Johnny McCabe (The McCabes Book 6) Read online

  JOHNNY McCABE

  Brad Dennison

  Author of

  THE LONG TRAIL and TRAIL DRIVE

  Published by Pine Bookshelf

  Buford, Georgia

  Johnny McCabe is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2016 by Bradley A. Dennison

  All Rights Reserved

  Editor and Cover Design: Donna Dennison

  Copy Editor: Loretta Yike

  In Memory of

  Leon Shook

  Many thanks for the inspiration, encouragement and guidance. You are truly missed.

  THE McCABES

  The Long Trail

  One Man’s Shadow

  Return of the Gunhawk

  Boom Town

  Trail Drive

  Johnny McCabe

  Shoshone Valley (Coming Soon)

  JUBILEE

  Preacher With A Gun

  Gunhawk Blood (Coming Soon)

  THE TEXAS RANGER

  Tremain

  Wardtown

  Jericho (Coming Soon)

  Table of Contents

  PART ONE

  Christmas

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  PART TWO

  Returning Home

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  PART THREE

  The Outlaw Trail

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  39

  40

  PART FOUR

  Texas

  41

  42

  43

  44

  45

  46

  47

  48

  49

  50

  51

  52

  53

  54

  55

  56

  57

  58

  59

  60

  61

  62

  63

  64

  65

  66

  67

  PART FIVE

  The Mountains

  68

  69

  70

  71

  72

  73

  PART SIX

  California

  74

  75

  76

  77

  78

  79

  80

  81

  82

  83

  84

  85

  86

  87

  88

  89

  90

  91

  92

  93

  EPILOGUE

  PART ONE

  Christmas

  1

  Montana, 1881

  The boys had gone into the ridges and come back with the biggest, grandest Christmas tree Bree had ever seen. It was so tall it had to be cut a little so the angel could perch on top of it and not bump its head on the ceiling. And it wasn’t just that the tree was tall, but it was full. Its boughs extended out into the parlor so much that it had to be cut back a little so people could get through the doorway into the kitchen.

  The family decorated the tree, which really meant Bree, Aunt Ginny, Haley and Temperance decorated. Josh and Dusty had good intentions about decorating. But they ended up drinking whiskey and smoking cigars, and talking with Sam and Charles about everything from hunting to cattle to the weather, and didn’t get much actual decorating done.

  Aunt Ginny and Sam were living in town these days, but they came out for the decorating of the tree.

  “I wouldn’t miss our evening of working on the tree,” Aunt Ginny said.

  Bree was in a gray blouse and a floor-length skirt, and her hair was tied back in a long braid. She was hanging a decoration that was actually an old pine cone Pa had made for her years ago.

  She said, “It seems so strange without Pa here. And Jessica and Cora.”

  “They’ll be here,” Josh said. “They’re coming out Christmas Eve.”

  “I can’t believe how many people we’re going to have here. The house is going to be so full. Fuller than it’s ever been before.”

  Aunt Ginny nodded. “That it will be.”

  They had decided to turn this year’s Christmas into a full-family event. Matt and Peddie would be here. Mister Harding and his wife had been invited. And the best part of it, Bree thought, was Jack and Nina were home from Boston and would be here.

  Jack was out of town for the moment. He was off in Helena, meeting with a judge. But he would be back in time for Christmas.

  When the tree was finished, Bree took a step back and admired their work. She was admiring it again, later in the evening. Aunt Ginny and Sam had turned in. Dusty and Haley and Jonathan had gone home. Temperance was in the kitchen, doing a final clean-up before she went to bed, and Josh was out on the porch getting a breath of evening, winter air. This left Bree and Charles alone by the tree.

  Every Christmas tree struck Bree as a thing of wonder, but none quite as much as this one.

  “Oh, Charles,” she said. “It’s so grand.”

  He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head back on his chest.

  “You’re grand,” he said.

  This got a smile out of her. She looked up at him and got a quick kiss.

  She said, “I think Christmas is the greatest time of the whole year.”

  He nodded. “We never had a Christmas like this when I was growing up. I’m realizing I missed so much.”

  “Well, you’re part of this family, now.”

  They stood for a while looking at the tree. Some of the decorations had been made by Pa or the boys, and others brought from San Francisco by Aunt Ginny. And little flames flickered and danced on the candles, giving the tree a magical look.

  After a time, Charles said, “I’d best be turning in. Tomorrow starts early, and even though Christmas is almost here, the work goes on.”

  “Are you still planning on riding out to the line cabin tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “Being ramrod has its responsibilities. I’ll be back before Christmas eve.”

  “Well, come on. I’ll walk with you out to the porch.”

  They found Josh still out there, a glass of whiskey in hand. Now that Josh was the man of the house, and Pa, Jessica and Cora had moved out to the cabin in their little canyon north of the valley, Josh had taken to standing on the back porch and looking off at the night. He greeted the morning on the porch, too. Just like Pa always had.

  The sky was clear and the stars seemed extra bright, the way they did during the winter. A quarter moon was out, and the floor of the valley was awash in pale moonlight. They had a good view of the covered bridge down by the river.

  There had been a few light dustings of snow, but they had all melted away. The ground was a gray-brown color in the moonlight.

  She said, “If we don�
�t get snow soon, then there won’t be any for Christmas. We just have to have snow for Christmas. I don’t think I ever remember a Christmas without snow.”

  “We’ll have it,” Josh said.

  Bree decided it was too cold for her to remain out on the porch, so she gave Charles a goodnight kiss and went inside.

  Josh said to Charles, “Are you still planning to ride out to the line cabin tomorrow?”

  Charles nodded. “Unless you have something else for me to do.”

  “Once you’re out there, make sure the men are loaded up with firewood, and then high-tail it back here. We’ve got some hard weather coming.”

  Charles glanced at the night sky. “Looks crystal clear up there, Boss.”

  “It looks that way. But when you’ve lived in these mountains long enough, you develop a sort of feel for the weather. The wind has shifted. It’s coming from the north. And more than that, there’s a feeling in the air. We’re gonna be hit with snow, and we’re gonna be hit hard.”

  2

  Johnny stood on the small porch of the log cabin. Ahead of him was the canyon floor. The far canyon wall was rocky, and out beyond the canyon was a cliff covered with pine. From where he stood, he could see a rocky peak off to the north, hazy in the distance.

  Johnny had a cup of coffee in his hand, and his gun was buckled into place. He stood in the morning air, enjoying the crispness.

  Frost covered the brown grass just beyond the porch, and the canyon floor was silvery with it.

  Thunder was down there, frolicking about in the coldness of the morning. The stallion seemed to love cold weather. A small herd of mustangs was with him. And Old Blue stood, chomping contentedly on the morning grass. The old steer didn’t seem to care if there was frost or not.

  Johnny heard the door opening behind him, and Jessica came out. She was in a heavy wool coat, and a kerchief was pulled up and over her hair. She had a cup of coffee in one hand.

  “It’s so cold,” she said.

  Johnny grinned. He stood in a flannel shirt and a vest. “It’s just right.”

  “You worked really hard on the woodpile yesterday. I meant to ask you about it last night, but I got distracted.”

  He looked at her and she was giving him a wide smile, and her eyes were sparkling a little. The way a woman does when she looks at the man she loves.

  “Distracted?” he said. “Seemed to me you were really focused.”

  “Now, Mister McCabe. I am a lady.”

  “A very focused lady.”

  “I’ll give you that.” She took a sip of coffee, and then wrapped both hands around the mug to keep them warm.

  She said, “But about that wood.”

  “We’ve had no real snow yet, but there’s snow coming. A lot of it, and soon. I want to make sure the wood shed is as full as it can be.”

  “Well, you have two more days before we leave for the main house.”

  Johnny shook his head. “We’re leaving today, around noon.”

  She looked at him as if to say, huh?

  Johnny looked off toward the distant peak. “See that white cloud that looks like it’s sort of wrapping itself around that mountain top?”

  She nodded. “Looks kind of pretty.”

  “It is. But it’s a sign of death.”

  She blinked with surprise. “A Shoshone thing?”

  “Just something I learned from a lot of years in these mountains. That’s the sign of a storm coming, and it’s coming fast. I want to be at the main house before it hits, or at least before it gets bad. I want you to pack enough things for a week.”

  “A week?”

  He nodded. “It’ll be at least a week before we’ll be able to get back through the passes to this canyon.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go.”

  “I know Josh and Dusty. If we don’t arrive at the main house, they’ll come looking for us. The storm’ll be hard for riders to be out in it.”

  He shifted his gaze from the distant mountain back to her. “How about you? Are you and junior up to riding?”

  She nodded. “I’m fine. Granny Tate says the pregnancy is as good as any she’s ever seen.”

  Then Jessica gave him a questioning kind of grin, like she just realized what he had said. “Junior? What makes you think it’s going to be a boy?”

  “Just a gut feeling.”

  “If you’re right, and that doesn’t mean I’m agreeing that you are, but if you’re right, do you want to name him Junior? John McCabe, Junior?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “We don’t seem to have any juniors in the family. But I was thinking...they say the first McCabe in the country was named Peter. The father of the man I talk about a lot, the first John McCabe.”

  “Peter McCabe.”

  Johnny nodded. “What do you think?”

  “Has a nice ring to it.”

  “Or we could go with your father’s name. Caleb.”

  “But what if it’s a girl?”

  Jessica had talked about her mother, and her mother’s name. Johnny said, “How about Abigail? Maybe Abigail Virginia?”

  She smiled. “You are good with names.”

  He looked back at the mountain. She followed his gaze.

  She said, “Has that cloud gotten a little bigger?”

  He nodded. “It’s going to come fast. Let’s get moving. I’ll go get the horses.”

  “I’ll start packing.”

  She turned went back into the house, and Johnny could hear her calling to Cora.

  Johnny looked down at the canyon floor. Not quite a quarter of a mile, but further than a cowboy wanted to walk.

  He gave a long, hard whistle that echoed against the far canyon wall. Thunder lifted his head and looked up toward the house, then started trotting up.

  3

  Dusty was in his buckskin shirt with a thick denim jacket over it. Haley had knit a long scarf for him, and it was wrapped around his neck.

  He had come to town in a buckboard to meet the stage.

  Jack was due back today. He had gone off to Helena to assist in a trial because the local prosecutor had to recuse himself for whatever reason—Dusty found legal stuff boring and didn’t really pay attention when Jack was telling him. Judge Mack had recommended Jack.

  Dusty decided against waiting outside. It was too danged cold. He went into the Second Chance for a cup of hot coffee.

  “Storm coming,” Mr. Chen said. “Feel it in my bones.”

  Dusty nodded, sipping from a ceramic cup. “That’s what Josh says. I’m tendin’ toward believin’ him.”

  Hunter brought some more wood in and loaded it into the stove at the center of the room.

  Dusty said, “You both still coming out to the ranch for Christmas?”

  It seemed like Bree had invited almost half the town this year.

  Hunter nodded. “That we are.”

  “You better come on out this afternoon. If Josh is right about the storm, we got a blizzard coming. The passes might be impassible before the day’s done. This town will be under three feet of snow before morning.”

  Chen said, “My bones say Josh is right.”

  Dusty heard the stage coming in.

  He said, “That should be Jack.”

  He drained his coffee and set the cup down on the bar and headed out.

  The driver was hopping down from the seat. He had a white beard that touched his chest, and his face was deeply lined. He was in a heavy wool coat, and a scarf that wrapped under his chin and went up and over his hat.

  “Howdy, Ned,” Dusty said.

  “Hey, Dusty.”

  “You look about half-frozen.”

  “That’s how I feel. I’m headin’ over to the Second Chance for some hot coffee in a couple of minutes. I’m not takin’ the stage any further today. Not with this storm comin’ in.”

  Ned pulled open the stage door and Jack stepped out. He was in a fur hat with earflaps that folded down and a heavy wool coat.

  “Jack,” Dusty sa
id.

  Dusty said, “Nina would be here, but I convinced her not to come. It’s too danged cold. She’s at her folks’ farm. We’ll pick her up on the way to the ranch.”

  Jack nodded, glancing up at the sky. “We’ve got a storm coming. A real one.”

  The sky had been clear at sunrise. Now a cover of grayish-white clouds hung low and filled half the sky. The wind was strong and trees branches were waving about.

  Dusty said to Ned, “No other customers today?”

  Ned shook his head. “Didn’t expect many. With this storm coming, they’re gonna be closed for a while. Folks are hunkering down for the winter.”

  They climbed up into the wagon.

  Dusty said, “Josh sent Charles off this morning to the line cabin to make sure the line riders were set for the storm. But when he saw the cloud and how fast the storm was coming, he saddled up himself and went out to fetch Charles back. Josh is expecting the snow to hit hard by this afternoon.”

  Johnny had built a small barn for Old Blue against one end of the canyon. He was going to have to leave the steer in a stall, with enough grain in a bin to last for a few days. The stall was open so the bull could step outside the barn when he wanted to, but the opening was angled so the cold wind wouldn’t touch him.

  Johnny said, “I’ll be back when I can, old friend. You hang tough until then.”

  Johnny stepped outside the barn and looked up at the sky, and he saw the clouds were now blanketing it. The wind was strong and icy.

  Thunder was waiting for him. Johnny swung up and into the saddle and said, “The storm’s going to come fast, old friend. We’d better move even faster.”

  He rode back up to the cabin, then got Jessica’s horse saddled and fit a second horse with a pack saddle.

  He found Jessica in the kitchen, kneeling in front of Cora. The little girl was in a heavy woolen coat with a hood, and Jessica was wrapping a scarf around her neck.

  Johnny said. “We’ve got to be going now.”

  4

  Bree was on the porch watching for any sign of riders coming from across the valley. Charles and Josh, in particular. If they didn’t get in ahead of the storm, they might be snowed in at the line cabin for days. They would miss Christmas. Or worse, they might be caught in the storm. Men had died in these mountains that way.