The Legend of Eli CrowChapter 47
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Upon their return to Tulsa from racing Cheyenne at Vinita, Little Eli had met with Bill and Jack Robertson that day, asking them about making a lightweight saddle just for Cheyenne. After measuring and fitting him with the special built saddletree and pad, they made a saddle with no high pommel and no saddle horn. There were no fenders, just leather straps that supported the small brass stirrups. This saddle was half the weight of the working and pleasure saddles they used on the ranch.
As time drew near for Cheyenne’s first race in Fort Worth, Little Eli led him from his stall with his halter still on. He stood waiting as Ezra picked up the saddle and slung it over his shoulder. Samantha had the hackamore draped over her arm as she and Ezra walked side by side across the street to the racetrack. They were holding hands openly, smiling as they walked.
Samantha, her sister, and two cousins had already made up their minds; these four Young Bucks were the ones for them. They’d already told their mothers what they had decided in just over a day after meeting the three Crow boys and Pike.
“Ezra, put my money up to match yours. If you get some good odds, double up on them if they can stand it. Cheyenne will win this race, I can feel it in him just like all the other times we raced,” Little Eli told his brother, handing him a roll of bills.
“Ezra, our moms gave each of us a hundred and so did our dads. I want to bet the same as you bet,” Samantha told him, leaning close to press her body against his.
“Sam, don’t be distracting me like that until I get our bets down like I want them. You’ll have me betting on the wrong horse,” Ezra told her, then grinned when she laughed at him.
“If we win, will you give me a big hug?”
“We’ll win. You just get ready for that hug,” he told her, but he was red faced as he spoke boldly.
“If we win the race today and the one tomorrow, will I get a kiss then?” She teased.
“I’ve never kissed before, Sam.”
“Neither have I, Ezra. We’ll have so much fun learning about kissing and all that other stuff together, won’t we?”
“All that other stuff?” He gulped.
“Yes, we can learn all about kissing first, then later when we get to know each other better and have more time, we can do it all with each other the first time too.”
“Sam, I done told you, don’t mess with my head like that until I get these bets placed.”
“Then can we talk about it after you get the bets placed?”
“Sam, your dad and my dad are right over there. They’re both gonna hear you.”
“I’ve already told my dad and my mother that I wanted to love you, Ezra Crow!”
“Sam, I need to go with Dad to be sure I place our bets right. If you’ll hush talking about this, you can go too, but if you keep on...”
“If I keep on, then what?” She teased, hooking her arm in his as they followed their dads to the betting windows.
Moses stepped up to the window when Eli did and placed his bet the same way. He didn’t even pay attention to what he was betting, he just placed the same amount of money up there that Eli did, and took his tickets.
He stepped back to watch Pike and Cecily Blasingame. He was more interested in what his son was doing than he was betting.
He’d never seen Pike this way. He’d seen Little Eli and Isaac with Kit and Ruby, but this was his own son. He was amazed at how much Pike was just like Little Eli. He already seemed like he was years older than his thirteen years. Moses had a grin on his face when Joe looked around to see him.
Joe looked over to see Pike with Cecily as they placed their bets at the window with her dad.
“Moses, looks like you could get a daughter, or the Blasingames could get at least one son out of this deal,” Joe said and they laughed.
“Joe, I was just standing here admiring my son. I reckon I’ve always just thought of him as still being a boy. Hell, he’s a man! Just look at the way he stands right there in front of that girl’s daddy and talks like he’s known all of them for years.”
“I reckon it’s because of Miranda teaching them to be polite, have manners, and take pride in who they are. All the Young Bucks are like that, just look at the rest of them.
“Hell, Moses, you were there when I met Sissy the first time. I couldn’t even talk to her in front of Eli. Now these Bucks just walk right up and talk to a girl and her daddy they’ve never met before and next thing you know, she’s following them around like puppies,” Joe told him.
“I wish Suh could see this. She’s always worrying that Pike will be left behind when the other Bucks get older and he’s not as old. I tell her that they’re blood brothers now and they’ll not leave a brother behind. I don’t think she really understands what all that means yet.”
“Just tell her to watch every time Eli does something for his boys. Pike and Isaac get the same thing his boys do. What one gets, they all get!”
“I reckon you’re right, Joe. I never even thought of that myself.
“I see why Eli and Duncan are always smiling when they see Little Eli and Isaac around Kit and Ruby. Hell, those boys already act like they’re grownup and married,” Moses told him.
“Yep, it sure is different than when we were trying to keep from saying or doing the wrong thing while we were getting to know Sissy and Suh, isn’t it?”
“Damn sure is, Joe. I just never thought of it like that.”
“You and Suh sure got reason to be proud of Pike. He’s a young gentleman, alright. Just look at that girl; she looks like she’s a part of him, the way she hangs onto him. Look at him, Moses. He just smiles at her, then keeps right on talking to her dad.”
“Yep, you were right when you said it’s not the same as it was back when it was us. I wonder just what it’ll be like when Chane and the other little ones grow up?” Moses asked as he and Joe watched the four Bucks with the girls they’d just met.
“I don’t even want to know about all that just yet. It scares me to even think about it,” Joe told him.
Isaac and Little Eli were with Cheyenne, getting him saddled, talking to him the whole time. They were more nervous than Cheyenne was.
Eli, Duncan, Moses, Joe, Jefferson, and Howard sat with Randall Loeb down near the front on the wooden seats right even with the finish line. The Bucks and the Blasingame girls were one row in front of them, the Blasingame moms and dads sitting one row up.
The place was crowded and the noise of the crowd became louder as they watched the horses parade past the stands on their way to the rope starting barrier. Little Eli spotted them in the stands and waved to them as he passed.
His dad was busy taking bets on Cheyenne with anyone close by who would take his crazy odds. No one in the stands thought the tall Paint from Indian Territory even belonged in this race, let alone had a chance to win.
By post time, Eli had collected twenty thousand in bets against Cheyenne from the spectators near them. Jefferson was writing the names down and Howard was holding the money as they laughed and watched Eli in action.
The official odds for Cheyenne as post time neared were twenty-seven to one. Ward and Wade Blasingame hurried to place three thousand each for theirs and their wives’ wagers after seeing Eli and the other men from Tulsa place bets of five thousand each on Cheyenne right at the last minute. Randall Loeb bet ten thousand on Cheyenne to win and another ten on the local crowd favorite to place.
The trumpet sounded and the horses were lined up to approach the rope barrier.
Cheyenne was getting excited, but Little Eli felt he had control of him the whole time. He could feel Cheyenne’s whole body become tense when he edged up to see the rope at his face.
There were ten horses entered. Cheyenne carried the number five, lined up fifth from the inside. They were racing a quarter of a mile and Little Eli knew they had to get a good jump. He already knew Cheyenne would want to go hard when the other horses came off the line as fast as they could run.
There was no way he was going to hold him back for this race.
The crowd was loud as they stood and yelled. From the track, the sounds filled the air with a roar as the rope flew up.
Little Eli was ready, leaning over Cheyenne’s neck with the reins in one hand, a firm grip on his long mane with the other. When the rope was raised, Cheyenne was the second horse off the line as the other horses scrambled for position and for the lead.
Little Eli reached up and slapped Cheyenne on his neck, yelling at him as he leaned forward. They were racing five abreast toward the first turn and he could feel his horse respond with a burst of speed that took them to the lead. He quickly pulled him to the rail ahead of the others before the turn, as he let him have his head and run this race his way.
Coming out of the turn, the ten horses were again bunched close together. Little Eli patted Cheyenne’s neck and he pulled ahead to a slight lead once more.
Little Eli quickly looked back to either side to see three horses breaking away from the pack, making a run to take the lead. One of them pulled even with Cheyenne on the inside before Little Eli slapped his neck hard and yelled, “Go, Big Boy!”
The race was over at that point for the other horses. Cheyenne outdistanced the second place horse by a length with a hundred yards to go and held it all the way.
There were boos from most of the crowd as they tore their ticket stubs in half after their favorite horse finished second. There were cheers from the few who had bet on the long shot, and won at twenty-seven to one odds.
Eli handed his winning tickets to Howard for him to cash in, then leaped the rail to run out to meet Little Eli and Cheyenne in the winner’s circle.
Jefferson gathered up all the money for the bets as he marked the names off his list. Ward and Wade Blasingame hurried to collect their winnings, followed by the Bucks and the Blasingame girls.
Randall Loeb came in second as the big winner for the day, winning even more than Eli in third place as a winner.
“Dad! I hope you had some good bets down on him. He sure ran a good race today, didn’t he?” Little Eli yelled as Eli ran out to grab him in a hug as he leaned down from Cheyenne.
“Let me get a photograph of you beside your son, Marshal,” A man shouted and they looked up to see a photographer a few feet away.
Eli posed standing next to Cheyenne with his arm draped across his back behind his son.
“I’m staying at the Cattlemen’s Hotel; I want a copy of that photograph. Here’s a hundred, make sure I get it,” Eli said, peeling a hundred off his roll.
“Yes Sir, Marshal. I’ll leave it at the desk for you.”
“Did you win big, Dad?” Little Eli asked as he slid to the ground.
“They had his odds at twenty-seven to one, Eli. We loaded up on their asses too. I know your brothers won big and so did the Blasingames. Near as I can figure in my head, I came out with over three hundred thousand. Randall bet ten thousand on Cheyenne to win and another ten on that second horse to place.”
“Whoa, he won over a half million!”
“I placed a bet for each of you Bucks, for five thousand to win on Cheyenne.”
“How much did Ezra bet for him and me?”
“He bet three thousand for each of you at twenty seven to one,” Eli said as they walked toward the exit gate leading Cheyenne, grinning the whole way.
Howard and Jefferson met them as they came out of the gate. Howard had a big canvas bag in his hand as he waved it at Eli.
“Eli, they gave me a bag to put all seven of your winning ticket payoffs in. Jefferson put all your other money in here too,” Howard said as he laughed and slapped Eli and Little Eli in on their backs.
“Eli, that was some race you and Cheyenne ran out there. I guess you know, our group alone won nearly two million on that one race!” Howard told Little Eli.
“TWO MILLION? How did we do that?” Eli asked as he looked at Howard and Jefferson.
“Here comes Moses now. Let him tell you,” Jefferson said as he and Howard continued to laugh.
Moses walked up with two big canvas bags of money in his hands. He was grinning as he looked at Eli.
“Eli, I reckon I better pay more attention to what I’m doing when I’m around you. I was so busy watching Pike and Cecily that I just bet the same as you did and counted out the money when they told me how much. Hell, when they handed me all them tickets I never even looked, I just stuck them in my pouch.
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After an early start in the cold hours of morning, they rode hard and steady all day, stopping to relieve themselves twice and eat from the grub sack. They made Kansas City, Missouri late in the day as the sun was sinking behind the cold flat horizon, across the river in Kansas. They stopped at a big fancy hotel and registered as Eli and Rose Crow. The desk man was hesitant at first to let the two Half-Breeds stay in his hotel, but saw the Deputy U.S. Marshal badge and the Indian Police...
“ELI! You’re back. Did you get the last one? Dal said you thought there was a woman with them too,” Sam Connor greeted his grandson when he came through the back door, stomping the mud off his feet. Eli was soaked, his buckskins wet and clinging to his body, his moccasins filled with mud and water. He hadn’t even put his long coat on when he left Young’s Store. The back of his coat was shot out anyway. “They’re all taken care of, Grandpa. How’s Grandma? She alright after all this?” He...
When they reached the river’s edge, Kit laid the fuses and caps on a stump. Ruby handed Kit a stick of dynamite and picked up a cap and a short fuse. Eli and the others watched as she inserted the end of a fuse into the open end of the blasting cap, then put her fingers about an inch from the end of the brass. She stuck this short end of the exposed brass into her mouth with the extra fuse trailing down her chin. They could see her straining her jaws as she bit down on the brass, clamping it...
Eli had planned their trip himself and since he wanted them to stay a few days in Boones Crossing without being in a rush, he decided to take his dad’s advice and travel to Kansas City first then come back to Boones Crossing. Though he and Isaac didn’t wear their guns, they did have their knives on their hips, with their guns packed in their traveling bags. Both were dressed in buckskins and their girls dressed in finery like the other women traveling on the train. They ate one meal in the...
Saturday October 3, 1896 Crow Valley, Oklahoma Territory “Let me see that map again, Deuce,” Ezra said. He stood next to Eli and Isaac as they looked at the map. They had just gotten their first orders as Deputy United States Marshals two days ago, and the six of them were excited as they saddled up. They’d packed the night before and already had their two packsaddles loaded with tents, food and supplies for at least a two-week stay once they reached their destination. They were being sent...
Dal Hopkins had been half asleep, half-awake as he worried about his town. He heard a man whisper something behind him in the cell. Was he dreaming? Could it really be? HE KNEW THAT VOICE... He’d know that voice in the middle of a windstorm on the plains or in a howling snowstorm on top of a mountain. No matter where on earth he was, he would know that voice... Eli was here. He knew it was him! How – he didn’t know, but that was Eli Crow behind him, he’d bet his life on it. “Marshal,...
Eli knew he had a battle on his hands convincing the mommas of his sons and daughters that his plan was the best way to keep the Bucks, the Crow girls and the rest of them from having babies and still let them spend time with their friends. He figured the best way to handle this was to get them all at once and get it over with. Miranda, Clarissa, Tin Yu, Catt, Eva, Rose, Sissy, Suh, Juni, and Grandma were gathered together out away from the others. Eli wanted all of them to listen to what he...
Boones Crossing, Kansas July 23, 1889 Little Eli, Kit, Ruby, and Isaac arrived in Boones Crossing early, making the short trip from Kansas City in only a matter of two hours. They had accompanied their friends to the train station the evening before and watched as they boarded the train to Colorado. This was a tearful parting of new friends with all of them vowing to meet again soon. The McInnis sisters especially took it hard, sobbing as they sat on the train and waved out the window to...
Crow Ridge September 1, 1896 “Come on in, Ezra. Your dad and I wanted to talk to you before you head back to Crow Valley,” Rose told her son. Jefferson was sitting up in bed with the covers pulled to his waist. “Dad, are you feeling any better?” Ezra asked as he walked over to sit at his bedside and lay his hand on top Jefferson’s right hand. “I feel better today, Son. This has actually been one of my better days in the past few months. “Dad, I suppose I’ve always taken for granted that...
When the Buffalo Soldiers rolled in from Little Tree with empty wagons, all of them jumped in and loaded them as quickly as possible. There were fifteen more loads to ship after they held back the last three loaded wagons to take to Tulsa. Willis turned fifteen of his men right back around, telling them to get on back so they could all head over to Tulsa and start learning to be oil well drillers. The next morning early, Eli and Jon David were sitting by the fire outside, drinking coffee...
Eli knew he had to get over to the women as soon as he could. He saw them laughing and talking with Analisa, pointing now and then toward where he stood. Even Sissy, Miranda, and Grandmother were huddled with the young Mexican woman, whispering and laughing. When Catt and Eva pulled her aside, they were laughing aloud and Eli knew it was time to go. “I see all of you have met Analisa. I hope you’ll make her welcome. I’ve asked her to work for us when we get back to Tulsa,” Eli told them when...
Two weeks earlier, when Duncan and Eli had split as they arrived in Tulsa, Duncan felt alone as he rode north toward Kansas. Though he’d been a deputy marshal for over two years when he met Eli, he’d grown to like hid friend so well that he missed his company and the friendship they shared together on their trips into the Territory. He rode into southern Kansas two days later, after riding late like he and Eli often did when they first met. He wanted to hurry and do his law business, then...
The men of Crow Ridge Cattle Company loaded the second trainload of cattle bound for Kansas City and knew there wasn’t time to load another fifteen cars before dark. The first trainload would have to make it to the next sidetrack, near the Kansas state line, before the two empty trains could travel on down to Tulsa. They made plans to start loading at daylight the next day. The empty trains would arrive during the night and have to lay over. They gathered around after the first day of...
The Waco Kid never raised his head as he reached out to pick up a stick and thrash it across the bedroll nearest him. “Get your asses up, we got a score to settle this morning and I’m ready to get started!” he said loudly. The other men began to stir in their bedrolls and The Waco Kid rolled over to sit up. He had yet to look up as he pulled his boots on, then picked up his two pistols and shoved them down in his holsters. He stretched his arms over his head, wincing at the pain in his ribs,...
Crow Ridge March 29, 1889 The family was up before dawn to see the Crow girls and the Young Bucks off. Even their younger brothers and sisters were up. Eli cornered Little Eli and Ezra as soon as they came downstairs and pulled them aside. “I need to give you men something. I’ve been wanting to tell you about this, but never felt like it was the right time until now. “Eli, back when you told me that you Bucks wanted to have a place of your own and still wanted it to be near each other, I...
Union Station Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania June 19, 1885 Eli had been on the train for four days when he arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had an hour layover there, one of many layovers they’d had on his long train ride from Indian Territory. After he’d found the toilets to relieve himself, he sat inside the huge train station and watched the hundreds of people coming and going. He’d never seen this many people in one place ever before, not even in Kansas City at the ballpark. He kept...
“This is absolutely beautiful. I just love the way the houses and barns look with all the pecan trees around,” Miranda said. “It does look good and shady back in them trees. We need to plant some pecan trees over at the other place to shade it a little, I reckon,” Eli agreed. “You boys get you some clean buckskins and go back behind the barn and get a bath,” Eli told the six boys. “Miranda, would you help Sissy get the girls back there and get them bathed?” “I will, but first we’re going...
There were snow flurries blowing in the wind, with a light blanket already covering the ground when the Bucks started out the next morning after saying their goodbyes to the family. They were dressed in their buckskins with their union suits underneath and heavy boiler overalls over their buckskins. Each had a leather fur-lined cap pulled down over their head and ears. They wore wool scarves backed with flannel over their faces, leaving only a slit with their eyes exposed as they rode...
Eli and Duncan headed out of town with their wagon load of prisoners. Bud Parkins drove the wagon, Duncan and Eli rode their horses. “Eli, I already like this horse pretty good. He’s as tall and long legged as that big stud you got.” “Yep, you got a good’un, Duncan.” They turned south at the creek crossing, and rode right by Noonan’s ranch. “You could at least let me see my wife before you take me back,” Noonan said. “I’ll go see if she wants to see you... “Duncan, you keep them headed...
“What can I do for you, Mister? You look to be part Indian. Are you?” The man behind the window at the train station said as Eli walked up to the window to send a telegraph message back to Little Tree. “I need to send a message over to Little Tree, Texas. Can you do that for me?” Eli said, ignoring the man’s remark. “I sure can. Who is it for and what name do you want on it?” “Put my name on it, Marshal Eli Crow. Send it to Hoke at the livery. Tell him I need him to get word to my folks at...
“Son, that was some race. We heard what Parkman’s jockey said. You did the right thing holding Cheyenne back, then letting him run away with the race after they’d tried to run him down like that. You’d think Sam Parkman would know better by now,” Eli said as he and Joe stood beside Little Eli when their picture was made. “Did you win big again, Dad?” Little Eli asked, knowing by his smile that he did. “We all won big on that race. I already have another big bet placed on the last race...