No Man’s Land
Chapter 13
by Timothy Fogg

It was with regret that I left the home of the Smart family and continued on in my search for Penelope Grimes. The next homesteads I visited were nowhere near as friendly. Some folk looked at a lawman with plain distrust. One family met me in front of a dirt soddy with leveled shotguns. They were clad in the poorest mixture of buckskins, Rebel uniforms and homespun that I had ever seen. When they suggested that I keep riding, I found their argument persuasive and remained in the saddle.

In a high canyon that must have seen ten feet of snow in the winter, I found an old mining camp. At first I thought it was deserted, for it was was littered with broken tools and crushed out rock. Then a high pitched cackle came from the mine shaft, and I knew there was still an occupant.

"Been a long time since I had a visitor," said a tall gangly man with long white hair and beard. At first glance he looked old, but at closer range I could see that he was but middle aged and prematurely gray. From the sound of him, he had spent a lot of time by himself.

"Get right down and make yourself at home, mister. Wait until I tell Suzie we've got company. Won't she be some old excited." So far I hadn't said a word, and from the looks of things I wouldn't have to. He could do the talking for the both of us. He disappeared into the mine and came back out leading a burro.

"This is Suzie. Say hi to the man, Suzie. He's come to visit us."

If Suzie was impressed she didn't show it. Perhaps if I introduced myself.

"My name is Torrence Jackson, and I'm an Arizona Ranger." Nope, the burro was not impressed. The prospector, though, was full of questions.

"Arizona Ranger? Never heard of such a thing. What is this outfit, new?"

"We've been around about twenty years."

"Oh, that explains it. I've been up here longer than that."

"Longer than that? Why, you must have come in before the Civil War."

"What Civil War? You don't mean the South finally seceded, do you? They had been talking about it for some time. That's one reason I moved in here. Nobody to fight with. It seems like every time you get two people together they find something to fight about."

"You've got a point there; you surely have. Then you don't know who else lives up in these hills, do you?"

"Not by name, but I've watched a lot of 'em pass by. I kept hid so they wouldn't see me. Who you looking for?"

I told him about the plight of Penelope Grimes. He didn't seem too shook up by it.

"There ain't any women up here, that's for sure. Hey, that's sure a fancy gun you got. Can I take a look at it?"

I didn't like the sudden greed in the man's face. "Sorry, regulations, you know."

I decided to beat a hasty retreat before he got any more ideas. Too late.

"That is one good looking horse. Horse meat is good eating, you know."

That did it. He was not getting close to my horse. This was no time for manners, so I mounted up and bid the man adios.

"Hey, where you going?"

"I've got miles to make. If you want my advice I'd take a trip out to civilization and see what's going on. You have been by yourself too many years."

Without waiting for a reply I spurred my mount out of there. It just didn't seem like a safe place to be. The next time I approached civilization, I figured I was close to Utah. Emerging from trees on the brow of a mountain I saw several separate trails of smoke in the distance. It was smoke from chimneys and signaled a little village that wasn't even on the map.

I rode down and went to the first house that I came to. Here a man looked at me with unfriendly eyes and said he had never heard of Penelope Grimes. Moving on, I got the same reception at the next place, but one of the women there seemed to be trying to catch my eye. As I walked out to the hitch rail she passed close be me and whispered, "She's at the second place north of here."

"Thank you," I whispered back. Finally I had a lead.

I went directly to the house she had mentioned and found a group of seven ladies engaged in needlecraft. They were all dressed gaily in bonnets and laughed and talked as they worked. When I approached I could see that they were each making a square to a sampler quilt. It was a scene you might expect to see in the East; a church picnic, perhaps, with the girls gossiping and joking the afternoon away.

They smiled demurely when I rode up and announced, "I'm trying to find Penelope Grimes."

The blond closest to me said, "I'm Penny."

This was closely followed by a brunette who also announced, "No, I'm Penny."

Then A red-head piped up, "I'm Penny."

"I'm Penny."

"No, I'm Penny."

"I'm Penny Grimes."

This left only one woman that had not spoken. She stood in back of the group and stared at me intently. Finally she said, "I'm Penelope Grimes. Did my father send you?"

"No, ma'am, he wired the governor, and the order came down through the ranks. Somebody at Lee's Crossing heard you call for help and wired in."

She hesitated, then asked, "So what are you going to do now?"

"Whatever you want. It sounded like you were being abducted. If you want to leave I'll take you out."

"I, really..." she looked at the other women and they looked at her with disappointed faces. "No, I want to stay. These are the first friends I have ever had and I want to stay with them. When I got off the stage and Neal said I would be another one of his wives I panicked. I had heard stories and thought the worst. Since then I have come to know the family and I love them. The girls are just like sisters, and Neal is very kind. For the first time in my life I have a home. Yes, I want to stay."

The other women made much of her at this statement, for they liked her very much, and now she would be part of their family. They reminded me of fairies in an English forest as they danced around Penny and congratulated her on her choice.

It wasn't long before Neal Young showed up. He was a much younger man than I had expected. He wore clean broadcloth clothes and had a neatly trimmed beard. The women all seemed happy to see him. He wore a permanent smile that made him seem glad to meet everybody.

"How do you do?" he asked upon meeting me. "Checking up on our little Penny? I thought someone might, with the fuss she made. I figured she just had cold feet, and I brought her back to meet the rest of the family. It seems to have worked."

"Yes," I replied, "She seems to be happy. I'll be on my way and not bother you."

"Nonsense, you must stay the night. When these girls put their minds to it, they can really put on a spread. You'll enjoy it."

I was never one to pass up a good meal, so I was glad to accept his offer. The meal was delicious. Later we told stories and sang. It hadn't been dark long when Young announced that it was time to hit the hay. He was a hard worker and rose before daybreak every morning.

"Terrance, I built a guest house because my wives have so many relatives. Make yourself at home, and I'll see that you get waited on while you are here."

I tried to tell him that I was well able to wait on myself, but he would hear none of it. While I was his guest, I was a king and would be treated as such.

I had no sooner turned in than a giggling gaggle of females came in the door and gathered around me. Four of the women had arrived to do my bidding. I didn't have any, but they wouldn't hear of this. In fact, they were crowding my bed so much they were beginning to make me nervous. Really, that was an understatement.

"Oh, I think he's shy." This was accompanied be a round of tehees.

"I'll bet his feet are cold. Do you have cold feet, Terrance?"

"Maybe he's never seen a girl before. Where are you from, Terrence? Do they have girls there?"

"You're not nervous, are you, Terrance? Neal told us to take good care of you."

"How can we do that if you keep pushing us away? "

I was at a lot for what to do. I was trying to be a gentleman, but these females were making it very difficult. They were Young's wives and I thought they shouldn't be here in the first place. But he had told them to wait on me. My moral reserve was tested, to be sure, and I was relieved when the sun came up in the morning.

I met Young at the breakfast table. He looked at me closely and laughed.

"You seem to be a mite tired this morning? Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Not really. I'm used to being alone and I couldn't nod off with the other people there."

He laughed again. "Why, they scared you, didn't they? Stay another night and relax this time."

"No, I can't," I blurted out, almost too quickly. "I've got to get back and go out on another case. I'll tell them that everything is just fine with Penelope."

"If you must. But stop in again when you're up this way."

In my mind I had shifted the border to just south of here, and I wasn't going to cross it if possible.

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