“Hello, Tom,” Mo said, coming into the lobby just as Tom finished reading the newspaper article. “Are you ready to show our young friend here a good time?”
Tom chuckled. “I’m not sure what my position will be here,” he said. “I don’t know if I am to have a good time with the two of you, or keep you from having such a good time that you get into trouble.”
“We aren’t looking to get into trouble,” Mo said. “But lots of times when you are looking to have fun, well trouble just seems to have a way of finding you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Tom said.
“There’s Clay,” Mo said. “I wonder who those people are who are with him ...”
Clay Ramsey, who had just come into the hotel with four other men, saw Tom, Mo, and Dalton, and he held up his hand.
“Just a minute,” he called to them. “I want you to meet these men. They are the ones delivered the herd to us, and they’ll be making the drive south with us.”
Clay introduced them and there were greetings all around.
“Where is Dusty?” Clay asked.
“He’s up in the room asleep,” Tom answered. “He said he would join you for dinner, but until then he is going to get as much sleep as he can.”
Clay laughed. “He is smarter than all of us,” he said. “Tom, how about telling him we are going to dinner now? Oh, and you boys are invited as well.”
“We don’t need to eat,” Mo interrupted quickly. “We can always get pickled pigs’ feet and boiled eggs at just about any bar.”
“You will still have time to visit the saloons,” Smoke said. “But this is a dinner you don’t want to miss.”
“What’s so special about it?” Mo asked.
“We’ll be having Angus beef,” Smoke said. “We thought you might want to get a taste of what you will be working with.”
At dinner, the chef rolled a table on wheels up to the dining table. On the table was a huge piece of beef, its enticing aroma getting the attention of everyone in the dining room.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Duff said. “This is the top blade roast. ‘I believe that you will find it quite tasty.”
The chef carved the meat, then served generous portions to all. Smoke, Falcon, Matt, Tom, and Mo asked for seconds.
“Mo, aren’t you the one who said that you could eat pigs’ feet and such?” Clay teased.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know we were going to be eating anything this good. You sure this is beef? I’ve never tasted beef like this before.”
“’Tis Angus beef you are eating,” Duff said. “There’s no finer beef anywhere in the world.”
“Pa’s goin’ to be pleased with this, that’s for sure,” Dalton said.
Desert was hot apple pie, topped off by a slice of melted cheese. When the bite was eaten, Mo pushed away from the table.
“I’ve really enjoyed the supper,” he said. “I don’t know as I have ever eaten this good, but this is our first night in Dodge, and I don’t aim to waste it. So if you good folks will excuse me, I’m going take in some of the sights. Tom, Dalton? You fellas comin’ with me.”
“I am,” Dalton said.
“I’ll come as well,” Tom said.
“Would you mind if I came along?” Matt asked.
“We don’t mind at all,” Tom said. “You are very welcome to come.”
“Thanks, Tom,” Matt said.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As Matt, Tom, Mo, and Dalton left the restaurant to take in the sights of the town, Duff, Falcon, Smoke and Sally, and Clay and Maria continued to visit over coffee around the dining table.
“I hope they do not get into any trouble,” Maria said. “Dalton is ...”
“The boss’s son,” Clay interrupted.
“Sí. But he is also—how do you say—persona enredadora?”
“Mischief maker,” Clay translated for her.
“Sí, mischief maker. Evil, no. Mischief, yes.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Clay said. “Tom will look out for him.”
“Tell me,” Dusty asked. “How is it that you fellas managed to avoid the great freeze and die-out?”
“I didn’t avoid it,” Smoke said. “Like all the other ranchers around me, I lost a lot of cows. That’s why I’m running Angus now. I had to replace my herd anyway, so I figured, why not? I knew that Duff was running Black Angus and had avoided the freeze out, so I got in contact with him and I did the same thing that Big Ben is doing now. I got some cows from Duff.”
“What kept you from freezing out?” Clay asked.
“My ranch, Sky Meadow, is in the Chugwater Valley,” Duff explained. “I am surrounded by mountain ranges that protect me from the worst of winter’s blows. I was very fortunate. While everyone else was losing cattle, my herd was increasing.”
“Why did Big Ben decide to get into Angus?” Smoke asked. “I know there was no big freeze-out down in Texas.”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know how he got interested in Angus. After the price on Longhorns crashed, I thought for sure he would switch over to Herefords as all the ranchers are. But he’s been reading a lot about them lately,” Clay said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose Angus because he would be the only one in Tarrant County raising them. Big Ben is nothing if he is not a trailblazer.”
All the time they had been talking, Falcon had been studying Dusty McNally.
“Dusty McNally,” Falcon finally said. “Haven’t you and I met before?”
“You’ve got a good memory,” Dusty said. “Easy enough for me to remember you, you’re a famous man and you don’t forget meeting famous men. But I’m not famous, so I don’t know how it is that you remember me.”
“It was in Tombstone, wasn’t it?”
Dusty smiled. “Yes, sir, it was.”
“It was outside the Bird Cage Theater. As I recall, you put a load of buckshot into the belly of a man by the name of Otis Jefferson, as Jefferson was about to shoot me in the back.”
Dusty smiled. “Yes, sir, I did do that,” he said.
“It’s not hard to remember someone who once saved your life,” Falcon said. “I’m glad that you will be with us.”
The men continued their discussion over cigars, and in order to avoid the cigar smoke, Sally and Maria excused themselves. They walked out into the lobby, then found two large overstuffed chairs in front of the fireplace.
“Oh, I’m glad you suggested we leave,” Maria said. “The cigar smoke was beginning to make me nauseous.”
“Is that the only thing that was making you nauseous?” Sally asked.
“What do you mean?”
Sally smiled, and leaned a bit closer to Maria. “Maria, are you pregnant?”
“Why do you ask that?” Maria asked, anxiously.
“Let’s just say that it is something I suspect, woman to woman. No, let me adjust that. It isn’t something I suspect, it is something I know. You are pregnant, aren’t you?”
Maria blushed, then looked around. “Yes,” she said. “But Clay and I have told no one.”
“When are you due?”