By the time I opened my eyes, Duke was already up and had a pot of coffee brewing on the stove. I reckon it was his “quiet time” again. It wasn’t long, though, before we were all up and raring to go. We were almost saddled up when the big door slid open and in walked two men, each carrying the prettiest saddles I believe I’d ever seen. They weren’t exactly the same, but were both shiny-black with silver studs all around the sides. Looked like real silver, too. I’d seen saddles kind of like them before, down in Fort Worth. I was told they were Spanish with real Spanish leather. When the two men headed over to the three black horses, we figured they were the lawmen Pa had talked about last night.
Duke was first to speak. “You two must be the Dakota law men Pa told us about. I hope you find your horses shod to your pleasure.”
The smaller man walked over to one of the horses, lifted a foreleg and took a good look. When he’d seen enough, he put the leg back down and walked over to Duke with his right hand extended.
“Didn’t know it took so many to do it, but they look fine. Couldn’t have done better myself. Name’s Theodore, but I go by Teddy.”
“I’m Duke, and these are Hal and Cody who work for me. The young one there goes by Montana.” Duke then turned to the taller of the two. “I reckon then you must be Mister Bullock. Nice to meet both of you. We’re just passin’ through, ourselves. Came on Doc last night right after he’d repaired his forge. He was running late on your job and we offered to help for the warmth of his barn. You’re both welcome to what’s left of the coffee. It’s not much, but it’s hot.”
“Name’s Seth and we thank you for your good work and your offer, but we’ll have to pass this time. We got word there was a devil-storm back east and we need to get back there. I’m county sheriff and Teddy helps me out from time to time. Bad storms make for unhappy people and when they get unhappy, we get busy.”
“You men did us a service and we won’t forget it,” Teddy added. “If your travels ever take you back Deadwood way, make sure to stop by. Seth’ll see to it you’re taken care of.”
“Much obliged,” Duke answered. “I’ll do that. You all have a safe trip.”
Then, kind of a funny thing happened. While Sheriff Seth continued preparing their horses, Teddy walked over to Duke, shook his hand and then, in turn, shook each of ours. It wasn’t one of those sissy handshakes, either. When he came to me, he grabbed by hand hard and shook it like a man whose life we’d just saved. He looked straight into our eyes, too. I could tell because he wore big, round glasses that magnified his. Just seemed funny. That was a handshake I’d remember. When he was done, he went back over and helped his friend with the horses.
“We’re off in the other direction,” Duke said, as he cinched his saddle on his horse. “Let’s hope that storm heads off north. Weather’s bad enough for this early in the season and we’ve got a long ride ahead of us.”
The two finished before we did and, with their third horse in tow, bid us goodbye and left as quickly as they’d arrived. A few minutes later we were ready ourselves, when the door opened again and Pa walked in.
“How was the night, boys? Did my old stove keep the ice off?”
I answered. “Sure did, Pa. The horses appreciated it, too. We want to thank you for helping us out.”
Before Pa could answer, Duke joined in. “Yes, sir. Montana speaks for all of us, Pa. We’re much obliged.”
“I see you met the two owners of those horses we shod. I saw them headin’ out, on my way in. Funny pair, aren’t they?”
“Seemed pleasant enough,” Duke answered. “Said they had to get back to Deadwood due to the storm. They were in some hurry.”
Pa continued, “After I left you all last night, I stopped by the lodge for a nightcap and ran into both of them. We had a nice chat. Turns out the tall one is Sheriff of Deadwood. The other one’s from back east…New York. Lost his wife a few years back at childbirth and came west to ranch. But somethin’ was eatin’ at him because he said he’d had enough, and needed to get back east. He’s got a daughter back there -- reckon he misses her. Name’s Roosevelt. They’re both interesting fella’s. I’m glad you all had the chance to meet. What did they think of our work?”
Again, Duke answered. “Teddy took a close look and tipped his hat to all of us. I don’t know much about his problems, but he knows his horses.”