Biff chuckled. “Well, my friend, the operative words there are shoot at. And in my case, I’m glad you missed. What’ll it be, Duff, Meagan?”
Duff ordered a Scotch and Meagan ordered a white wine.
Biff stepped up to the bar, ordered the drinks, then brought them back to the table.
“Going to the cattlemen’s meeting, are you?” he asked.
“Aye, and cattle woman,” Duff replied.
“What?”
Meagan chuckled. “There’s no need in going through all this again. What he means is that I’m going as well.”
“As you should, since you own part of the herd,” Biff said. “What is the meeting about?”
Duff shook his head. “I’ve nae idea what it’s aboot. ’Tis not a regularly scheduled meeting, ’n from the looks o’ things across the street, ’tis not even a meeting to which ever’ one was invited. ’Tis wondering, I am, why they would want to meet in a room as wee as the bank boardroom.”
“Yes, Manuel Vazquez was in here earlier,” Biff said. “He had found out about the meeting quite by accident, because he hadn’t been invited. And when he asked about it, he was told that the meeting had nothing to do with him. I think he believed it was because he was a Mex.”
“I dinnae know. That could be the reason, I suppose, but I’m for thinking that it might be something else. ’Tis for a fact that I know Percy Gaines wasn’t invited, ’n Percy is a foine rancher. His ranch is still a wee one, aye, but I’ve nae doubt that it will grow. Percy is a good worker ’n as foine a lad as anyone would ever encounter.”
“I’ll say this about him. He watches his money,” Biff said. “He comes in here from time to time and buys but one beer, and that’s all.”
“Aye, he is savin’ money to marry his sweetheart. He plans to bring her here to help him run his ranch.”
“Merlin Goodman just got here. I can see him goin’ into the bank now,” Elmer said, looking through the window.
“Perhaps ’tis time for us to go as well.” Duff held his glass up. “Here’s to older whiskey, younger women, faster horses, ’n more money.”
“What? Younger women?” Meagan said.
“Forgive me, lass, for ’tis a Scottish toast I quoted without thinking.”
“Ha! I’ll say you weren’t thinking,” Biff said with a little laugh.”
“Then we’ll drink to faster horses ’n more money,” Duff suggested.
“Well, now, I didn’t have anythin’ against drinkin’ to the whiskey, neither,” Elmer added.
Chapter Twenty
Finishing their drinks, Duff, Meagan, and Elmer crossed the street and stepped into the bank. As they started into the board meeting room, however, they were stopped by someone that Duff had never seen before. Elmer recognized him, though; it was Dobbins, one of the men who had accosted Wang.
“You can’t go in there. The cattlemen is havin’ a private meetin’ this afternoon,” he said.
“Get out of the way, Dobbins, we’re Sky Meadow, and we’ve been invited,” Elmer said.
“There ain’t no women allowed,” Dobbins said. He pointed to Elmer. “And I know you ain’t no cattleman, ’cause you was with that Celestial.”
“The one I warned you about, but you wouldn’t listen,” Elmer said with a glint of humor in his eyes.
Subconsciously, Dobbins put his hand to his throat.
“Yeah, well, anyway, this here meetin’ is for cattlemen only.”
“It’s all right, Mr. Dobbins,” Houser called from just inside the room. “They may come in.”
“All three of ’em?” Dobbins called back.
“Yes, all three of them, although Captain MacCallister, I do wonder at the sagacity of your bringing Miss Parker.” He smiled at Meagan. “You are quite welcome, my dear, but as most of the conversation will be ‘men’s talk’ I fear you may find the meeting somewhat off-putting.”
“Oh, but I am very much looking forward to it, Mr. Houser,” Meagan said, returning the smile. “And I am quite comfortable with ‘men’s talk.’”
“Then by all means, my dear, please do come on in,” Houser invited. “The meeting will start in just a minute or two.”
Duff looked around at the other attendees: In addition to Brad Houser, who seemed to be in charge of the meeting, also present were Clyde Barnes, Dale Allen, David Lewis, Merlin Goodman, Webb Dakota, and Burt Rowe.
Duff knew all the ranchers, some better than others, and what he knew about them was that they were the biggest ranchers in this part of Wyoming. Not only was Percy Gaines absent, but not one of the smaller ranchers was present, not even Ethan Terrell, whose ranch, the Diamond T, the largest of the smaller ranches, was nearly of the size to be considered one of the larger ranches.
Duff responded to the greetings of some of the others as he, Meagan, and Elmer took their seats.
“So, tell me, MacCallister, have you been eatin’ any more lamb lately?” Goodman asked.
“Aye, but lamb is getting so hard to find that I’m thinking about bringing in a nice flock of say . . . oh, about a thousand of the woolly creatures. They aren’t like cattle, you know. You can sell them for meat, or you can keep them and just sell their wool. ’Twould be quite a profitable enterprise, and I hope to convince others to join me in the raising of the creatures.”
“What!” Goodman replied, gasping in displeasure. “You wouldn’t dare!”
Webb Dakota chuckled. “My dear Mr. Goodman, I do believe that Captain MacCallister was joking with you. As an Englishman, it has been my observation that Scots are like that.”
“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” Houser called, holding his arms out. “If you would, please, I would like for you to direct your attention to the front of the room, so that we can get started.”
“Mr. Houser, I thought this was a meeting of the cattlemen of Laramie County,” Barnes said.
“That, it is, Mr. Barnes.”
“Well, I don’t know what you have in mind, sir, but there certainly are not many of us here. Laramie is a damn big county, and
