“Kady said that the national economy would be helped if you shared your wealth with other people rather than hoarding it,” Ned said, eyes twinkling.
“Go on,” Cole said solemnly.
“Kady told the drivers they were to buy any food that sounded strange, anything they’d never heard of. She also gave each man a list of things that she wanted in quantity, like olive oil and great barrels of flour. Did you know that brown flour with the bran still on it is better for you than white flour?”
Cole glared at him.
“All right, just be patient, will you? Kady gave the job of findin’ some decent cookware to Hog’s Breath, and you shoulda seen him! A couple of us tried to warn Kady that ol’ Hoggie wasn’t to be trusted, but she wouldn’t listen. She put a bag of gold in his hand and told him she was dependin’ on him. We all thought Hoggie was gonna melt, and we were sure we’d never see him again.”
Ned took another deep draw. “But he fooled all of us. The next day he came back with an incredible story. Seems some man in Denver decided he wanted to open a French restaurant, so he hired three French chefs straight from Paris, France, and they arrived with crates full of copper pots.” Ned gave Cole a serious look. “Copper conducts heat quicker and more evenly than any other metal except silver. Did you know that?”
“Get on with it,” Cole said with no humor in his voice.
“The chefs arrived with all their equipment—Kady calls it a batterie de cuisine—but two days later them cooks deserted to go prospectin’, leavin’ all the pots and pans behind. Hog’s Breath bought the lot of ’em, and when he showed up at the ranch with a wagonload of saucepans and molds and au gratin dishes, Kady was so overwhelmed, she kissed him. On the mouth.”
At this Ned waited for Cole’s reaction to what he thought was a wonderful story, but Cole didn’t give any indication that he’d heard. “Who is Juan?” is all Cole asked.
“Barela,” Ned said in a tone of false innocence. “You musta heard of him.”
For a moment all Cole could do was blink; then he rose, making motions to check all the knives on his body as he moved. Juan Barela was a killer, would kill a man as soon as look at him. No one knew for sure exactly how much violence he was responsible for, but then no one was stupid enough to ride up to Socorro and investigate, in spite of the huge reward on the man’s head.
Ned grabbed Cole’s arm and motioned for him to sit back down. “You don’t have to worry. Kady has him eatin’ out of her hand. And I mean that for gospel truth. Juan’s running the whole show, keepin’ order over all the workers and the people comin’ to eat. And he’s doin’ a great job, ’cause he’s only had to shoot a couple of people.”
“Shoot—” Cole said then started to rise again.
“It was only ol’ Lindstrum,” Ned explained, making Cole sit back down. There wasn’t a man who’d ever met Lindstrum who didn’t want to shoot him. If a heavenly angel came to Lindstrum, he’d find something to complain about.
“Lindstrum wouldn’t eat his field-green salad, said it was no more than a bunch of weeds, so Juan shot him. Just a little bit along the top of his arm; then Dolores wrapped a bandanna around it, and Lindstrum ate his greens.”
“I see,” Cole said. “And what did my wife say to having a man shot for not eating his salad?”
“Kady told Juan not to shoot anyone else, but then she said from the looks of the man’s teeth maybe someone should have made him eat his greens a long time ago. She and Juan are the best of friends.”
When he spoke, Cole’s voice was very quiet. “My wife is friends with the most notorious killer in the country? A man who strikes fear in the hearts of everyone who hears his name?”
“Kady says that Juan is just trying to support the whole town of Socorro and all his children. His methods are bad, but his motives are good.” At this Ned paused and smiled dreamily. “Kady sure is a wonder. On that first day Juan came down from the mountain with the others from Socorro. None of us ever thought we’d see him, but he said even he was willin’ to hunt mushrooms if it paid ten dollars an hour so he—”
“What!?” Cole gasped. “Ten dollars for one hour?”
“That’s what Kady is payin’ everyone who helps her,” Ned said, trying but not succeeding to suppress his smile. He’d been trying to buy the saloon from Cole for six years, but Cole wouldn’t consider selling or even going into a partnership. “You wanta hear about Juan or not?”
“Yeah, tell me,” Cole growled. “But, wait a minute, are you sure there’s no whiskey in this place? I truly do need a drink.”
“Not a drop,” Ned said cheerfully. “K
ady needs everything. Anyway, about Juan. He showed up—first time anyone on the right side of the law had seen him in ten years—and we all kept lookin’ at him cause it was like lookin’ at a legend. I must say he is one fine-lookin’ man. Kady calls him a ‘hunk.’”
“Go on!” Cole snapped.
“That first day the whole town of Socorro came down out of the mountains, and in the back of a wagon there was this little boy that was the spittin’ image of Juan, so Kady congratulated Juan on havin’ such a beautiful son. Then some old man with a nose like a potato started sputterin’ and said the boy was his. Kady apologized, but after she helped the fifth child out of the wagon that looked just like Juan, she started laughin’ and looked at Juan, and he started laughin’ too.”
Cole leaned across the table. “Why don’t you just tell me the facts? Is Kady all right?”
“More than all right, I’d say. Oh, lordy, but that woman can make people work! She’s had us diggin’ pits and constructin’ spits. She’s got the blacksmith rollin’ puff pastry and Les’s girls have been pullin’ strudel dough. You know, don’t you, that that stuff has to be stretched until you can read a newspaper through it?” Ned stopped long enough to chuckle. “You know, there ain’t nothin’ that girl can’t cook. She give a couple of hunters a list of things they couldn’t bring back, like mountain lions and such, so ol’ Ernie got the bright idea of bringin’ her back a bag full of rattlers. He thought it would be a great joke.”
“You allowed someone to give my wife rattlesnakes?” Cole said through clenched teeth.
“Don’t worry; Juan shot their heads off, then Kady cleaned ’em in a flash, marinated the meat in milk for half a day, then fried ’em. They was right good eatin’, if I do say so myself.”