* * *
Two days later, Houser drove the surrey into Chugwater then stopped in front of the law offices of Norton and Norton. It had been Dan Norton who handled the legal aspects of his buying Twin Peaks.
“Mr. Houser,” Norton greeted when Houser stepped into his office. “What can I do for you?”
“Tell me what you can about MacCallister,” Houser said.
Norton got a questioning look on his face. “Surely you aren’t contemplating any legal action against Duff MacCallister, are you?”
“What? No, no, of course not. It is just that he is my neighbor and seems to be an important man in the Valley of the Chug, so I think I would like to know more about him. He speaks with a heavy Scottish brogue, so I’m certain he isn’t a native American.”
“No, he isn’t, but he has adapted very quickly to our culture. He is, as you have observed, a very important man here, not only because he has extensive land holdings, but because he is in every way a gentleman, and someone we can count on when there is trouble.
“Of course, that comes rather naturally to him. You may not know this, but he was a reserve captain in the 42nd Foot, Third Battalion of the Royal Highland Regiment of Scots. He was a participant in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir in Egypt, and there, he received the Victoria Cross.”
“The Victoria Cross? That’s quite an honorable award,” Houser said. “What do you know about the two men who seem to be closest to him . . . the one called Elmer, and the Chinaman, Wang?”
Norton chuckled. “Elmer Gleason is quite an interesting character. He was in the war, fighting for the South, though I believe he was with one of the irregular units. After the war, he went to sea, visited China, Australia, England, France. You would never know by looking at him, but he is quite a well-traveled man. Then he left the sea, wound up living with the Indians for a while before he relocated here, where he found some gold, I don’t know how much, in what had been an abandoned mine. For a while people would see him so infrequently, that some began to think that he was a ghost. Shortly after Duff MacCallister arrived, Gleason went to work for him, but I think their relationship is more than just employer, employee. Gleason is a junior partner in the ranch, and there is a very strong bond of friendship between them.”
“And the Chinaman?”
“He is a more recent addition to Sky Meadow. The word is that Duff saved Wang’s life and, being a Chinaman, Wang sets a high value on honor and loyalty. It might also be good for you to know that Wang is quite skilled in some type of Chinese fighting technique, and it makes him quite formidable. But he is bound by his honor never to use his skills except in defense. I’m sure your questioning has to do with the little episode between Wang and some of your men.”
“You are aware of that?” Houser asked.
Norton chuckled. “Oh, my dear Mr. Houser, the entire town is aware of that. Fully a dozen witnessed the event, and all have testified that it was your men who started it. I do hope you don’t think you have a legal case against Wang.”
“No, I’m satisfied that, under the circumstances, legal action would come to naught.” Houser, who had been sitting in Norton’s office, stood and extended his hand. “Mr. Norton, I want to thank you for providing me with information about my neighbor. You have been most helpful.”
Chapter Fifteen
After leaving the offices of Norton and Norton, and taking care of some business at the bank, Brad Houser decided to have a drink at Fiddler’s Green.
“Hello, Mr. Houser,” Biff greeted. “What can I get for you?”
“I’ll have a whiskey.”
“Biff, give the gentleman a Scotch ’n put it on m’ tab,” Duff said, calling from his table.
“I thank you, sir,” Houser said as he took the drink from the bartender.
“Would you be for joining me, Mr. Houser?” Duff invited.
Houser took his drink over to the table and sat down.
“Well, meeting you today is quite serendipitous, I must say,” Houser said. He lifted the whiskey glass. “To your health, sir.”
Duff lifted his glass as well. “And to yours, sir.”
The two men drank, then Duff asked, “In what way is our meeting serendipitous, may I ask?”
“Well, for one thing, I would like to apologize to you for my boorish behavior the other day, when I called upon you to protest the injuries your Mr. Wang inflicted upon my men. I have since heard from many witnesses that the incident was precipitated by my two employees. It was untoward of me, and I ask your forbearance.”
“Dinnae be troubled over it, Mr. Houser. ’Tis more than one man who has underestimated Wang’s rather remarkable skills.”
“That’s most gracious of you. But I’ve another thing I wish to discuss with you . . . you being the owner of the largest ranch in the valley. What do you think of all these . . . upstart . . . small ranchers?”
“I’m nae sure what ye mean by the question,” Duff replied.
“A few weeks ago, I asked my foreman to move part of the herd into the Pine Flats. I am told that Mr. Prescott used the Pine Flats for grazing for as long as he owned Twin Peaks ranch, but Turley came back with the information that Prosser, one of these nuisance small ranchers, had moved his cows there, eating my grass and drinking my water.”
“Ah, but ’tis nae your grass nor your water, Mr. Houser. The Pine Flats is open range.”
“So I have been told,” Houser replied.
“Then dinnae ye think that Mr. Prosser has every right to be there?”
“There is an unwritten law of inverse established domain, which grants to the prior user proprietary exclusion
