Robert Parker - Ironhorse

“I don’t understand,” Hobbs said.

“Mules are used like that,” I said. “We used mules in the service to carry mail and supplies. It’s common. Mule can cover rough terrain, too. Most likely, like Sam is saying here, what we are dealing with is straight up. That’s what he means by ‘levity.’ He thinks it’d be humorous for us to try and follow a sure-footed mule. Unless a horse has been raised in rough country, they can’t do it. Best of riders, best of horses, couldn’t follow.”

“You know any outfits up there with working mules? Mining, farming, timber, cattle?” Virgil said, looking between Berkeley and Sam. “Know anyone up there?”

“Don’t,” Sam said.

Berkeley shook his head.

“No, can’t say I do, either,” Berkeley said.

“There were mines up there,” Sam said, “but no more.”

“Except for the depot towns, it’s sparse country up through there,” Berkeley said.

“Maybe there is no mule,” the governor said. “Or muleteer. Might it not be a ploy with an ambush intended?”

“Could,” Virgil said, “but doubtful.”

“Why?” the governor said.

“No reason to concoct it,” Virgil said.

Jenny raised her hand politely.

“Yes, Jenny,” Virgil said.

“Something was different,” Jenny said as she looked at the sounder sitting on the desk.

“What’s different?” Sam said.

“The attracting and releasing armature on the upper and lower stops was weak.”

“Weak?” Virgil said.

“The signal’s weak?” Sam asked.

“Um, yes. Odd, though,” Jenny said. “The first wire we got from Ernest C. was, as I said, from the Tall Water Falls depot, but this wire signal is weaker than the signal I normally get from Tall Water Falls.”

“What are you saying, Jenny?” the governor said.

“I think Ernest C. is someplace else, at another location now.”

“Sam, this last switch, in the south mountain pass this telegram’s referring to,” Virgil asked. “Where is this, exactly?”

“Let me show you,” Sam said.

Sam moved to a large map on the wall next to the desk. The map was detailed and colorful but faded. It showed the river and townships along the winding St. Louis & San Fran route, from Paris to Fort Smith.

Sam pointed.

“Here we are here,” she said, “at Half Moon, and this is where the pass is here, and the last switch the wire is referring to is here.”

“How many telegraph terminals are there in Tall Water Falls?” I asked.

“One at the depot and another in town, at the Western Union office,” Jenny said.

“Do you correspond with the Western Union?” I asked.

“Every now and then,” Jenny said. “But mainly our correspondence is with the depot.”

“Does it seem like this wire might have been transmitted from that Western Union office?” I asked.

“I’m not completely sure,” Jenny said. “But I don’t think so. I think it is from someplace, a weaker location.”

“Are there remote terminals on the line for service and repair?” Virgil asked.

“There are, but I don’t actually know where,” Jenny said and looked to Sam. “Do you?”

Sam shook her head with the corners of her mouth turned down.

“No,” Sam said. “Hard enough for me to keep up with all the train cars I have to push and pull around here. You’d have to ask one of the telegraph superintendents, or linemen.”

“Regardless,” Hobbs said, “it’s imperative these demands are taken seriously, is it not?”

I looked to Virgil, who was looking at the map.

“This Richard the Third, not wanting us past the switch, is operating from Tall Water Falls, or somewhere near Tall Water Falls,” I said.

“That sounds right,” Virgil said.

Virgil moved closer to the map, looking it over.

“What is all this in here?” Virgil said.

Virgil pointed to a spot on the map above the pass where a bunch of X marks appeared across what looked to be a mountain ridge.

“That’s the Division City mines,” Sam said. “Or what is left of them.”

“The mines recently shut down,” Berkeley said. “The companies moved and are operating the fields down this way now, toward Half Moon.”

“What kind of telegraph activity is there in Division City?” Virgil asked.

“Gosh, quite a lot,” Jenny said. “Well, there are a number of telegraph offices there. Division City is a big place with a good number of businesses and factories there.”

“What about these mines?” Virgil asked. “Are there telegraph offices in the mines?”

“There were,” Jenny said. “There used to be a lot of activity from the mines, but like Mr. Berkeley was saying, they shut down.”

Virgil stood looking at the map with his arms crossed over the buttons of his vest.

“Marshal,” the governor asked. “What are you thinking?”

Virgil moved a little closer to the map and made a circle with his finger in an area around where the pass switch was located.

“They’re operating from somewhere in this area,” Virgil said.

“Which means this crazy man could be anywhere near there?” Hobbs said.

Virgil pointed to the X’s marking the mines.

“You say these mines near Tall Water Falls,” Virgil said, “are called the Division City mines?”

“They are. Even though those mines appear closer to Tall Water Falls here on the map,” Berkeley said. “There is a mountain ridge there, and those mines are accessed from Division City way.”

“Unless you’re a mule,” I said.

Virgil turned from the map and looked at me. He nodded slowly and turned his attention back to the map. He looked closely at the X’s marking the mines.

“Mr. Hobbs?” Virgil said.

“Marshal,” Hobbs said.

“You said you and Lassiter had contacts, relationships, up here in the territories, right?”

Virgil turned from the map and faced Hobbs.

“Yes,” Hobbs said. “That is correct.”

“What kind of counsel?”

“We were agents,” Hobbs said.

“What kind of agents?”

“Cattle operations, mostly, leasing.”

“Leasing?”

“Yes, when the eastern beef prices and demand soared, the cattle drives north out of Texas required sustenance leasing for Chisholm, Goodnight-Loving, the Great Western Trail, and the like.”

“Those trails run through the western part of the territories,” I said. “Cheyenne, Arapaho reservations.”

“That’s right,” Hobbs said, “and the Cherokee outlet to the north.”

“What about mining?” Virgil said. “Were you agents to mining operations, too?”

“I didn’t, no.”

“Lassiter?”

“Lassiter I believe did handle leasing for mining, yes.”

“You believe?”

Hobbs looked at the governor.

“Yes,” Hobbs said.

“Do you know where?” Virgil said.

“That I don’t know,” Hobbs said. “Could be the part you’re looking at there on the map for all I know. I believe the mining is in the eastern part of the territories.”

Hobbs looked to Berkeley.

“I don’t know all that happens border to border, but I’m pretty sure that is right,” Berkeley said.

“You know of any particular outfit Lassiter was counsel, agent with?” Virgil said.

“No,” Hobbs said. “I suppose there could be some way to find out. There must be records of such dealings, something that could show us the history.”

Virgil shook his head and looked back to the map.

“No time for that,” I said.

“I take it, Marshal,” the governor said, “you think it probable they, whomever we are dealing with, are operating from one of these mining locations?”