It has been alleged that Mr. Houser lied to opposing counsel and to the court. Rather than face trial and possible incarceration, Mr. Houser pled guilty to the charge and accepted disbarment as the only assessed penalty. Houser has since left Texas and his current whereabouts is unknown.
“There is no doubt in my mind, but that this is the same man,” Charley said. “How many lawyers could there be with that same name?”
“I don’t trust nobody that talks like he does. All them highfalutin words Houser spits out, he don’t sound nothin’ a-tall like no one I’ve never heard before,” Elmer said.
Charley Blanton laughed. “Being as you’re from Missouri, it seems highly unlikely that you have ever heard anyone use proper English.”
“Are you sayin’ I don’t talk good?”
“No, Elmer. You talk just real good,” Charley teased, mimicking Elmer’s Missouri twang and idiom.
“Tell me, Duff,” Charley continued. “Why are you so interested in Brad Houser?”
“We had a meeting of the Laramie Cattlemen’s Association today,” Duff replied. “Only, it was nae for all the ranchers, just for the larger ranchers. Houser let it be known that he is planning on going to war against all the wee ranchers of the valley.”
“What? Why would he do such a thing? Some of the smaller ranchers are our best citizens. He’ll never get the other ranchers to go along with him,” Blanton said.
“He’s already got ’em,” Elmer said.
“He does?”
“Aye. He claims to hold a commission from the governor to raise a private army to go to war against the smaller ranchers. He’s calling his army ‘territorial deputies.’”
“Why in heavens name would he want to do that?”
“He’s a-sayin’ that all the little ranchers is stealin’ cattle from the larger ranchers,” Elmer said, answering Charley’s question.
“You know what I’m thinkin’, Duff? I think he just a-sayin’ that the little ranchers is stealin’ cattle so he can use that to sort of cover somethin’ else he might have in mind,” Elmer said. “Like maybe he don’t like ’em usin’ the open range.”
“You may have a point there, Elmer,” Charley said. “Tell me, Duff, would you mind if I did a little checking up, to see if the governor actually has given him such authority?”
“I don’t mind at all. In fact, I think it would be a fine idea for you to do so.”
“Then I shall get right on it,” Blanton promised.
* * *
“I’m pretty sure that if Houser claims he has the governor behind him, he probably does,” Biff said after Duff and Elmer returned to Fiddler’s Green to give him a report on what they found out. “I mean, him bein’ a lawyer ’n all, I would expect him to make certain everything is on the up-and-up.”
“Aye, but it doesn’t hurt to check up on him,” Duff said.
“Well, would you look at what the cat drug in,” Elmer said.
Elmer’s comment caused both Duff and Biff to look toward the door, where they saw Percy Gaines.
At first Duff thought something might be wrong, but the broad smile on Percy’s face told him otherwise.
“Percy, would ye be for joinin’ us now?”
“All right, but I can only stay for a short while, because I’ve got a train to catch.”
“Where are you goin’ on the train?” Elmer asked.
“I’m goin’ to Kansas City.” Percy’s smile got larger. “She’s goin’ to marry me, Mr. Gleason, Mr. MacCallister, Mr. Johnson. I wrote her a letter ’n asked if she would come out here ’n marry me, ’n she wrote back ’n said that she would. Sara Sue Cannedy is goin’ to become Sara Sue Gaines.”
“Well, now, this calls for a toast!” Biff said, and held his hand up, signaling to one of the girls who worked there. “Annie, drinks all around here, and from my special bottle of Scotch.”
“Your ‘special’ bottle?” Duff asked. “Here, Biff, ’n are ye for tellin’ me that I don’t get your special bottle?”
“Of course you do,” Biff replied easily. “And who do you think I keep the special bottle for? I was just givin’ Annie her instructions, is all.”
“I can’t believe she’s actually goin’ to come out here to marry me,” Percy said.
“What do you mean you can’t believe it?” Elmer asked. “It’s all you been talkin’ about for the last year.”
“I know, I know. But I wasn’t ever just really sure, you know. But now, I’ve got me a nice little ranch, ’n it’ll be growin’, too.”
“I’ll send Keegan over to keep an eye on it while you’re gone,” Duff offered.
“Well, Mr. MacCallister, that’s very nice of you, sendin’ Keegan over to look after my herd, like that.”
“That’s what neighbors do for one another,” Duff replied.
“Yes, sir, it is, ain’t it? ’N we are neighbors, even if your ranch is near a hundred times bigger ’n mine.”
Annie brought the drinks, and Duff raised his glass to propose the toast. “Percy, m’ lad, may the best you’ve ever seen, be the worst you’ll ever see.”
The four men drank their toast.
“Let me ask you something, Percy,” Duff said as he set his glass down. “Have ye lost any cattle to rustlers?”
“Lost any cattle? No, sir. Fact is, I’ve gained a few cows from some of the other ranches.”
“What do you mean, you’ve gained a few cows?” Duff asked, curious about Percy’s comment.
“Well, sir, it wasn’t hard pickin’ ’em out, seein’ as they was Herefords. But, you know, it’s the damnedest thing, just in the last few weeks I’ve had some cattle from Twin Peaks, Pitchfork, and Trail Back that’s showed up on my ranch.”
“How many?”
“Ten from Twin Peaks, four from Pitchfork, ’n two from Trail Back. ’N that’s what is so funny about it. I mean, how come it is that all them cows has sort of wandered onto The Queen from all them different ranches at about the same time? I mean, I could see if they all come from one ranch, but
