Defiance of Eagles Read online

  He smiled, then shook his head, and, carrying his rifle, stepped down from the train. Megan came toward him. “Hello, little brother,” she said as she embraced him.

  “Hello, big sister.”

  Matthew, Morgan, and Edward greeted him with extended hands.

  “You brought Lightning?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes.”

  “All right, as soon as you get him off-loaded from the train, we’ll go out to Brimstone. Everyone else is already there.”

  “You mean I’m the last? Andrew, Roseanna, Jolene, they are all there?”

  “That they are, little brother,” Matthew said.

  Falcon didn’t even bother to saddle Lightning. Instead he hitched him on to the back of the carriage and rode the four miles from Deer Lodge out to Brimstone Ranch. Brimstone Ranch was a hundred-thousand-acre spread that was just outside Deer Lodge City, Montana.

  General Terry had been accurate when he said that Colonel Hamilton would not miss his army pension. Edward Hamilton was the only son of the Earl of Denbigh, and after his father died, Edward inherited Denbigh Castle, which was located between Malmesbury and Chipping-Sodbury. He also inherited the title of Earl of Denbigh, but he would have to return to England to claim the title.

  Having acquired American citizenship, he had no desire to return to England. He sold the land and the title to a second cousin and used the money, plus investment funds from English friends and relatives, to buy Brimstone. Once he had the land purchased, it was necessary to stock it, which he did, supplementing the cattle with Texas Longhorns, importing them for their genes for high fertility, their easy calving, resistance to disease and parasite, their longevity, and because they can live on coarse forage without any problem.

  The cattle were driven all the way from Texas by Johnny McVey, a remarkable young man who so impressed Edward that he hired him away from the XIT Ranch. Johnny McVey so impressed young Mary Kate Hamilton that when he asked her to marry him, she accepted. That wedding had brought Falcon to Brimstone.

  When Falcon saw the house he couldn’t help commenting on it. The house was situated on a hilltop between Deer Lodge and Phillipsburg, overlooking the Hell’s Gate River. It was one of the largest private homes he had ever seen.

  “Is this a house or a hotel?” he asked jokingly.

  “Welcome to Denbigh Castle, little brother,” Megan said. “It is an exact replica of Denbigh Hall, where Edward was born and raised. And, since I have been there three times, I can attest to its exact detail.”

  “It is one impressive edifice,” Falcon said.

  Megan chuckled. “Edifice. Yes, that’s an appropriate word. Denbigh Castle was one of the most significant Elizabethan country houses in England, representing one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of the Renaissance style of architecture, which came into fashion when it was no longer thought necessary to fortify one’s home.”

  “I’m disappointed. There’s no moat or castellated walls for archers,” Falcon teased.

  “Tut, tut, little brother, don’t be puerile. If you want to hear about the house I’ll tell. But if you are going to be snide about it, I’ll just leave you to wonder.”

  “I’m sorry. No, I would like to hear about it.”

  “The original house was designed for the first Earl of Denbigh, Robert Smythson Hamilton, in the late seventeenth century and remained in the family until Edward sold it.”

  “Sold it? Looks to me like he just moved it,” Falcon said.

  The carriage rolled into a long, curving drive, glistening white with its cover of marble chips. The drive encompassed a beautifully manicured lawn. It stopped in front of the house.

  “Moses, put Mr. MacCallister’s horse and saddle in the stables,” Edward said.

  “Yes, sir,” the white-haired, liveried, black carriage driver replied.

  Denbigh Castle had its great hall built on an axis through the center of the house rather than at right angles to the entrance. It was three floors high, with a grand, winding, stone staircase that led up to a suite of staterooms on the second floor, including a long gallery and a tapestry-hung great chamber.

  Falcon could hear music as they started up the staircase to the great chamber.

  “I hear Roseanna,” Falcon said with a broad smile.

  “Yes, and Andrew is playing the piano. I tell you the truth, Falcon, those two got every ounce of talent that may have been allocated for this family.”

  “I can’t argue with you on that,” Falcon said.

  Roseanna stopped in the middle of her aria when she saw Falcon. “Falcon!” she called, and she ran across the floor to embrace him.

  Jamie Ian and Kathleen stood to greet him as well, and so did Jolene. Andrew finished with the song he was playing.

  “That’s Andrew for you,” Roseanna said. “Ever the consummate entertainer. The show must go on, even if a relative he hasn’t seen in a long time appears.”

  “Well, you have certainly seen Falcon since you saw any of us,” Jamie Ian said.

  “That’s true. He is the only one who has ever come to New York to see us, more than once, I might add.”

  “Where is the star of this gathering?” Falcon asked after he greeted everyone. “Where is Mary Kate?”

  “I don’t know, we came to get you,” Megan said. “Mr. Travelstead, where is Mary Kate?”

  “She is downstairs in the library, mum,” Travelstead said. Travelstead was a gentleman’s gentleman, who had been with Denbigh Castle in England, but came to America at Edward’s invitation when the estate was sold.

  “The library is downstairs, at the back end of the great hall, last door on the right,” Megan said.

  “Thanks, I’ll go say hello to her.”

  Falcon went back downstairs and, even as he reached the bottom step, heard the music start up again. He walked down the long hall and wasn’t at all surprised to see at least six suits of armor, three on each side of the hall. He also saw a very large painting of Colonel Edward Hamilton in full dress uniform, sitting in a chair with Megan standing beside him, her white-gloved hand resting on his shoulder.

  The door to the library was standing open and Falcon looked in. There was a bubble of golden light at the far end of the library and there, sitting in a high-backed leather chair, was Mary Kate. Falcon stopped for a moment just to look at her. If anything she was even more beautiful now than she had been when last he saw her. Her fiery red hair was gleaming in the light of the lantern.

  “Mary Kate?” Falcon said, advancing into the library.

  Mary Kate looked around, then, and as she recognized Falcon, her face became very animated.

  “Uncle Falcon!” she said, and getting up from the chair she rushed toward him with her arms outstretched.

  Falcon hugged her, then walked back into the library with her.

  “All alone?” he asked.

  “Yes. I’m just . . .” she paused for a moment before continuing, “thinking.”

  “That’s understandable. You’re taking a big step tomorrow. Are you nervous?”

  “No, not nervous. Just thoughtful. Johnny is a good man. Wait until you meet him.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Why didn’t you ever get married again, Uncle Falcon?”

  “I don’t know. I guess the right woman never came along. Or, perhaps they did come along. I think, now, it is more a case of me not being the right man. I seem to have a difficult time settling down.”

  “It’s not that. It’s that you are too busy going all over the country to help people. I’ve read books about you. I remember, when I was a young girl living on army posts, I would hear about you, and be so proud that you were my uncle.”

  “Don’t believe everything you read and hear.”

  “Still, if I ever got into trouble, and needed a knight in shining armor riding a white horse to come rescue me, promise me that you will do it.”

  Falcon laughed out loud. “Darlin’, I’m not a knight an
d I don’t have armor. In fact I am quite sure that I would not fit into one of those suits of armor out in the hall. Besides, Lightning is black, not white.”

  “But promise me if I ever need you, that you will come rescue me.”

  Falcon put his hand on Mary Kate’s cheek, and she reached up to pull his hands over to her lips to kiss.

  “Of course, I promise,” he said.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Three quarters of the population of Deer Lodge County attended the wedding. Among the guests, it was a toss-up as to who made the biggest impact among the locals. There were many who had heard of, and were impressed by, Andrew and Roseanna, but just as many had heard of Falcon, and he was, after all, a Westerner, like them.

  James Mills, the publisher and editor of the Deer Lodge Examiner, wrote of the wedding that it was “the biggest social event to happen in Montana since it was admitted as a territory to the United States.”

  Conveyances of all sorts, from private coaches, to carriages, surreys, spring wagons, buckboards, buggies, and even farm wagons had arrived for the event, until the area where they were parked covered two full acres. Special hitching racks had been built to accommodate the scores of horses that were here.

  Edward had hired a band to provide music for the occasion, and on the patio behind his house, there were two steer halves and two pigs turning on spits over an open fire. The cooking had gone on for the entire night before the event, so that the area was permeated with the delightful aroma of barbecued meat.

  The wedding was performed by Leigh R. Brewer, who was the Episcopal Missionary Bishop of Montana. The actual wedding was over rather quickly, then the new Mr. and Mrs. John McVey stood in a receiving line, greeting all the guests. Falcon was family and it wasn’t necessary for him to go through the receiving line as there would be a private family reception later, but he decided to go through the line anyway.

  “Uncle Falcon!” Mary Kate said, surprised to see him in the line. “I would like to present my husband, John McVey.”

  “I know we’ll get to visit at the family reception,” Falcon said, “but I thought I would sneak through the line and get a head start. I’m very pleased to meet you, John.”

  “I’m pleased and honored to meet you, sir. And most folks call me Johnny.”

  “All right, Johnny it is.”

  “Wow,” Johnny said. “I’ve read about you for my whole life. I never thought I’d meet you, and now I learn that I’ve married into your family. Wait ’til I tell some of my friends back in Texas. Do you know anyone in Texas?”

  “I know quite a few people in Texas,” Falcon said, then with a smile he added, “but I wouldn’t say that they are all my friends.”

  An easy smile spread across Johnny’s face. “Truth is, I can’t really say that all the people I know in Texas are all my friends, either.”

  All the MacCallister siblings were sharing a table under a canopy in one corner of the patio. Jamie Ian and Ellen Kathleen were twins, and they were there with their spouses. They were the oldest, and Morgan and Matthew, who were the triplet siblings of Megan, made a big thing about escorting Jamie Ian and Ellen Kathleen, their “old” brother and sister, to their tables.

  “If you two try something like that with Andrew and me, I’m going to hit you right upside the head,” Roseanna said. “I’ll have you know I’m not old, I am merely seasoned.”

  The others laughed.

  Jolene and Falcon sat together, not only because they were the closest to each other in age, but also because they were the only surviving single births in the family.

  After much visiting and eating, Edward had the band play a fanfare to get everyone’s attention.

  “My friends,” he said, holding up his hands. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming to help us celebrate the marriage of my daughter to a wonderful young man, Johnny McVey.”

  There was a polite applause.

  “And now, Mary Kate, Johnny, if you would, please come up here? I would like to present you two with your wedding present.”

  Mary Kate and Johnny walked up to stand by Edward, responding with smiles and waves at many who called out to them.

  “I have to say that I wasn’t sure what kind of wedding present I should get them,” Edward said. “I thought about a silver hatband for Johnny, or maybe a new pair of boots. And I considered a silver bracelet for Mary Kate, but then I was afraid that Johnny might decide to go back to Texas and take Mary Kate with him. So, how could I keep him here? And then I got the idea. Johnny, Mary Kate, so that I know you will always be close, I am giving you twenty thousand acres of land, adjacent to Brimstone, and two thousand head of cattle.”

  “Wow!” Johnny shouted out loud.

  “Oh, Papa!” Mary Kate said, giving her father a big hug.

  The gift was greeted with applause and cheers from all who were in attendance.

  “And I’ve been keeping this part a secret. I’ve already had a house, barn, smokehouse—which is stocked, by the way—and corrals built. Johnny, you’ll be able to move in tonight if you want to . . . and it’s so close that Mary Kate can come visit you every day. I intend for Mary Kate, of course, to continue to live here, with her mother and father.”

  “What?!?” Mary Kate screamed, and everyone laughed.

  Finally the reception ended, and Johnny and Mary Kate climbed into the back of a carriage, to be driven by Moses to the railroad station. They were going to San Francisco for their honeymoon, and all the guests threw rice at them as the carriage drove away.

  That night Falcon stood at the window of his bedroom. There was a bright, three-quarter moon, so the grounds were all in silver and shadow. He had enjoyed being with all his brothers and sisters; it was a very rare occasion for all of them to be together. He had enjoyed his talk with Mary Kate and was pleased that she was such a delightful young woman. But truth to tell, he could scarcely wait to leave. As big as this house was, he still felt restricted by it.

  Encampment in the Elkhorn mountain range

  “The sentries are posted, Major,” Casey said.

  “Who have you got out?”

  “Jerrod and Smith are on the first relief. They’ll stay on duty until midnight. The two Hastings brothers will go from midnight until four in the morning. Then Baker and Boyle until eight.”

  “Very good,” Ackerman replied. He was scratching in the dirt, and though Casey wanted to ask him what he was doing, he knew better than to do so. With two men posted, that left eight in the encampment, and it was a real encampment with six two-man pup tents pitched in two neat rows of three. A campfire had been built, and Les Waters, who had become the company cook, was preparing a stew for their night meal.

  “What’s the major doing over there?” Travis Hastings asked.

  “Whatever he’s doin’ ain’t none of our concern,” Casey said. “When he wants us to know, he’ll tell us.”

  Throughout the next hour, as the men waited for their supper to be cooked, they played cards, or just talked, and except for the lack of uniforms, it was no different from a hundred bivouacs they had been on before. All the while they kept glancing over at Ackerman, who, as he was scratching in the dirt, often referred to a map.

  “All right, men, gather ’round,” Ackerman called.

  When the men gathered around him, they saw what appeared to be a small road running between some large rocks that had been moved into place, with a small pile of pebbles stacked up at each end.

  “This is Clancy,” he said, pointing to the pile of pebbles at one end of the road. “And this is Deer Lodge. I’ve constructed this road here, exactly as the road is depicted on the map. And right here,” he pointed to where the road went between some of the larger rocks he had put into position, “is Cutaway Pass. Now it will take two days for the wagon to get from the mine at Clancy, to Deer Lodge, where they will put the gold on the train. They will have five guards, two riding in front, one riding shotgun on the wagon, and two riding in trail. When they get ri
ght here, the road narrows and the guards can’t scatter out. We will have the high ground, which is always a necessity when you are planning a military operation. We will also have more men than the guard detail, and we will have superior discipline and leadership.

  “I anticipate no problems, but we will be prepared. Boyle, you will be at this position here, on Fish Peak, just as they enter the pass. We will have a good view of where you are. Using your mirror to catch the sun, you will flash us when you see them entering the pass.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “All right, men, after you have supper, I suggest that you all crawl into your tents and get some sleep.”

  Ackerman had his own tent, and as he lay there in the complete darkness, he thought about the events that had brought him to this place and this time. He didn’t know how much gold the wagon would be carrying, but he knew that the placer mine near Clancy had just about played out, and there could be as little as one thousand dollars with the shipment.

  It almost wasn’t worth it, but even if it was only a thousand dollars, his men would get eighty dollars each, and as all of them realized, that was much better than their army pay had been, and was even better pay than the area cowboys and miners were making.

  Still, it did very little for him. He would take thirty percent, as he did from every operation, but he needed one big job somewhere . . . something that would net him several thousand dollars. He had a goal of ten thousand dollars. As soon as he got ten thousand dollars, he planned to leave the West and go back east, probably to New York.

  He remembered New York from when he was a cadet at West Point. He had visited the city a few times and was taken with the excitement of it. There was also a lot more money available there, in a much smaller space. With ten thousand dollars working capital, and with his experience, he believed that he could turn ten thousand into a hundred thousand once he got there. And another good thing about it would be that, once he left here, nobody would have any idea of what happened to him. Nobody would think of looking for him in New York. And the chances were very good that nobody in New York had ever even heard of him.