Return to Carlisle

By Peter Lawler

This novel is a love story. Trust and respect are essential ingredients for love to exist and continue. Secrets destroy trust and a secret kept by Elizabeth Mitchell until her death [its nature still not uncommon in the 21st century] nearly destroyed one family [Doherty] and severely impacted on two others [Lachlan and Redman]. Matthew Redman was the son of a Texas cattle rancher. Siobhan and Miriam were the daughters of Frank Doherty, the owner of the adjoining ranch. From childhood Siobhan and Matthew fought and argued, were usually at the heart of all trouble and mischief on the ranches and were best friends. Matthew Redman moved east, obtained degrees in law and engineering. Meanwhile there was disaster in Texas when the Mitchell secret was found out by Siobhan causing daughter to turn against mother and father and sister against sister. Siobhan left home damning her parents and commenced a new career of robbery, being a confidence trickster and counterfeiter, having multiple lovers yet sometime teaching in a convent school and continuing to confide in Matthew who had become a member of an elite group of US law enforcement officers called simply Rangers. This led to Matthew pursuing Siobhan due to her illegal activities and when finally they faced one another she dared him to stop her escaping by shooting her in the back. His failure to do so left his integrity as a Ranger in tatters. Having deciding to resign his last investigation led to a savage encounter in Tregear when Siobhan saved his life. This event hit them like a sledgehammer as they finally became aware what they always had known but had never admitted the fact of their love for each other. Reconciliation and a surprise wedding followed and led to the search for Siobhans formerly unknown family in Carlisle in Northern England.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483664040

Book preview

Prologue

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Return to Carlisle

T asmania, where the author was born and now lives, was first called Van Diemen’s Land named after the Dutch explorer Van Diemen. When the British settled the Van Diemen’s Land colony it dumped its prison population, which were then usually found in the prison hulks and jails in England, into men’s convict settlements like Port Arthur and work houses for women in Hobart town and some other settled areas of Van Diemen’s Land. The convicts were accompanied on board ship by a number of free settlers in addition to the army and navy personnel required to guard the convicts on the voyage and in the settlements. Many convicts were subsequently paroled [ticket of leave men and women] and some even became members of the Van Diemen’s Land police force. Others kept to their old ways and so drunkenness, debauchery and petty crime were common. The hard case Bush Rangers [USA equivalent Outlaws] stole cattle [Cattle Duffers] and robbed and killed their fellow inhabitants now known as Tasmanians. It was therefore not uncommon since that time for families to cover up any convict past as they sought to become respected members of the Tasmanian community.

Most families have secrets. My family members appeared in the British Assizes’ records as thieves and so forth. Whalers and south sea islanders as well as Tasmanian aborigines willingly or not so willingly became part of local largely British/Irish families. In the 19th century the proper British settlers regarded many other Non British persons as not of the right stock and so the lips of the families were sealed if any such persons were alleged to exist. On the author’s family one branch of his family was not spoken about. There also was one unfortunate son of a Scottish gentleman had been required by his family to seek new pastures and he transferred from Scotland to Van Diemen’s Land with a servant presumably to care for him. What is fact is that there was also in the author’s family memory failure by one set of great grandparents who forgot to marry despite raising at least six children.

In the author’s last novel Lachlan of Carlisle, the first in a trilogy, Nicola Charlotte Frances Waltham’s mother [Elizabeth or Eliza Jane Mitchell] had been ostracized by her family when she married the Texas rancher John Waltham by reason of him being an unsuitable husband for the status of a Mitchell family member. James Lachlan Nicola’s husband had always thought this was a totally extreme reaction by the family because Elizabeth Mitchell was following her heart and not the directives of the family. However he never raised the matter with Nicola. This novel will start with a Mitchell family secret; the unspoken reason why Elizabeth Mitchell was removed from the bosom of her family on her marriage to Waltham.

Return to Carlisle is interwoven with the Lachlan of Carlisle period. The 1840’s in the USA started a time of great expansion and growth. During and after the war a number of so called respected businessmen engaged in not so legitimate trading activities. Historically slave traders, smugglers, old-fashioned pirates or privateers were subsidised by respectable businessmen because there was money in illicit trade and it as now was always harder for lawmen to get at the top men than their front line foot soldiers. These businessmen would go to extraordinary lengths to become pillars of the community often by philanthropy as they spread some of their ill-gotten gains into their local communities. A second group were the pirates who kept their fortunes and were thought more kindly as rogues who may have gone to prison but were improving their lot particularly if the American Justices of the Peace had treated them leniently for their crimes.

When the expansion period was followed by the Civil War there was confusion. The times were chaotic which in the following years resulted in an increase in the numbers of confidence thieves, tricksters and counterfeiters including other matters affecting the USA currency. [White-collar criminals] The investigating law enforcement officers in many cases knew who the criminals were and what they had been doing but it was difficult to prove because these people were among the shrewdest of thieves and many banks and financial institutions were loathe to admit and inform shareholders and the public that they had been defrauded.

There were other more violent groups of restless and often bitter men who perceived an actual lack of justice because of the Civil War and its aftermath. This ultimately caused the destruction of property, goods, family and hope. Men had been trained to kill, rob and destroy property, money and equipment in the war and now they found, with only little law or overworked law to oppose them, that robbery and violence were profitable. The recorded shootings [killings] in the mid west, west and south west of the USA at that time was an all time high. The victorious north also had the power directly and indirectly to control the war ravaged south of the country further creating a hostile environment. Another problem was that men who had lost everything just lay around doing nothing, losing the will to do anything and created at best nuisances and at worst bad men.

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Lay Abouts

Then continued the railroad expansion. Texas Railroads for example were unquestionably the biggest economic force in Texas after the Civil War. Towns were born, nurtured or killed at the whim of railroad planners. In this novel enter the US Marshal, the senior federal law enforcement officer in the country trying to combat the menace of the rogue businessmen and outlaws.

The image of the US Marshal walking down Main Street, facing the outlaws followed by a deadly shootout created an industry of articles, stories and blatant lies for public consumption mostly in the east of the country. These men with six guns blazing one in each hand wiped out gangs of outlaws turned and went back into the saloon for a whisky. The truth was that less heroic men fought and died with their shield of US Marshal pinned to their chest. They were ordinary men who were employed to keep the peace in the most difficult times. It might be said that fortunately the wild years of the 1860’s and the 1870’s were slowing. The wild men were being slowly brought to heel. The hero General Custer had been killed and the major Indian wars were over. Wild Bill Hickok had been killed in 1876. Innocent men had been murdered for no good reason other than that they dared to disagree with the men who controlled towns.

Gradually however in the mid 1870’s new Town Marshals and Sheriffs, good honest men who enforced the law were being elected. That however did not mean that murder, robbery, theft, fraud, counterfeiting, misuse of government documents, misconduct and corruption of public officials, smuggling, illegal entry into the country and threats to government officials did not continue. As time passed since the Civil War federal activities and records became more centralised, for example, new records containing photographs of known outlaws and criminals were maintained when their photographs could be obtained. Yet perhaps it may not have been these improvements in communication and enforcement but the growing realisation of good men and women that peace was the necessary component to improve the material and spiritual prosperity of their lives in the Union of the United States of America. This novel refers in part to one special fictitious group of law enforcement officers referred to as The Rangers of the US Marshals’ Office. It was a select group of men who carried but were not required to wear the US marshal’s shield. They were Field Officers assigned tasks where knowledge of their actual status was on a need to know basis.

Field Officers rotated in and out of the administrative section of the Federal Department of Justice and who most frequently travelled alone or with a partner. These field officers remained relatively few in number even though the need for them was growing. They in this novel were the elite but little was known of them outside the Department of Justice. Tarquin Matthew Redman was destined to become one of these men. His life and that of his neighbours in his home state of Texas [the Doherty’s] would entwine and then enter the life of Nicola Lachlan, the Marchioness of Carlisle and Galloway and her husband James Lachlan, Marquis of Carlisle and Galloway.

Chapter One

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Home in Carlisle

W e will now revisit the north of England and Kilmorgan Castle in Carlisle fifteen years after the marriage of the Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway James Fortescue Alfred William Lachlan and the Marchioness Nicola Josephine Frances Waltham. James was the second son of Warwick the Duke of Wetherall formerly Earl of Cumbria and Galloway and Lady Marguerite Helene Balfour now the Duchess of Wetherall . As stated before Cumbria had been largely agricultural for hundreds of years but this was continuing to change as industry and mining increased during the 19 th century.

In Cumbria there were lakes and mountains, castles, dramatic coastlines and growing cities. A significant area of Cumbria was used for farmland and for the grazing of cattle on lowland pastures. There were also hardy breeds of sheep that lived and grazed in the hills of Cumbria. The home of the Lachlan family had been Kilmorgan Castle for 600 years and in this time the area that remained predominately rural.

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Kilmorgan Castle

Home of the Lachlans

Warwick efficiently ran his large estate and commercial enterprises and now James was more and more taking over this task as the Duke was ageing, less interested and wanting the remaining life of himself and his wife to be largely problem free. The Duke owned or part owned mines, lead and gypsum in the Eden valley, Iron in Furness and coal in the West Cumberland and Lancashire.

James did not closely manage but rather over sighted the other myriad commercial enterprises or the estate itself but like his father he employed excellent overseers and managers who carried out his directives. He also relied on a Mr Henry Difflier an Accountant and Lawyer who James trusted because of the estates diverse business activities and he thought that specialists needed to manage these assets. The estate had reached the point where the amount of money and assets value grew automatically unless an idiot was making ridiculous business decisions. An example of sound management was the lead mine manager’s position. A new manager was brought in and the previous manager, nearing retirement, was made the assistant Manager at his existing wage. This allowed the new manager access to the experience gained in a lifetime by the former manager and ensured it could be used and not lost to the company. If change was needed this formed a baseline from which to act.

James believed in utilising his knowledge and practice of engineering for Kilmorgan’s financial benefit. What was important to an engineer that no edifice he built should fall down and this meant there had to be a set of minimum standards in construction and maintenance that actual ensured nothing in fact fell down. In centuries gone by for example badly designed and engineered ships would be filled with equipment and people that unfortunately could make a vessel top heavy and therefore likely to capsize. The famous Mary Rose naval vessel of Henry the Eighth, King of England was a famous and not forgotten example. James ensured as far as possible that these engineering principles were adopted by his business enterprises so that his mines he owned were as safe as possible, his boats never in theory and so far in practice had never sunk. He ensured his managers and staff maintained a standard of excellence that justified his trust and wages he gave them. He maintained and kept good staff. The Marchioness Nicola showed him how easy his ideas could be implemented when she ran the ongoing successful annual servants’ ball. The servants looked forward to it and the fact that she was also a singer and dancer of quality did no harm either. When she attended the first ball in England she went around all the staff and spoke to them by name and this was a perfect example of what is now called good management.

Nicola had by now taken over the running of the household finances and the agricultural resources of Kilmorgan castle. A marchioness was not supposed to be more than a lady and leave household finances to the butler and the housekeeper and simply overview their activities. She by and large did not interfere with the daily running of the castle but her background of being an independent American woman responsible for her own actions for most of her life meant she did her best to avoid the dressing changes associated with other titled women in a similar position and she was known to drop into the kitchen to discuss matters with the cook and housekeeper and furthermore have tea or coffee with them at the kitchen table. She took part as was expected with the embroidery sessions where the other titled and respectable women tended to gossip about those not present. This coupled with having tertiary qualifications and capable of correctly arguing about business, money and rural matters with her husband and traders set her aside from other Ladies in the area.

She loved riding around the estate and talking to her tenants, farm workers and quarry staff where in Lachlan of Carlisle she and James slid down the pile of waste material into muddy water had a huge argument but made up lovingly that night. James for his part thought she knew every worker on the property by name. She for example insisted no workers accommodation would have dirt floors and leaky rooves and ensured any workers she employed were properly housed both them and their animals. Those persons who worked for the Duke were never treated harshly unless they unreasonably failed completely to carry out their assigned tasks. There were regular meetings [monthly] to ascertain the state of the estate assets on and outside the actual Castle itself. These actions seemed logical from an engineering viewpoint in managing projects so James saw no reason why his engineering management style would not be effective in non-engineering management activity.

Nicola as did her father in law insisted that family and staff always followed the proper relations and type of address to each other. The current butler at Kilmorgan was the third member of his family to fill that position an indication of the attitude of the Duke and the respect in which he and his family were held. However having said that much to the horror of other inside staff Nicola allowed her maid Belle to call her by her first name and not "Milady’ except for formal occasions. This was because Belle had been Nicola’s best friend during her working days in the USA as a dancing girl and singer and held a special place in Nicola’s heart.

It can be said that in some ways nothing had changed as Lady Marguerite Helene Balfour in her youth was a beauty and Warwick first saw Marguerite at a ball in Dumfries House, which happily coincided with a six months visit by him to Galloway. If readers recall in Lachlan of Carlisle young men wishing to dance with Marguerite and impress her as potential suitors always surrounded her. Three months later Warwick was invited back to Dumfries House and he was issued into the drawing room where Marguerite was sitting. Warwick was surprised particularly as the butler informed him that apart from Marguerite the family was absent which he thought was a completely unacceptable way for a young lady to act in her parent’s absence. This showed Marguerite like Nicola had a mind of her own and acted decisively when she thought it was necessary. She said to Warwick, Warwick, at the last ball you never came near me. I wanted at least one dance with you. This was said with a small pout indicating she was disappointed with Warwick. Warwick replied, Marguerite, you were surrounded by a large number of eligible men present. That you would accept me for a dance I thought would be highly unlikely. I felt this would be insufficient reason for me to approach you. Despite what her parent’s thought she intended to marry the gentle Warwick and she ultimately had her way. She was strong willed and this scared many men off by her attitude but despite there was hell to play over the clandestine visit and Lady Marguerite was sent to finishing school but one year after she had completed her finishing Warwick and Marguerite subsequently were married with parental approval.

It was winter in Carlisle and the Duke and the Duchess were ensconced in the library in front of a huge log fire, Marguerite with an embroidery ring although she at present seemed to have her mind elsewhere. Then she spoke, Warwick, do you remember when we first met Nicola? I was aghast that James intended to marry her, a common dancer. She was independent, not English and had little idea how she should act in English society. I could not have been more wrong when I thought she was terribly unsuited as James wife. Yet look at them today. They are both walking around the estate and it is freezing outside. You would think they were still madly in love. Marguerite they are. They have four beautiful children whom they love and want them home and not to be sent away to a boarding school. She has been like a shot in the arm to this family and James is happier than ever.

Just then they heard the wind and the rain, hail and sleet hitting the French windows even though the sound was through the thick double drapes. William said, "I think I am glad that I am older because I no longer have the energy to go walking in the winter as James and Nicola did this morning to early afternoon’. The Duchess agreed as she pulled up a rug over her legs because she felt a shiver across her back at the thought of walking in rain and sleet. Rain she did not mind for Carlisle had 200 or more wet days each year but instead of the normal twenty or so snow days this year of our Lord 1895 was bitter with 60 days of falling snow. The Duke had said earlier the usual cool summers and mild winters caused by the Irish Sea to the west of Cumbria and the Lake District had deserted them. The Duke was always interested in weather because his farming animals and planting of crops could always be affected by bad weather. Concern also existed with the pair because they knew that winter walkers should be very wary particularly in higher hilly and mountain areas however only a fool would venture up the mountains without knowing the Weather Forecast and having the correct equipment. They rang the bell and a maidservant entered took their order of tea and crumpets, which several minutes later disappeared with vigour. Lady Marguerite thought that despite the inclement weather being seated as they were and enjoying hot afternoon tea meant it was good to be alive.

It had been at near first light when James and Nicola prepared to go on a ramble. They decided to do so after the night before had a spotless full moon which promised a complete break in the weather the following day as they were sick of being forced to keep mostly inside Carlisle Castle or away from home on business. It was their intention to follow the walk that James, his brother and his friends often took when they were youngsters.

It was a bright, seraphic day, a day without a cloud or a film, a gentle breeze from the west, a dry, bracing air, a warm sun that melted the snow and brought out the bare ground under the lee of the fences and farm-buildings. At this time of the year, particularly as 1895 weather had thus far been worse than normal it would be more likely that one or the other might catch a death of cold and surely have a red nose or chapped lips. Nicola had studied the nature of the Cumbria weather and was well aware of how quickly it could change. Yet they still looked forward to a bracing winter walk. The ground after their leaving point at Cockle Creek rose into a world of bracken, stunted thorns, rock and heather. The rain not constant but came and went with low force but it was ever present. For short periods gaps in the clouds appeared and the pale sunlight shone onto the slate roofs of cottages they could see below the rise. They had taken the high route. The clamouring, climbing and walking kept them warm except for the parts of their faces were exposed to the elements.

After an hour James and Nicola were descending down over rocks down to the bare sward that stretched alongside Cockle creek. They could hear the noise of the falls over the wind firstly muffled as they walked through the trees. The sound of the falls became increasingly louder as they proceeded. It had memories for James as he thought of the times spent at and near the falls and remembered that it was one of Sarah’s favourite treks. About four hundred yards upstream the creek flowed smoothly and was tranquil until it approached the falls and the creek narrowed. The water then started to fall steeply rushing between large rocks down onto the rocks below. As a child James thought the falls were beautiful, terrifying and dangerous. At nineteen as now they were less so but still thrilling particularly during and after heavy rains.

An increased weight of water seemed to come down at high speed smashing over the rocks and hurling spray into the air but James and Nicola never approached these snow-covered edges of the creek. They turned away from the river proceeded slowly through trees and along the snow covered pastureland. An hour and a half into the walk they stopped reached beneath their clothing and pulled out bread and cheese and James had carried some hot tea in a suitably covered container and they washed the cheese down with a luke warm tea and they left the container in a small cleft and would retrieve it on the next walk in the area. Nicola looked up into the sky and it was unusually clear. They wrapped their scarfs around their faces and continued on. Nicola had not lived in an area in the USA which was in anyway like the Cumbria weather and because she liked walks she, as with her studies, went to the Carlisle library and found out as much as she could and then queried James and his mother and father to seek their thoughts on the weather. She knew this was an exceptional day and was musing about what would happen if the weather changed for the worse.

She was aware that sometimes the start of a snowstorm or similar could be gentle and quiet as a marked hush pervaded both the earth and the sky. Awareness was the key to safety in a rapidly changing climate. The movements of the celestial forces in this occurrence are muffled, as if the snow already paved the way of their coming and was not letting on. There is no uproar no blowing of wind trumpets, no sound of thunder, and no flash of lightning. The soft, feathery, exquisite crystals are formed as if in the silence and privacy of the inner cloud. James and Nicola continued and it was mid morning when they reached the point where they had to decide which path to return. There was a niche in the rock face of Williams Fell named after his brother which in reality was just a hill an not really a mountain.

As if a switch had been turned on rude winds break the spell and was set to mar their progress. Yet the clouds are smoother, and slower in their movements than those that bring rain. Like the arrow they heard the swish that was the start of the breeze approaching. Hillside Cottage became their objective as they became aware that weather trouble was coming. James said, Hillside cottage and Nicola nodded and they hastened on.

The weather worsened and their walk became harder and harder but then they saw through the rain, sleet and snow the Hillside cottage where the foreman of the Kilmorgan quarry lived with his family. They slowly approached the cottage and about 25 minutes later had reached it. They knocked on the door and it was opened by the foreman’s wife and they were hit by heat emanating from a huge fire that was burning in the kitchen hob. She said, My Lord, My Lady what are you doing out in this weather? My husband knew it would turn bad around midday. Come in quickly. There was a small brick entry porch at the door where they removed their outer galoshes, then their walking boots and over jackets and hung them up.

Mrs Foster it is good to see you again and I fear we must impose on your good nature and spend some time in your home while my wife and I unfreeze. My Lord, this is your property and you allow my husband, myself and our family to live in this large cottage at no cost provided we keep two carriages for your family use and also we maintain the stable for the horses for which we are adequately paid. Of course you and your wife can impose. James grabbed Nicola and pulled her in front of the fire to warm her face and hands and then followed her example. After 10 minutes the door opened and in walked Michael the foreman’s son and he removed his hat; coat and shoes and joined his mother near the fire. James spoke, Michael, would you prepare the covered carriage and in about an hour I will get you to drive myself and the Marchioness home to Kilmorgan Castle. Yes my Lord. "Thank you Michael at least we have the track from the quarry to travel home and I noticed it was reasonably clear for us to travel albeit freezing and having a good cover of snow. Mrs Foster prepared tea and scones for early luncheon/afternoon tea and James and Nicola luxuriated in front of the fire.

The foreman’s son maintained two special carriages for the Duke for their use around the estate. They traditionally had been kept near the quarry for some 50 years. James re-engineered these carriages so that while being cold the passengers had complete cover against the weather. Unlike most carriages it had a wooden barrier in front of the body of the driver to just below shoulder height through which the reins of the horse were controlled. He could also at his desire put a canvas cover around his waist and over his legs but he was subject to the weather above the waist. James was considering covering the driver further but had not completed any plans for the best way it could be achieved.

James and Nicola thrust their heads down against the strong wind and rain as they walked to the carriage. They entered the carriage and immediately Nicola snuggled up against James and he wrapped a thick blanket around them both. A little later she whispered into her husband’s ear asking him about amorous activity that had happened before under the conditions they were faced with. You hussy. You are a married woman with four children and are supposed to be responsible yet you act like a profligate trollop. You should be ashamed. Trollop am I, I remind you what you suggested and then persuaded your innocent wife to agree when we were on the bank of the River Seven and it was pouring with rain. All James mumbled was "innocent wife’ and wrapped himself around her.

They entered Kilmorgan Castle at mid afternoon in the rear of the castle and went into the kitchen, which was normally the warmest room in the castle where they had hot soup. It was an hour later when they had washed and changed and returned downstairs to the drawing room where James’ parents were. James walked over to his parents while Nicola walked over to the curtains, opened them a short distance and stared out of the French windows. The weather had thickened and where before the trees had been able to catch the snow in its arms and keep a circle of bare ground beneath the branches were normally the birds scratched. Today their lower branches were almost completely buried. It seemed ideal as Christmas neared so Santa Claus snow was upon every tree and roof, heaped upon every door and window, and covered every path and way. Nicola thought that the Weather Giant had slipped down upon them under the cover of such a bright, seraphic day,—a day that disarmed suspicion with all but the wise ones, which she had now learned she was not. She remembered how the white veil began to blur the distant fells and felt less wise but yet she knew she was a good learner.

They sat around a radiant fireplace, listening to the sound of crackling and spitting logs, feeling the heat of hot coals on our faces and hands as they warmed themselves enclosed in their home and distant from the effects of snow, wind, storm, rain and sleet. Nicola had risen and then she turned around and walked over to James and put her arms around him. She smiled and thought how lucky she was and how distant she was from the young girl who had been raped by unfeeling men and robbed of her parents and property all those years ago.

She looked at the Duke and Duchess as sat down and was content. It is good to be alive she thought. The children had just had their dinner and joined their parents and grandparents and commenced to break the silence and as usual Danielle was leading the group and was the loudest. Nicola, your second oldest is displaying some unladylike attributes. She of course had to be red headed, green eyed and abound with furious activity. Warwick I wonder who she takes after, not my peace loving James? She laughed as Nicola snorted, Saint James does however have his moments dearest mother of his and mine. The Duchess continued, Danielle speaks perfect English, dresses beautifully and destroys the image completely when she acts as if she were in the plains of Texas riding a horse and shooting at Indians. Still the Duchess maintained the smile on her face when Danielle walked over to her unannounced and kissed her on the cheek and said Grandmother, I love you. Pater, Mater, I’m off to bed now. I will see you in the morning. The other children followed her up the stairs as the parents moved to the dining room for their evening meal. Warwick I think that girl has us wrapped right around her little finger. Warwick replied, She is adorable and mumbled under his breath, A serial pest like her mother though. Nicola said out loud, I heard that father" and the pair both laughed together.

The new day dawned, and continued as innocent and fair as the day, which had preceded it. From fell peak to the earth beneath there was a valley of cloud and snow, a marvellous sight to behold. The weather had abated. Nicola felt good after a hearty breakfast and had rang for the housekeeper Mrs Forest to attend her in the drawing room to discuss all matters relating to family and friends getting together before Christmas in accordance with Carlisle Castle tradition. The discussion had just commenced when the butler knocked and entered the drawing room. Pardon my interruption but a messenger just arrived with correspondence for you and he indicated there was some urgency to the matter.

Nicola took the letter from the silver tray held by the butler turned to Mrs Forest and said, Forgive me but I must attend to this letter. I will call you again shortly. Nicola walked to the window and opened the letter. The look on her face showed bemusement and then concern. She crossed to the fireplace where the bell ringer cord hung down. The butler entered. Yes my lady. Would you find out where the Marquis is and ask him to come quickly and let him know I have a problem and need him here?" Nicola, letter still in hand sat slowly down and waited for her husband to appear.

Chapter Two

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Texas—The Early Years

I t was 1884 and [Tarquin] Matthew Redman and his wife were about ten miles from his father’s Diamond T ranch. He was finally coming home back to the ranch life he loved and he knew it would please his mother, as well that he intended to start a law practice in Southernwood his home town. Matthew slowed down as they neared Paddle Creek to give the horses a drink before he and his wife continued the last stage of their journey home. Tired, his wife was asleep in the rear of the wagon. While he was waiting for the horses to take the drink Matthew reflected on his life and his mind went back to the early years.

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Paddle Creek

Matthew was born in Texas in 1855 some years before the Civil War commenced, the son of a wealthy rancher, William Richard, [Big Bill] Redman, a giant of a man standing at six feet six inches tall and weighing fifteen stone of bone and muscle. By the age of fourteen Matthew was six feet two inches tall and a similar build to his father. His mother Dianne Marie Redman was five feet one inches tall, which he thought, explained why Matthew remained at a height of smaller stature than his father. Texas, during the civil war considered a confederate state, and after the war the state was like many others chaotic. Some communities lived in peace whilst others suffered from Indian raids, raids by lawless individuals allowing in the worst cases the descent upon some towns of undesirables [outlaws] avoiding the law of other states and territories.

Big Bill Redman had a large property and had sufficient cowhands to defend his land, cattle and rights. Matthew had learned the skills needed of a rancher by the age of fourteen, the skill with weapons, to hunt and when the family was defending the herds against wild animals, or thieves including attacks directly on the Redman property. He like his older brothers Mark and Reuben grew up doing the work of men and accepted the associated responsibilities. He like many boys in Texas dreamed one day of becoming a Texas Ranger. His mother Dianne Redman however had envisaged a much different future for him. She obeyed her husband and his decisions in most things but she was strong in this instance and asserted her independence concerning Matthew and his education outside the ranching activities.

Texas was a state of many nationalities, Spanish, Mexican, French, German and Swiss to mention a few. Texas and most of the western states had been and often remained quite wild. Much of the land was still wide-open country and vast plains led to mountains, the desert, more mountains and more plains. A man could easily get lost in this vast expanse as he travelled across this area. He needed a gun to protect him and obtain food. He needed a horse that would not let him down and he should possess the strength to work, live and settle despite the suffering involved. These men and women who lived and died in the west were individuals, determined to meet and handle their own problems and they used their weapons when necessary and also not infrequently when it was not so.

In the period since 1865 there were 823 battles between the Army and the Indians without any detail of conflict between Indians and the settlers nor ranch raids in the same period. Wells Fargo the well-known horse drawn stage company over one period of 14 years recorded there were 313 robberies on its stages and an additional 34 attempted. 16 robbers were killed; seven by irate citizens and 240 went to jail avoiding a necktie party. These lists did not include train robberies, or the many bank hold-ups known to have occurred. Not uncommon at the time were the family feuds, which might result in pitched battles as well as the individual gunfights over many years with the associated murders and retaliation by members of each family. (1) Bowdries Law, Louis Lamour, December

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Returning Civil War Veteran

Seeing the damage to property others picked up their life and families and wanted to move away from the disaster and move West where life could start again and the war as best forgotten. Following the Civil War, perhaps 5 million longhorn cattle ranged freely across South Texas. The longhorn owed its origins to Spanish cattle brought to the Southwest centuries earlier. A mild climate and few predators allowed the rangy animals to thrive in what was once called the wild horse desert of South Texas. With thousands of immigrants flooding northern cities after the Civil War, there was a high demand for beef. Enterprising ranchers and returning soldiers realized the $5 a head they paid for cattle in South Texas might fetch $40 a head up north. [An article titled The Texas Ranching Frontier]

This encouraged Texas cattlemen to drive their herds along the Chisholm Trail to Abilene. Other trails sprang up like the Great Western, which led to towns like Dodge City. Some herds went all the way from Texas to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. However the era of the long drives to Kansas and the northern ranges only lasted about 25 years but like the image of the US Marshal the legend and myth of the cowboy continued to be fed east. Unlike the story version the work was generally dull and monotonous. Working for $25 a month, cowboys were usually young men from various walks of life. Some were former soldiers from the Civil War, some were outlaws trying to escape the law, and some were the sons of wealthy easterners and foreigners trying to get a taste of the old West.

They included blacks, whites and Hispanics. They all put in long days on the trail. A trail drive normally began in the late spring when grass was plentiful. For three months, a handful of man rode herd over more than 1000 head of wild longhorn cattle, moving them less than fifteen miles a day.

Big Bill always acknowledged that the centrepiece of any cattle drive was the chuck wagon. The cook or cookie was the most important member of the drive, and he generally was paid better than the other men and James McDonough had been with Bill since he took over the ranch. He drove the chuck wagon ahead of the herd and was responsible for selecting campsites in the evenings and stopovers for the noonday meal. There was the trail boss, an experienced cowboy Willie Watson who had to know as far as possible where the grass and water were and also had to know the dangers along the trail. Willie had been with Bill for five years.

There were rattlesnakes, stampedes, and some Indians. The cattle drive era was a unique period in American history, but it did not last long. The days of the long drives were coming to an end for a number of reasons. As settlers moved west, they planted crops around which the cowboys had to take their cattle herds. Barbed wire also helped end the long drives. Big Bill was ahead of his time compared with many other ranchers. He like some ranchers carved out a substantial ranch in the Texas Panhandle and obtained prime grazing land and water. He like the Doherty’s had decided to take the risks to stake out and buy their properties with the investment banks and their families were now wealthy by any reasonable standards. Bill also realised that most ranchers would finally give way to farmers and settlers on the Texas Plains and after them would come the merchants whose numbers would turn small villages into towns. Thus both Bill and Dianne knew that while his sons would run the ranch that there was an opportunity for a son to not necessarily work on the ranch as they came of age. Bill was influenced by his educated wife. Dianne had been a schoolteacher before her marriage and was determined her youngest son should be educated and not have to work on the ranch as his brothers who had the ability needed for ranch hands in book learning but did not aspire to higher learning.

Matthew attended the local school in Southernwood the closest town to the ranch in Rainbow Valley and despite not enjoying schoolwork, and much preferring ranch work, he was dux of the school having completed his grade eight studies. Most schools of the period went to grade six but Southernwood due to the generosity of the Redman’s employing two additional teachers taught grades seven and eight. Matthew worked like a man in the school breaks and often before and after school including weekends.

Contrary to his assumed preference to ranch work and outside activity his mother had noticed the fact that Matthew could often be seen sitting and thinking, obviously miles away from the ranch exercising an active imagination perhaps slaying the dragons of old England. Dianne was born in Mississippi spoke fluent French. Her husband hired many nationalities, men and women, many of whom did not understand a great deal of English. Matthew [Only his mother called him Tarquin] seemed to get along with all of them particularly if the cook or housekeeper had children.

She observed the fact that he picked up Spanish and German quickly from the workers on the ranch and as directed by his mother became proficient in French. She determined that a son with his capabilities was not going to be just a rancher unless as an adult he decided to do so. He was going to be a college man. His mother would not be shifted and his father reluctantly agreed that he could study in the east in his latter high school years as well as college. The reluctance was not because it was an excellent opportunity just that as Matthew loved the ranch so much Bill would be sorry to see him leave.

The main Redman ranch house was on a small plateau fifty to a hundred feet above the flatland while the working buildings were on the flatland. At the back of the ranch building there was a small vegetable garden, which Mrs Redman used as a diversion or relief from her daily duties. Matthew as a young lad had built a small castle out of bricks and stones, palings and dirt on the roof where he fought as King Arthur or Lancelot against the evil black knights mentioned in the books his mother gave him to read. He also in his mind was a lone Texas Ranger who fought the odds and killed the outlaws and hostile Indians attacking the ranch and saved the women and children. The plateau gradually sloped gently down towards the flatland creek, work buildings and the land in the valley.

He travelled to school not with his older brothers but with two sisters] on pony or by buggy, Miriam Kathleen and Siobhan Caitlin Doherty. Doherty’s Circle J ranch bordered on the Redman Diamond T ranch. The girls had two elder brothers who were eight and nine years older than Miriam the eldest girl. Matthew took little notice of the younger Siobhan sister except to pull her rich auburn hair, which was usually in pigtails. She stood out from her brothers and sisters because they all had dark brown eyes and black hair whereas she was a redhead with flashing green eyes and a temperament to match. Despite being an excellent student Matthew being a boy, threw stones on the school shelter shed particularly when the girls were playing or talking and laughing under it. He was also incapable of not taking their balls and skipping ropes off them when they were playing. The teacher in the class Matthew was in regularly wielded the cane on Matthew for his unruly activities but Matthew had the attitude that he was prepared to cop it sweet after he had done the deeds and much enjoyed the incidents despite the subsequent pain. While never being really bad he was a bit of a worry for his parents.

An example was one Christmas his mother made Christmas puddings for her family and others who wished her to do it because it was acknowledged that her puddings could not be bettered in Southernwood. After cooking they were hung up on the rafters in the garden shed