Calmly, efficiently, and without stopping to fill in trivial details such as how he'd come to know all this, Sheriff Hank Walker introduced himself, and explained what he knew about what had happened to Joe and Hoss. He related finding out about the message, and the visits of the Elodie deputies which culminated in the death of one and arrest of two others. He didn't mention his having been shot, and Ben was so single-mindedly focused on his boys and what might be happening to them and if this man could help them that he didn't even think to ask where Hank had come by the information.
The coffee was good, hot and fresh, but Ben didn't especially notice.
"I sent one of my men out yesterday morning to scout around Elodie. I was afraid you might have gotten lost or snowed in somewhere in the whiteout. With another storm heading in tonight or tomorrow, I decided to move ahead without you. It's a fair piece to Elodie, especially with the snow deep like it is now. Hopefully that Elodie sheriff isn't too worried about his men," Hank paused, "I am worried about the suspicion we may have caused but, after they started shooting, it really couldn't be helped. I didn't expect any delay at the time."
"How many men do you think the sheriff of Elodie has working for him?" Ben asked.
"It's never been my business to bother much with Elodie. Those people keep to themselves for the most part. Even Ol' Jeff Kailen preferred to do his business here in Dewton, though Elodie was closer. That was before he died, of course."
"Kailen?" Ben frowned, "Kailen... I know that name."
"Ran a small horse breeding outfit along with his partner, Clint Tanner" Hank supplied, "Sad thing, he left his pregnant wife a widow, with nobody to help her except Clint. Hopelessly inept with horses, that one. His job was the business side, dealing with the people and the finances. Jeff Kailen did all the raising and training and stud selecting. That was the Jeff Kailen Mare in the stable."
"I remember now," Ben said, "It was a few years ago. Jeff Kailen came all the way out to the Ponderosa with two mares. He was a good man. Fair-minded, cared for his horses well, and could recognize a fine animal when he saw it."
"Everybody laughed when he brought home that red dun. She was a spitfire yearling at the time, who'd bite you as soon as look at you, and she fought a halter and lead as though it was a snake tied onto her face. But Jeff Kailen said she would make a fine dam, and he was right. Jeff was always right about horses, and he brought the best out in them."
"I remember that," Ben remarked, "You said he left a widow?"
"Laura Kailen," Hank said, "She could have her baby any time now. Just got word that she and Tanner are engaged, so she's got that going for her, I suppose."
Resigned to waiting, but not happy with it, Ben decided to bring the conversation back to relevancy.
"Have the two men you arrested been any help?" he asked.
"One of them griped about Deputy Mayer sending them out here," Hank said, "But that doesn't tell me much. Otherwise, they've pretty much clammed up."
"You wouldn't happen to know this Mayer, would you?"
"Like I said, Dewton and Elodie may be next to each other on a map, but we don't spend much time getting acquainted. Elodie men come here from time to time, but they tend to mind their own business, so I don't get to know them by name. Only people I know by name are residents and chronic troublemakers who breeze in now and then. Other than that, I leave people alone. To read your name didn't mean a great deal to me, but once I saw you I knew you'd come through before, and now I've got a good idea what your sons look like because I've seen them traveling with you."
"I'm afraid I've never noticed you," Ben said.
"No reason to," Hank replied, "You kept your nose clean, and so long as people do that, I don't like to bother them by making my presence felt. Besides, most people see the face and don't even think to look for the badge. I think I was a deputy when I last saw you come this way anyhow."
"Possibly," Ben said, "I used to go on all the cattle drives, but in recent years I've started letting Hoss and Joe handle it."
"Based on the fact that I've never had cause to learn their names before now, I'd say they handle it pretty well on their own," Hank observed.
Ben nodded, "They're good boys."
"So I've gathered," Hank said.
Somehow, it sounded like he'd gathered that information in more ways than just informal observation as he'd already mentioned, but before Ben could ask about it, there came the sound of hoof beats. A rider was coming, and fast. A moment later, the door burst open.
"Sheriff!" the tall, dark haired young man who'd entered stopped at sight of Ben, then looked at Hank, nodding sideways at the newcomer, "Cartwright?"
Hank nodded mildly and said, "Mr. Cartwright, this is Jake Williams, the deputy I sent to Elodie."
Ben's interest quickened and he looked expectantly at the deputy, whose face was somewhat flushed. Jake seemed rather breathless, but as Ben was occupying the deputy's chair and Hank had the sheriff's chair, he just came over and leaned on the sheriff's desk.
"Well?" Hank inquired.
"Well, I went to Elodie like you said, but things aren't like we expected," Jake told him.
"Then how are they?" Hank asked, with more patience than Ben could have mustered.
"The sheriff's not the sheriff anymore. The new sheriff put him in jail."
Hank took this news with an outward aspect of calm, but there was an interested look in his clear eyes.
"And what of the Cartwright boys?" Hank asked.
"Elodie's new sheriff, a fella by the name of Mayer, said he'd turned 'em loose."
Ben was on his feet now, eager for any scrap of information, "Did he say where they went?"
"Said he sent 'em this way," Jake replied, casting a wary look at the imposing stature of Ben now he was standing up, "Told them to come to us," he hesitated, glancing sidelong at Ben again before resuming addressing Hank, "But that was the night of the whiteout."
"They musta got lost somewhere along the way," Hank stated the obvious purposely, "Because they never made it here," he turned to Ben and spoke his next reassuring words in an even tone, "There's a couple of ranches and line shacks scattered along the way. Like as not they found a place to hole up."
"I'm going to find them," Ben said decisively.
"There's a lot of territory, and you don't know where to look. And you haven't got much time before that storm hits," Hank informed him, "Which means we're going too. Jake, rustle up as much help as you can find. Not many people around this time of year, but maybe enough if the Cartwright boys found a safe place to weather the storm."
"I've already got the Elodie sheriff outside," Jake replied, "The new one, that is. Only deputy he's got is a dog. Seems he had to arrest most of the others."
In a matter of minutes, Ben had Buck saddled and found himself in the company of four men and an animal which could debatably be identified as a dog. Dewton Sheriff Hank Walker and deputies Jake and Steve Williams, along with Elodie Sheriff Mayer. He didn't know the dog's name.
As soon as they were out of town, Hank split them up to cover the most ground in the least amount of time. He paired Ben with Steve, who -in addition to his own mount- was leading the red dun mare. The two of them were assigned to follow the trail leading up to the Kailen-Tanner place, and see if Clint Tanner or Laura Kailen had seen any sign of the Cartwright boys, and also see if Tanner could be persuaded to join the search if he hadn't.
"I wouldn't pin too much hope on Tanner," Steve said as they rode out, "Mrs. Kailen's about to have a baby, and the man's all but glued to her side. I was supposed to send the doctor along with this mare, but the doc's still out. This being the only mare that doesn't have a foal attached to her side, I figured I'd best bring her along so Tanner would have something to ride, just in case he's got a mind to."
Ben offered a grunt as a reply. He wasn't really listening, he was looking for signs that his boys might have passed this way, even though he knew the chance was slim, either that they had or that any sign of them would have survived the whiteout.
For whatever reason, the Elodie sheriff's dog was tagging along with them, dashing ahead of their horses and sniffing eagerly at the snow, its tail high and waving.
"If that sheriff hadn't been so sure that was a dog," Steve said conversationally, "I'd've sworn it was a wolf. Prob'ly woulda shot it too, what with the way it leaped out into the street at me when I rode in."
Ben grunted again, still not listening. Steve gave up the idea of conversation.
It was a longer ride to the Kailen-Tanner place than Ben would have liked but, at least on the road they were following, there were no other chances of shelter along the way. The Dewton sheriff had said it was closer to Elodie than Dewton. Ben wondered if that meant there was a better chance of the boys being there. He didn't know when they'd been set loose, nor when the whiteout had hit here.
Darkness had nearly closed in by the time they arrived in the yard. At their approach, a horse in the barn issued a neigh of welcome, to which Buck apparently didn't respond, but the red dun mare Steve was leading did. Buck seldom vocalized when he was wearing a bridle, especially not when he was involved in action such as travel. But though Buck said nothing, he did lift his head and perk his ears forward, as well as making a brief attempt to quicken his step, though that might have been merely because of seeing the barn.
Though he didn't want to get his hopes up, Ben was sure he recognized that horse in the barn. He had intended to stay on his horse while Steve went to the door and spoke with Tanner, but the second neigh from the horse in the barn spurred him to get down and go to the door himself, hoping in spite of himself but afraid to believe.
As Ben approached the porch, the door was opened and a tall man with a mustache stood there.
"You're not the doc," he sounded disappointed, and immediately left the door.
But there was a scramble of activity beyond the door, of someone else getting up and coming to see who had arrived. Ben recognized the sound of the footfalls before Joe appeared in the door.
"Pa!" Joe exclaimed, and immediately ran to meet him.
Joe's single exclamation was enough to bring Hoss from wherever he was, and the three of them embraced eagerly, all trying to tell their stories at once. Ben didn't even notice when the mustached man returned and peered out the door, then looked up at Steve, who merely shrugged.
"I brought your mare back," Steve said, "Should I put her in the barn?"
"I better help," Clint told him, "I've got three horses running around loose in there, and I wouldn't want them to run out."
Steve shrugged, and dismounted. Clint led the way to the barn while Steve led the mare, who followed excitedly, her head high and nostrils flared to catch the scent either of her horse friends or possibly her preferred feed. Clint opened the door carefully, but he needn't have worried because the three horses off the Ponderosa had no interest in going out, though the pinto immediately pressed up to investigate the newly arrived red dun. The mare seemed just as interested in him.
Clint adjusted the buckets in the barn so that the red dun could be put in her stall without the other horses losing access to water in the barn. In the meantime, the black and white horse and the red-gold mare were getting better acquainted by sniffing. They seemed to like each other quite well. So well in fact that they actually started to groom each other's withers like old pasture companions.
"Good thing she's not ready to breed," Steve remarked, "The way those two are gettin' along, we'd never be able to stop them."
Clint checked the mare over before putting her away, to make sure there wasn't any ice matted in her coat, or stones in her hooves or anything else she might have picked up on the road here.
"Laura had her baby," Clint told Steve while he worked, "A boy. She named him Jeffrey."
"Sorry I couldn't get the doc here. He's still out," Steve replied.
"Don't worry about it," Clint said, "Laura was right all along, she delivered that baby without a hitch, didn't need us at all. Those boys seemed to have seen a newborn or two though, and I'm afraid they've been doing all the work since Jeffrey was born. All I can say is Heaven must have sent them to us."
"What makes you say that?" Steve asked, holding the red mare's head and stroking her while Clint finished going over her.
"I'd never seen a baby born," Clint confessed, "And I've been afraid to leave the room for a minute, like it won't be real anymore if I'm not watchin'. Those boys have been fixing the food, keeping the fire going, taking care of the horses... anything that needs doing, they do it. They're so calm and matter-of-fact about it, just like Laura... I'm shamed to say I may have panicked a little."
"That man I brought along with me is their father," Steve said, "When they didn't show up in Dewton, we got kinda worried about 'em, especially now all the shootin's over."
"Shooting?" Clint asked sharply, looking suddenly worried, "What shooting? Who did you shoot?"
"Me personally, I didn't shoot anybody. Not for lack of trying. Fact is, I think that Elodie sheriff's dog did more damage per inch than any of us."
"You better come in and take this story from the top," Clint said, "I want to hear it. But first I want to check on Laura. Can you put the mare in her stall?"
"You've only been gone ten minutes," Steve protested to Clint's retreating back.
"Thanks," Clint threw over his shoulder as he left.
Steve looked at the mare, who was making nice with the pinto again, then he looked at the door which opened briefly, then shut behind Clint. He sighed, smiled and shook his head.
"Imagine what'll happen if that man ever has a son of his own," Steve said to nobody.
The horses all perked their ears to catch the sound of his voice, and a sound issued from the red dun mare that sounded eerily like an amused chuckle instead of the usual noises horses make.
The pinto echoed the sound, and for a moment Steve could've sworn he saw humor in the horse's dark eyes, but he later decided it had to be just the reflection of lamplight.