Chapter Thirty-Six
Sheriff Coffee arrived at the Ponderosa bright and early just as Ben and the boys were heading down the stairs for breakfast. Adam answered the knock at the door. "Roy, what brings you out this early?" he asked as he showed Roy in.
"Roy, come in and have some breakfast," invited Ben.
"No, thank you, Ben, I don't have time this morning. I just wanted to drop by and let you know that I'll have some men in the area, mostly on Flying W property lookin' around."
"Oh, what for?"
"It seems Sam King dropped some ore by the assay office a few days ago. Turns out it had a pretty high silver content…as high as some of the big silver mines in the area."
Adam stepped forward, perplexed. "Well, where'd he get it?"
"Assay clerk didn't know. Sam didn't tell him. And he didn't file a claim either. Now with what's been going on at the Flying W, and Amos always claiming he was sittin' on a mountain of silver over there, I figured it'd be a good idea to have a look around."
"I'm going over to the Flying W after breakfast. I'll let Shiloh know," said Adam.
"I'd appreciate that, Adam. It'll save me some time."
"Adam, see to it that Hank keeps men posted around the house and the corrals," said Ben.
Adam nodded. "I don't think I'll tell her until after her business with Jim is finished. I get the feeling she's starting to feel a little overwhelmed between selling horses and rehearsals and making sure they're prepared for winter. Then, there's Natalie."
"Natalie Peterson? The girl you spoke of last night?" Adam nodded. "What's she got to do with this?"
"She arrived in town the day before Jim. I think she's here at Will Stewart's request. Evidently there was an article in the Boston newspaper hinting that I was courting Isabella. Natalie gave me the impression that Will wasn't happy about it. She and Will have been…friends…for a long time, so I'm sure she's up to something."
"Hm. Well, just make sure you tell Shiloh about Roy's suspicions. She needs to be prepared to defend herself if King shows up."
When Adam and Jim arrived at the Flying W, Shiloh had the bills of sale ready for each horse Jim was purchasing. She gave Jim a few minutes to look them over, then asked, "Do you need any changes?"
"None at all. Your bills of sale are short and to the point. Here you are, all signed," Jim said, handing a wad of cash and all three documents to Shiloh. "All they need now is your signature."
Shiloh walked to the desk and signed the documents, giving one set to Jim and locking the other set in her safe along with the cash. "Well, let's get you set to go then. There's a break in the snow, but I suspect it won't last for long. I don't know if the stage driver will take the northern route or the southern route to Sacramento, so you need to get to town and follow from there."
By the time they were outside, Billy had brought the other two horses up to the front yard. "Take one more look at them, Jim."
As he walked around the horses, he asked, "Does the saddle go with the horse?"
She laughed. "No, not normally, but if you want to buy it, I'll sell it to you. If you don't, just hold on to it. The next time one of us is in San Francisco, we'll pick it up."
Jim grinned. "You don't know me well enough to trust me like that."
"No, I don't, but Adam does."
After shaking hands with both Shiloh and Adam, Jim mounted, tipped his hat, and led his horses away, turning in his saddle. "The next time either of you are in San Francisco, dinner's on me." He waved as he disappeared around the curve toward the road.