can talk about your bear tomorrow."

Red chuckled, "Thought I was done takin orders when I got out of the army. I just traded one superior officer for another. Good night all."

Early the next morning Josh and Red walked to the corral next to the big barn. Josh wanted to make sure that Sunny and Diablo were okay after their long ride the previous day. When they got to the corral, Danni was already there making a fuss over the two horses

Josh teased Danni that she worried more about the horses than him; she stuck her tongue out at him and continued petting and feeding the horses pieces of apple. She looked up and said, "Rider coming."

Red had also heard the sounds of a horse coming at a fast trot. He walked to the barn and pulled a rifle from its holder inside the door. The country wasn't as wild as it had been several years earlier but it wasn't tamed by any means; they always kept weapons at hand.

Charley White rode into the yard looking for Josh or Red. Charley had been the top hand at the Lazy L when Josh, Red, and Jerry had bought the place from Tom Larson's widow Nancy. The partners had made him the range boss and pretty much let him run the ranch. Josh always said that Charley may not have much book learning but he knew cattle.

When the Lazy L and the Maggie M were merged into one ranch, Charley moved over to the Maggie M; again as range boss. He helped Daniel Maguire and Jerry run the Maggie M part of the ranch. Josh, Red and their wives moved into the house on the Lazy L and took over running it. Everyone involved still called the two ranches by their old names to identify which one they were talking about.

When he saw Red and Josh at the corral Charley rode over to them. He nodded at Red and said to Josh, "We got trouble over to the Maggie M boss." At Josh's nod he continued, "Found 2 steers killed up to the head of Black Squirrel Creek. By the tracks I'd say it was a bear that done it; a big bear maybe a grizzly. But he didn't eat but a chunk or two off each animal."

Josh looked at Red as Danni came over to the corral fence. "Think it's the same one we saw Josh?" Danni asked.

"Probably is, from the sounds of it." Turning back to Charley, Josh asked, "How long you reckon those cattle have been dead Charley?

"Sign was fresh. Steers haven't even started to bloat up yet. I'd say it happened last night or real early this morning," Charley answered.

"Okay, go up to the house and get a couple of those fresh biscuits that Sarah made and some coffee if you like Charley." The cowboy smiled and nodded his head. "After you get done with your snack head back and tell Mr. Maguire and Jerry that Red and I are goin lookin for that cussed bear early tomorrow morning."

"The Maggie M is to the east; it looks like he's headed that way Red. Danni and I saw him on the west side of the ranch yesterday."

"Maybe we should ride over to Chico Springs and come back this way," Red suggested. "That'd put us on the east border of the ranch. If he's still headed east we can follow him onto the Ambrose place."

"Makes sense to me," Josh replied."

Danni was going to argue about Josh going after a dangerous bear but she saw the look on his face and in his eyes. You'd have better success ordering the wind around than stopping him when he in that mood, Danni thought. Instead she asked, "Are you going to ride Diablo?"

"No think I'll take Itsa instead. He's a might faster off the mark than Diablo," Josh answered. He knew Danni wanted to ask him not to go and appreciated that she didn't argue with him.

Diablo was Itsa's sire out of Lady Guinevere, a filly that Josh had bought and then gentled. Lady was one half quarter horse and passed on her short distance speed to Itsa. Diablo could run all day at a pace that would kill most horses and he passed on some of that talent to Itsa.

"Why'd you name him Itsa?" Sarah asked Josh. She had come to the corral after Charley told her about the bear.

"Itsa is Apache for eagle. He's quick like an eagle comin out of the sky after a fish and can run at a lope all day. Just like an eagle can soar on the wind for hours. Anyway, I had to name him something."

"I'm gonna take Queenie," Red explained. "She's a quarter horse and fast too. Might need that speed."

"Why? Do you expect to have to run away from this bear?" Sarah was getting worried about the hunting trip.

Red laughed a little and replied, "Naw, but we if see the griz out in the open we want to get close before he has a chance to get back under cover in the trees. Don't look forward to trackin him through a thicket."

"As fast as Itsa and Queenie are, we should be able to catch him before he runs off. It'd sure be easier to shoot him in open country," Josh explained.