“You caught him on a bad day. He’s not normally like this. Got a lot tied up in this is all.”
They found the storeroom easy enough. Dale Owens was there waiting.
“Storeroom?” Hale said. “This isn’t much more than a shed.” He pointed to several dripping holes in the roof. “Not even waterproof.”
“Plenty of others in town,” Dale said. This was the first time Jim had seen him sober. “Be my guest and take your pick. They’re all right down along the creek.”
“We’ll take it,” Hale said around his cigarette. He and Jim started unloading the packs.
It took them an hour to unload the horses and the leaking storeroom was half-full when they headed back.
“How much more does he have?” Jim asked.
“Too much to put in there,” Hale said. “We’ll have to find another place for it all.”
“Where’s it going anyway?” There were far too many supplies for Onionville alone.
“Most of it’s going to Bidwell’s Bar.”
“Never heard of it.”
“You will,” Hale said, and lit up another cigarette. “Gold strike late last summer, just before the snow shut everything down—just like Sutter’s Mill, bigger they say. Richer.”
“Where is that from here?”
“North and a little west.” Hale snorted. “Fletcher planned on tramping through the mountains selling supplies as he went, but word reached us two days ago about the new strike. Supplies will sell for two, maybe three times as much to those fool miners.”
“Fool miners?”
“Most of them will never see a dime from all their digging. They come in like locusts, scooping gravel out of the creek, scratching out enough for whiskey, women or both, and not one of them with smarts enough to find the gold’s source. That’s where the real money is. That’s where the big outfits come in to sink a shaft.”
“Sounds like you’ve seen it before,” Jim said.
“I have. Virginia City, Sutter’s Mill, it happens all over and it’s always the same.”
They turned down the last stretch of road. The water had risen to cover half the street, and the goods Fletcher had salvaged were still in danger. The men waded into the storeroom for yet more supplies. Several of the barrels and sacks had water dripping from them. These Fletcher directed into a different pile.
“About time you two returned,” Fletcher said when he saw Hale and Jim. “We’ve got to get all this out of the street. I already had a thief try to carry off a sack of salt.”
“What happened to him?” Hale said.
Fletcher grinned and held up a thick fist. “I persuaded him to leave the salt be.”
Jim and Hale started for the flooded storeroom, but Fletcher stopped them.
“You two pack up and take another load up.”
They worked until well into the evening. Fletcher followed them up on the last trip, then launched into another tirade at the state of his new storeroom.
“Roof leaks in a dozen places. If I’d known it was this bad, I would have left it all outside.” He pounded one fist on the shack, rattling it. “Might fall down in the next stiff breeze.”
Dale Owens was nowhere to be found, Jim noticed.
Probably having himself a nice drink.
With the work done and Fletcher’s hired men gone, Jim and Colton stood waiting. Hale waited with them.
“Seems like these two earned some pay, boss,” Hale said.
Fletcher eyed the pair and sighed. “That they did. And I promised a job as well.”
“Seems like we could use a couple of good men. Men who’d keep an eye on things when we get to the camp.”
Fletcher put his fists on his hips. “I see you’re both armed. You know how to use those?” He pointed to the pistols each wore.
“We do,” Jim said, and Colton nodded along.
“I’m not interested in gunmen, mind you. Gunmen are expensive and they don’t like to pitch in and work. I just need a couple of steady hands when we get where we’re going. Until then, you’ll be just like the others, loading freight, unloading it, driving a wagon, and all that.”
“How long until you’re back this way?” Jim said.
“Two, maybe three months,” Fletcher said.
Jim gave Colton a sideways look. “I can’t be gone that long, not with the wife and kids, but Colton will do well for you.”
“I’d rather have both of you,” Fletcher said. “But three months is a long time away from home.” He turned to face Colton squarely. “Fifteen dollars a month and all expenses paid. I’ll cover room and board, not whiskey, though.”
“Last man we hired, you paid twenty,” Hale said. “He wasn’t much of a worker.”
