Tom smiled as he nodded then resumed eating.
_____
When he entered the barn fifteen minutes later, Jake momentarily thought that Tom had brought Emperor into the barn as a joke. But he soon realized that the horse in the stall next to Mars’ new home was a gelding. Where Tom had found him was a minor mystery because Jake would have spotted him when he went looking for Mars. He was almost as large as his red gelding and when Jake entered, both horses turned their heads in unison to look at him.
He stepped into the stall on the left side of Mars so he could take a closer look at his new packhorse without making his red gelding jealous.
As Jake rubbed Mars’ neck, he examined the tall black gelding. He wasn’t as completely black as Emperor, but Jake was pretty sure that he was the stallion’s offspring.
He looked at Mars and said, “I think we’ll be traveling with one of your younger brothers, Mars. As he’s farther down your family tree’s branch, maybe we should give him a brotherly name that reflects his status. I have no idea how old the other planets are, but the furthest one they’ve discovered is Neptune. Your brother doesn’t look like he should be carrying a trident, so that’s out. Uranus is too, um, suggestive. Jupiter is too grand, and he was your father too, at least as far as Roman gods are concerned. Saturn has rings and I don’t think your brother ever married.”
He turned his eyes back to the black horse and as they stared at each other, Jake asked, “Any suggestions?”
He laughed then said, “Let’s avoid the whole planet thing and stick to the Roman gods. Mars had a brother named Vulcan who was the god of fire. How about that?”
When the horse didn’t comment, Jake reached across the rail, patted his shoulder and said, “Vulcan it is. When we get back, you won’t be staying in the corral, either. But until then, you’ll have to suffer a modicum of humiliation by carrying a pack saddle. But if you look on the bright side, it’ll be a good hundred pounds less than the weight your older brother will have to lug across the territory.”
He then looked back at Mars and asked, “You won’t mind the extra weight; will you, Mars?”
After a few seconds of silence, Jake popped Mars on his left shoulder and said, “I didn’t think you would.”
He then left the barn and walked back to the chow house. When he entered, he found Big Tom grinning at him.
“I reckoned you’d be stoppin’ by when you met your packhorse.”
“I never saw him before, but I should have noticed him before I left. He was foaled more than four years ago; wasn’t he?”
“Yup. You never saw him because your father was figurin’ to use him when the Emperor got too old. I was kinda surprised when he wanted him gelded, though. I only broke him to the saddle this spring and I don’t think the boss ever got to ride him. He’s almost as handsome as Mars; ain’t he?”
“He is. I named him Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. I gave him the name because Vulcan was Mars’ brother. I figured you’d want to know all the details. Anyway, when I return, I’ll keep him with his older, red brother.”
“All that Roman stuff don’t interest me none. But I figured you’d wanna keep him. I’m sure he’ll be able to keep up with Mars. And I’m kinda glad that you decided to hang onto him.”
“Thanks, Tom.”
“You’re welcome, boss.”
Jake waved before he turned then left the chow house and headed back to the ranch house.
After entering the back door, he passed through the kitchen, walked down the hallway and into the office. He turned right and stepped before the rack of rifles. He had only planned to take his Winchester and Colt, but after seeing Vulcan, he began to think that the big black wouldn’t mind carrying another fifteen pounds of rifle and ammunition. He was undecided about taking the Sharps or the Martini-Henry. He hadn’t fired either of them, so he thought that he might take both of them out tomorrow afternoon for a personal competition.
He opened the ammunition drawer and removed a box of cartridges for each gun, then picked out one cartridge from each box and carried them to the desk. After sitting down, he set them on their bases for comparison.
The Martini-Henry cartridge was massive with a larger diameter than the Sharps. But the .45 caliber Sharps cartridge seemed more elegant and had more powder. Jake also suspected that the slightly larger bullet of the British rifle would lose energy faster as it had to push more air out of the way. It wouldn’t be that noticeable, though. The Sharps may have less stopping power at shorter ranges, but Jake believed that it would be more effective and accurate than its British rival beyond four hundred yards. He’d ask Sam Bannister about it on Monday.
His decision to take one of them with him wasn’t because he planned to shoot his father at long range when he found him. He wanted to face his father and give him a chance to offer any possible explanation for his crime. Jake only considered taking one of the rifles as added protection against any bad men he might meet who wanted Mars, Vulcan, or his packs. He wasn’t worried about any of the tribes, although there were a few disgruntled holdouts roaming the territory. The road between Fort Benton and Helena, which passed through Fort Shaw, was still fairly well traveled and attracted outlaws of all sorts.
The Northern Pacific was getting close to completing the second transcontinental railroad but hadn’t reached Helena yet. They were planning a spur line to Fort Benton, but it would probably be
