“I see,” Bell replied. “So what are you asking me to do, help her find work?”
“Pay her a visit,” Longarm suggested. “She’s impressed by men with badges and authority. Probably has something to do with a strict aristocratic upbringing. Anyway, if she hasn’t changed her mind and is still hoping for work, give her some introductions and encouragement.”
“Sounds like the thing to do.”
Longarm frowned. “By the way, Gus, you are still engaged to Miss Monroe, aren’t you?”
“Nope,” Gus said, not looking the least bit upset. “We broke it off. She wanted me to quit this office and go to work for her father in the feed store. I told her that I’d hate that line of work, and so she decided to look for a husband with a brighter future. But for a lady of the English court, I might just be willing to forsake this office and my huge salary of thirty-seven dollars a month.”
“Now wait a minute,” Longarm said. “If I’d have known you weren’t engaged any longer, I doubt I’d even have said anything about Lady Caroline.”
“I’m sure glad that you did, though,” Gus said, grinning like an idiot. “I can hardly wait to see this woman. And Custis, you can rest assured that I’ll do everything in my power to help her in each and every way that I can.”
“Great,” Longarm answered in a sour tone of voice.
“Anything else I can do for you today besides tell you what disguise to use and that I’ll assist your lady friends?”
“No,” Longarm said, “I think you’ve taken on quite enough already.”
Gus laughed and came to his feet. He was a lean and handsome man and Longarm knew that, despite his talk, he was basically a shy person, but one that many women found very attractive.
“Good luck,” Longarm said. “I’m going to find George Two Ponies and see if I can get him to help.”
“He’s a smart one,” Gus said, “so I expect that he will, but it will cost the government a few dollars.”
“It can afford it,” Longarm told his friend as he headed out the door.
Longarm spent the next hour hunting up both Irma and Caroline to tell them that they had a friend in Marshal Bell. Both women seemed relieved, especially Irma, who said, “I just pray that I can get Sam hitched before anyone shows up that remembers me from Cheyenne.”
“Your past is your past and your future stretches out before you and the sun is shining.”
“It is,” Irma admitted. “But I sure will miss making love to you, Custis. I can’t imagine that Sam could be anywhere near as good.”
“Give him encouragement and teach him a few things, but not so fast that he gets suspicious.”
“I will.”
Lady Caroline hugged Longarm’s neck and said, “I’ll count the moments until you return.”
“Have some fun and make some friends,” Longarm advised. “The time will go faster and you’ll enjoy yourself. Marshal Bell is a fine man.”
“I’ll look forward to meeting him,” Caroline said, but her voice betrayed the sincerity of her words.
Longarm then visited the livery and rented a good horse and saddle.
“Any idea how long you’ll be wanting them?” the liveryman asked just before he rode away.
“Depends on George Two Ponies,” Longarm called back as he reined north toward the ancient Pyramid Lake.
Chapter 9
The Pyramid Lake Indians had always been a peaceful tribe, except for one notable occasion more than twenty years earlier, during the Pyramid Lake War of 1860. Longarm had actually talked to a few of the survivors of this war, and of course he was well acquainted with the Paiute version of it as told by men like George Two Ponies. The battle had started when a few disreputable whites kidnapped two young Indian girls and held them hostage at the William’s Trading Station, about twenty-five miles west of the Comstock Lode on the Carson River.
The girls belonged to the Pyramid Indian tribe, and the Indians came to rescue them from the white men. In the process of freeing the girls, the Indians killed the three guilty whites and burned the station. Word of this slaughter quickly caused the whites to seek retaliation, especially in light of the rumor that a dozen white men had been killed and scalped and that five hundred Paiutes had gone on the warpath.
A force of young, untrained, and overzealous men marched north to seek revenge. They numbered just over a hundred, and because of their haste, ill-preparedness, and inexperience, were trapped by the waiting Indians and seventy-six men were killed. Only twenty-nine escaped the trap and lived to tell their story.
Panic ensued among the whites, and Longarm had heard that thousands of Comstock Lode miners fled over the Sierras to the safety of California, with entire mining settlements evacuated. A few months later, a huge battalion of trained soldiers along with five hundred volunteers returned to Pyramid Lake, where they soundly defeated the Indians, killing 160 of them. George Two Ponies himself was badly wounded in this terrible defeat and lost many of his family. After that, Fort Churchill was established to defend the territory against future Indian attacks. But the Paiutes, who had never sought trouble, buried their dead and remained in their sanctuary at Pyramid Lake, where they continued to raise corn as well as to fish and hunt in the marshes around the dead lake.
Whenever Longarm first saw Pyramid Lake, his mind was pulled back to a prehistoric time. The lake was huge, somewhat alkaline, and very still, except when the winds could whip the surface up to a froth. There were tall, majestic, and alkaline-crusted spires jutting out of the lake, and marshes where heron and migrating birds of all descriptions nested and fished.
Longarm was greeted warmly when he appeared at George’s village, a small collection of huts on the southern end of the dead lake. George was short, like most Paiutes, and it was impossible to guess his true age. Longarm thought that the rotund and genial Indian was probably in his mid-forties, but George was extremely active and reputed to be one of the finest mustangers in the state of Nevada.
“Good to see you, old friend,” Longarm said, dismounting from his rented horse to greet the Indian and his large family.
“Longarm,” George said, his round face breaking into a wide, toothless smile. “Hi-ya!”
Longarm and George Two Ponies shared pleasantries for about an hour while the rest of the camp gathered around to listen and visit. Then, Longarm was escorted into George’s wife’s hut, which was made of sticks, reeds, and mud. They ate fish, wild goose, and some roots that Longarm found tasted very much like spinach. After the pipes were smoked and as the hour of darkness grew near, Longarm knew it was time to explain his mission.
“I have come to see my good friend George Two Ponies for friendship first, but also for the reason of money.”
George, never one to avoid the white man’s money, leaned forward over his fire and peered through smoke at Longarm. “Tell me of this money thing.”
Longarm left out nothing. He was not surprised to learn that George had heard about the train robbery and the great amount of money that had been taken and still awaited recovery.
“We think it is a man named Killion. This man is very evil and he lives in a town called Helldorado, to the southeast two days ride from here.”
“I know this place,” George said, puffing his pipe and nodding solemnly. “it is bad.”
“Yes,” Longarm agreed, “I understand that Helldorado is a very bad place. This man, Matthew Killion, must be stopped. To do that, my friend, I have to get into Helldorado and they must think that I am evil, like them.”
“What do you want of me?”
“Take me there. I am going to be a half-breed. A mustanger, like you. We will take mustangs and they will not see that I wear a badge.”
George reflected on this for only about a second. “Killion kill George and take his ponies.”