Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard Read online

  MOUNTAIN WOMAN

  SNAKE RIVER BLIZZARD

  A Kate McAlaster Adventure

  by

  Johnny Fowler

  Mountain Woman: Snake River Blizzard © 2012 by John R. Fowler

  All right reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This novel is a work of fiction. All of the events, characters, names and locales depicted in this novel are entirely fictitious, or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations.

  www.johnnyfowler.com

  www.facebook.com/jrfow59

  Other Books by Johnny Fowler

  Panhandle Blizzard

  Eclipse of the Heart

  Treason at White Sands

  Hidden Agenda

  Kill Without Remorse

  Love Walked In

  Explosions of Fire

  The Mercenary's Daughter

  DEA Conspiracy

  Diplomatic Immunity

  Spanish Fly

  Vengeance is Mine

  Murder in the Loop

  Right Place, Wrong Time

  Sarah

  Kate McAlaster Adventures:

  Mountain Woman

  Mountain Woman Rides Again

  Mountain Woman: Bound For Texas

  Mountain Woman: Snake River Blizzard

  Mary Hardy Series:

  Hardy, Texas Ranger: The First Female Texas Ranger

  Hardy, Texas Ranger: In Oklahoma Territory

  Hardy, Texas Ranger: In the Davis Mountains

  Hardy, Texas Ranger: In the Big Thicket

  MOUNTAIN WOMAN

  Snake River Blizzard

  Chapter 1

  The trip to Texas to bring back the Bright women to stand trial for fourteen murders in Spokane had been tiring, to say the least, on Deputy Marshal Kate McAlaster Manchester and her husband, US Marshal Homer Manchester.

  Chief Federal Marshal Joseph Meek wired the marshals to take a month vacation. They had been on the trail of outlaws that had taken them from Idaho to Texas, and they deserved the time off to recover from the ordeal.

  Kate had only been in her new home a few nights before they were sent to Texas after the Bright women.

  It was almost dark when they put their horses, Red Bird and Arabian, in the barn and tossed them hay and put oats in the trough. Their two pack mules where turned loose in the corral and given feed. Kate and Man carried their packs into the house and Kate hurried to the kitchen to start a fire in the fireplace she loved. It was long enough to accommodate several cooking pots and pans as well as heat their home.

  Man went outside and brought in wood to replenish the stack she kept at the end of the hearth. Their first meal came from their supplies, as they hadn’t taken time to purchase anything to eat on their rush to get home to Coeur d’Alene from Spokane.

  Following a filling meal, the couple went to the bedroom for a comfortable night’s sleep in a soft bed. For over two weeks, they had slept on the floor of a bouncing boxcar as they returned from Texas.

  The morning light coming through the window woke Kate and she went to the kitchen to make coffee and cook breakfast. A few minutes later, she heard Man on the porch drawing water from their well. She peeked and saw him shaving and humming an old tune.

  Her eyes feasted on her handsome husband and she recalled the first time she saw his face after she’d shaved his shaggy beard. He’d been on the trail for several days and survived an ambush by outlaws wanting his winter supplies. Kate had nursed him back to health in a small cabin high in the mountains. They were never sure which state their cabin was located in, not that it mattered. There were miles and miles of uninhabited land in every direction.

  Kate McAlaster had survived an Indian massacre on the Oregon Trail and took refuge in his cabin. It was fortunate for both of them. She would have died without food and a place to spend the winter. He would have died on the trail where she’d found him severely wounded.

  Kate offered a sigh of contentment and went back to cooking their breakfast. When they finished, she leaned back and sipped a cup of hot coffee.

  “Mr. Manchester,” she said. “Do you remember when we first met, after you were able, and we worked our tail off getting ready for the winter?”

  “Of course I remember that. You were almost a slave driver.”

  “Well,” she said. “We need to do the same now. There’s hay to be harvested for the animals. A supply of firewood must be cut and stacked before snow is so deep we can’t.”

  Man offered a playful, teasing groan, but then said, “I’ll do the firewood if you’ll cut the hay. Leave it in piles and we can use the wagon to bring it to the barn.”

  “A deal,” she said. She went to change into her old buckskins for the outside work. They both wore deerskin clothing when working on a case. An Indian woman at The Fort made for them. The wife of a friend of theirs made the original clothing from soft deerskin. Unfortunately, she was later killed by slave traders capturing young Indian women for sale on the coast.

  Man watched Kate putting on the old stained skins and noticed she had put his on the bed.

  “They are old and worn,” she said, “but good enough to wear while you’re chopping wood.”

  He didn’t complain and dutifully pulled them on. They went to the barn where she got the scythe. He picked up an ax and his rifle, and they went to the meadow they’d bought with the house.

  Man spotted a dead tree and went to work. Kate selected an area with tall grass and began to cut it. Swinging a scythe was easy for her since she’d learned as a child back in Iowa. With four animals to feed for the winter, she knew they needed a large supply. The snow would cover the grass so deep the horses and mules couldn’t graze.

  Man was busy cutting the branches from the log when he looked up and saw two young men riding an old mule toward him. He walked to where he’d put his Winchester rifle. He and Kate never went anywhere without their weapons.

  The two lads stopped on the road and walked to where Man waited.

  “My name is Roy Shobert and this is my brother, Dan,” the older of the two said. “We’re looking for work and are good at swinging an ax or cutting hay.”

  Man looked over the young men. He gauged the older to be about eighteen, the younger about sixteen. They both had shaggy light brown hair and had obviously never seen the inside of a barbershop. Man took a moment to size them up and decided they were decent kids looking for work. He knew honest eyes when he saw them.

  “How much do you charge?”

  “We’ll give you a full day of hard labor for a dollar each,” Roy said.

  “You’re hired,” Man said.

  “When do you want us to start?” Roy asked.

  Man tossed him the ax. “I’ll go to the barn for another. Dan, bring your mule and put him in the corral. You can bring back another ax.”

  “Will do,” Dan said.

  “Roy, cut the trees in this fenced area,” Man said as he gestured toward the old fence. “Choose dead trees to start with. They need to be thinned out so new ones can grow to take their place. It looks like a fire killed them a long time ago. I want the logs split and cut in fireplace lengths.”

  Man and Dan went to the barn and put the mule in with the others. “He looks like he could use some groceries,” Man said. “Our two mules are larger and w
ill whip him away from the trough. You had better bring him inside.”

  Dan led the mule inside the barn and Man gestured toward a stall. “Put him in there and give him a full bucket of oats and hay.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dan said.

  They watched the hungry mule eating the grain for a minute. “It’s been ages since he had grain,” Dan said.

  That was obvious to Man, but he didn’t comment.

  He gestured toward an ax and Dan hurried to get it then trotted back toward his brother with the ax over his shoulder.

  Man smiled. Like the mule, the boys looked hungry and needed the work to buy food.

  He picked up a rake and another scythe and went to join Kate. She saw him coming and stood waiting, wiping sweat from her face. “Who are the two boys?” she asked.

  “Roy and Dan Shobert. They stopped and asked for work. They charge a dollar a day. I think it’s worth it to get firewood cut and stacked before it snows.”

  “The price is reasonable if they’ll work,” she said.

  “We’ll know before the day is finished,” he said as he put the rake and his rifle against a tree and took the scythe to another patch of lush grass and went to work.

  Before noon, Kate stopped and looked up. “Did the boys have food?”

  “Nope, and from their looks, they’re on the verge of starving. The mule they were riding is the same. I don’t know their story, but I suspect they’re having a hard time.”

  “All I have to eat is what’s in our packs, but I can make something that will be filling and hot.”

  “From the looks of them,” Man said, “a double helping for them is in order.”

  She nodded and walked toward the house. “I need an hour. I’ll wave when it’s time to come in and wash up.”

  He looked at Roy and Dan and saw them busy working. The stack of firewood, cut to the proper lengths for the fireplace, was growing. He smiled. They hadn’t taken a break since they’d started.

  Man kept watching the house and finally saw Kate walk out and wave. He returned the gesture and put the scythe against a tree, picked up his rifle, and walked toward where the boys were working.

  “Chow time,” he said.

  They both looked up with a startled expression on their face.

  “Come on,” Man said. “My wife just waved that chuck is ready and if we don’t get up there and get washed, she may toss it out.”

  “Mr. Manchester, sir,” Roy said. “We’ve never been fed when we worked for anybody. Are you sure she wants us to eat?”

  “Yep. I told her that working men like you two need plenty of groceries inside their belly. She’ll have a stew that’s worth putting your lips around. Put the axes down and come with me.”

  They dutifully followed him to the house. He went to the well, drew a bucket of water, poured it in a pan, picked up a chunk of soap, and went to work on his hands and face.

  The boys watched until he finished. He tossed the water, filled the pan again, and gestured at Roy. “To sit at her table, you have to have clean hands and face. That’s one of her rules and I ain’t about to cross her. She’s too good a cook.”

  He watched the two and then led them into the house.

  Kate was waiting for them. “My name is Kate,” she said.

  “This is Roy and his brother Dan Shobert,” Man said.

  She had four plates on the table and a large pot of stew in the middle. Man gestured for them to sit on one side and he went to sit beside Kate.

  “We appreciate this,” Roy said. “We didn’t expect a meal to be included.”

  “We had a boy,” Kate said, “not much younger than you riding with us. I know how hungry you get, especially workings like you two have been.”

  Roy and Dan lowered their heads and gave a short prayer before looking up. “My mom would skin us if we didn’t offer thanks,” Roy said.

  “I understand,” Kate said. “My mom was the same.”

  She stood and filled their plates with the rich stew made from dried vegetables and elk jerky. That was all they carried on the trail since it wouldn’t spoil. Of course, they had a bag of pemmican, parched corn and jerky to eat when they didn’t stop to eat.

  Both boys finished the plate before Man and Kate were half finished with theirs. She gestured at the pot. “We’ve had all we want. Finish it for me, please.”

  Roy dipped out half into Dan’s plate and then put the rest on his and they went back to eating.

  Kate glanced at Man and nodded. He understood what she was silently saying. The two lads were hungry.

  When they finished, they both stood and thanked her for the meal.

  “Come with me,” Man said. The boys followed Man to the barn and he gestured at the hay. “Find a comfortable place and rest for thirty minutes. I’ll be back for you when it’s time to go back to work.”

  They looked at the other in disbelief.

  “You two have a full afternoon of work in front of you,” Man said. “Rest now and you can go until quitting time.”

  They nodded and smoothed out a place on the hay and lay down.

  Man went back to the house in time to see Kate putting the dishes in the cabinet.

  “I told them to nap for thirty minutes,” he said. “We need to do the same.”

  “Not on our bed with these dirty clothes,” she said. She went for a blanket and spread it on the floor. He lay on the blanket and said, “This reminds me of the floor of the boxcar.”

  She chuckled, put her head on his shoulder, and was asleep in seconds.

  The alarm went on in his mind and he moved. This woke Kate and they walked out to the barn. Roy and Dan were gone. He looked toward the meadow where they had been working and saw them both swinging an ax.

  “Those two boys are eager for work,” he said.

  “If time permits before we’re snowed in for the winter, as soon as they finish cutting wood, I wonder if they know anything about carpentry,” she said. “Maybe they could help finish the porch and get it enclosed for the winter.”

  “I’ll ask them tomorrow morning. Another day of hard work like today and we should have ample firewood for the winter. However, before we start on another project, we can put the boys to work hauling hay to the barn. Once that’s done, we’ll see what else they can do.”

  “Then let’s get busy and put more hay on the ground,” she said.

  Two days later the wood was stacked by the side of the house and the hay was stored in the barn.

  Man took the two young men to the house and showed them the back porch. “Do you know anything about carpentry?”

  As usual, Roy did the talking. “Our dad was a carpenter. He died last winter, but we often helped him on jobs. Enclosing this porch would be easy.”

  “If I buy the materials, will you work for the same wages?”

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Man, sir,” Roy said.

  “Good,” Man said. “Kate wants it enclosed before winter. Tomorrow morning, we’ll make a list of the materials you need and take the wagon into town and buy them.”

  “I know the best place to purchase building supplies,” Roy said. “We often went with my dad.”

  The next morning, they hitched the mules to the wagon. Man stepped up on the seat and put his rifle down beside him. Both of the young men were watching, but neither made a comment about the rifle.

  “Lead the way,” Man said.

  “They walked into a store and the proprietor came to meet them. “Hello, Roy and Dan. What can I do for you today?”

  “We’re enclosing the back porch for Mr. Manchester,” Roy said. “He wants to buy the materials.”

  Man stepped forward and said, “I’m United States Marshal Manchester. We haven’t met.”

  The merchant offered his hand to shake. “I’m Daniel Wilcox. I heard you were locating here and bo
ught Emma Gibson’s home.”

  “That’s us,” Man said.

  He heard a strange sound from behind him and turned to look. Roy and Dan stood with a strange expression on their faces. Roy managed to speak, “You’re a federal marshal?”

  “Yes,” Man said. “And Kate is a deputy marshal.”

  “Do you have a list of materials you need?” Mr. Wilcox asked.

  Man handed him the list. Daniel looked at it a moment. “Since I don’t know you, will this be cash or credit?”

  “Cash,” Man replied.

  “Then bring your wagon into the yard and we’ll load you up. It says here you want four windows. May I ask what kind?”

  “That I don’t know,” Man said. He turned to Roy and Dan. “You saw the porch. Kate said she wanted something to let in light and a breeze during the summer, but covered in the winter. Maybe shutters.”

  “We know what she wants,” Roy said.

  “Good. Then you select what you’ll need to make the room look nice for her.”

  After the wagon was loaded and Man paid Mr. Wilcox, he drove the wagon back through town and stopped at the telegraph office, but there were no wires. He stopped at the police station to see if anything was happening. Thankfully, there was nothing of significance.

  On the ride home, Dan and Roy rode on the seat beside Man, as the back was full of lumber and building materials. “You’re the first real marshal we ever saw,” Roy said. “Do you have to go out and arrest people often?”

  “Yes. In fact, we just returned from Texas bringing four fugitives back.”

  “The Bright women?” the young man asked. “We heard about that.”

  “That was Kate and I,” Man said. “After working straight for months, our boss gave us a couple of weeks off.”

  “Was it scary?” Roy asked.

  “Getting shot at is always scary,” Man said with a half-grin.

  “What do you do besides arrest killers and bank robbers?” Dan asked.

  “If anybody breaks the law, it’s our duty to take them in,” Man said. “And then the courts decide the punishment if they’re found guilty.”