The Call Chronicles:

Baby Sister

By Kathi Sprayberry

 

She'd been born last to a family of men but in no way was Eliza Call anywhere close to being a simpering female given to vapors when problems arose. Yet, as she put another pot of water on the stove to provide a bath for that filthy boy, Eliza steamed more than the water she was watching. How dare her brothers go off on another adventure and leave her stuck doing chores! They all had the chance to leave the ranch but she was perpetually stuck at home. Even though she'd survived the attack by the Griswold Gang, none of the men in her family recognized her bravery and quick thinking.

"I hate being stuck in this house when they're all having fun!" Eliza peered into the pot but although steam brought sweat to her face, the water still wasn't boiling. "Oh! Hurry up!"

Even the water was driving her to distraction. Eliza paced around the kitchen while her mind whirled with ways to escape edicts that demanded she stay at home while her brothers went after the men who killed their parents. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going to stay in this house and let them have all the fun.

"Is that water ready yet?" Aunt Priss came through the back door. "Lukas really needs another bath. That boy must not have bathed since those outlaws took him from his parent's ranch."

"No." Eliza kept her back to her aunt.

There was a very good reason for avoiding Aunt Priss' piercing gaze. The minute Aunt Priss took one look at Eliza the spinster would know in an instant her niece was up to no good. For right at that very second, Eliza had come upon a plan to escape this horribly hot kitchen and ride out to find the outlaw responsible for her family's misery and the reason they currently lived in town instead of on their ranch.

"Oh, the water is coming to a boil now," Aunt Priss said. "This should do to clean up Lukas but we don't have any clothes for the poor boy. Run on down to the general store and get him some things. I'll leave this paper with what he needs on the table."

"Hmmph!" Eliza waited until she heard her aunt go back outside to release her frustration and then whirled around and grabbed the paper off the table. "Sorry, Aunt Priss, but I have to do this."

The paper in hand, Eliza raced upstairs to the bedroom her brothers shared. All five of them were the filthiest monsters in the world, in her opinion. That opinion formed as soon as she walked into the largest bedroom in the house. None had bothered to put their dirty clothes into a neat pile for her to take out to the washtub nor had they folded the blankets they used to sleep in.

"Pigs." Eliza crept over to a chiffarobe and opened the doors. "Where did Jason hide that money?"

It took five precious minutes for Eliza to discover that Jason had hidden the money in the tiny open spot under the chiffarobe rather than inside it. She stared in awe at the fat roll of bills Jason and Matt brought back from Denver after they sold the herd.

"Goodness, there's more than enough here to rebuild the ranch and let me get what I need," Eliza said with a wicked grin. "No one will be the wiser."

She peeled off a handful of money and raced into the room she shared with her aunt. Eliza found her purse and shoved the money inside before hanging the bag over her wrist and tightening the ribbon so as not to lose her booty. Seconds later, she raced out the front door and crossed the street. Once she was inside the general store, Eliza went directly to the clothing section but ignored the dresses and concentrated on the men's clothing.

"Help you, Miz Call?" the storekeeper, Avery Millikan, asked. "I hear your family took in that kid those outlaws stole from his home."

The reminder about how Lukas had everyone's attention set Eliza's temper to hot again. Everyone made over Lukas like he was the sweetest thing on earth but she had other ideas. That boy had made everyone feel sorry for him but he had a choice, just like she did when the outlaws swarmed the Triple C Ranch and murdered her parents. Lukas could have run like Eliza had and hidden somewhere until his family showed up. But no, that brat had to get taken away from his home and end up here in Black Hawk. Eliza knew one thing though. Making nasty comments about a boy who deserved a whipping instead of attention would make her situation worse.

"I need some clothes for Lukas," Eliza said with a sweet smile. Let no one say she couldn't be nice if she had to be. "I have the sizes." She hoped that brat's sizes would work for her. "Can you help me figure out the best things to buy?"

Mr. Millikan walked over and examined the list she held out. He nodded and began to pile pants, shirts, longjohns, one pair of boots, and socks on the counter. One pair of boots wouldn't work. Eliza needed a pair for herself if she was to ride a horse and get up to where she suspected the outlaw had led her brothers.

"I believe Aunt Priss wanted more than one pair of boots," Eliza said when Mr. Millikan began to total the order. "You know how children are. They outgrow everything a minute after you buy it for them."

She was still considered a child even though her sixteenth birthday was only days away. Of course, no one in her family had remembered that. If anything, all her brothers and aunt seemed to care about was taking care of Lukas and capturing Archie Griswold.

"I do know how children are." Mr. Millikan smiled. "Don't I have three boys near the same age as Lukas myself? I'll get another pair of those boots."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Eliza waited for Mr. Millikan to total the order and wrap everything. She gathered the packages and after saying goodbye, hurried out the door. Now that she had what she needed, Eliza also needed a place to change where Aunt Priss wouldn't see what was going on and figure out the big plan.

"Guess it's the privy." Eliza wrinkled her nose. "It stinks in there but I don't have much choice if I want to get away from Aunt Priss."

Eliza crouched down on the porch as soon as she reached the house and took one pair of britches, a shirt, and one pair of the boots out of the packages. She shoved those clothes under the chair Matt had occupied earlier and scurried into the kitchen. The sound of water splashing and that boy laughing only made Eliza's anger hotter and hotter but her mission now was to get away from Black Hawk as soon as possible and help her brothers.

"Everything's on the table, Aunt, Priss," Eliza called. "Do you mind if I go out again? Ellie was in the general store."

Ellie Millikan was in the general store, sort of. She lived with her family in the rooms above the store. Eliza and Ellie loved getting together whenever they had the chance. For both, it was an opportunity to escape families that were more men than women and have a bit of girl fun. Girl fun, though, was the last thing on Eliza's mind this day.

"Don't wander around town," Aunt Priss said. "And come back here in an hour."

"Yes, ma'am," Eliza said and hurried outside.

Once away from her aunt's overprotective eye, Eliza grabbed the clothes and cast a guilty glance at the door.

"Sorry, Aunt Priss," Eliza said. "I have to do this."

Eliza snuck into the privy but backed out faster than a rabbit diving into a hole. The smell was worse than a skunk. She searched the area for a concealed spot but came close to screaming in frustration when she couldn't find anywhere private enough to change clothes. If she didn't hurry, her brothers would have all the fun again.

There was only one place in the whole town where she could change clothes without anyone seeing her. Eliza rolled her eyes.

"I'll have to risk it." She tiptoed back into the house and changed in the bedroom she shared with Aunt Priss. "Hair." Eliza stared at the mass of honey blonde hair that fell to her waist whenever she didn't have it up. "What will I do with all this hair?"

Cutting off the long, thick hair was out of the question. Eliza might want adventure and for her brothers to quit treating her like a porcelain doll but she was vain enough to care about doing up her hair in a feminine style after this was all over. She crept into the bedroom her brothers' shared and went through their belongings. Brian's saddlebags revealed a crushed but useable flat-brimmed hat with what looked like a puma's skin wrapped around the crown. Five minutes later, she'd stuffed her hair under the hat and appeared like a boy. Well, if a boy had a heart shaped face and no beard or mustache.

"It'll do." Eliza stuffed the change from the store under the chiffarobe and walked into the upstairs hallway. "I sure hope this works."

The sound of the rear door opening and closing sent Eliza skittering down the stairs in a panic. She grabbed a rifle from the gun rack along with a box of ammunition and dashed out the door. Her trip along the main street went without anyone stopping her and ordering Eliza to go home and dress like a lady. The stable's owner was nowhere in sight so she didn't have to explain who she was and why she wanted to ride one of the Triple C horses.

"Sure would have been nice if these horses were saddled," Eliza complained while settling the gear on the back of the horse she normally rode on the ranch. "This is hard."

Difficult or not, she worked hard to make sure the blanket didn't slip around as she dropped the saddle onto the horse. The animal protested by capering from side to side but Eliza tightened the cinch and grabbed the reins. In seconds, she was on her way out of Black Hawk with no one the wiser.

"No one can stop me now," Eliza vowed as she urged the horse to a trot.

Again, the animal bobbed from side to side. At times, the horse attempted to throw off Eliza by running close to low hanging tree branches or jumping before she was ready. She was a good rider but today, it was as if she'd never ridden before.

"Quit!" Eliza hissed between her teeth. "We have to help my brothers."

After another couple of attempts to unseat her, the horse settled into a gallop through the forest. Eliza strained to see if her brothers were still on Archie Griswold's trail. She saw bright red splashes of blood on grass and leaves and broken branches along the way. Those signs she put off to the outlaw's escape and not her brothers tracking the man.

"Stupid outlaw," Eliza said, forgetting all about how scared she was the day her parents died. "I'll make him pay for what he did to Ma and Pa."

Her convenient memory loss about how she'd cried like a baby and hid that day stayed with Eliza when the horse pulled up in front of a canyon. She heard a rapid volley of shots echoing off the stone walls and looked around for a way to join her brothers without ending up with a bullet in her body. That was a very important part of her mission, to capture the outlaw and take him back to face justice at the hangman's noose with any kind of injury. Even a scratch would have her brothers treating her like a china doll, a situation Eliza hated. "Well, piffle!" Eliza exclaimed when she couldn't make the horse go another inch. "You get to stay here. I guess I'm climbing into this canyon." She tied the horse's reins to a bush and began climbing. Eliza and Ellie often escaped to this canyon and spent hours exploring the caves along the face. The girls had discovered many an interesting feathers and rocks during the hours they wasted hiding out from their predominately male families. "Sure wish Ellie was with me now." Eliza hefted the rifle over her head and set the weapon on a ledge. "It's sure hard doing all this climbing without her help." Resentment swept over Eliza that Ellie wasn't with her. Both loved adventures and the ones they'd had until this week were mild compared to seeking out a desperado and bringing him back for the bounty. Many a night, Eliza had listened with rapt attention while Matt or Jason recounted their latest adventure in taking down this hardcase or that outlaw. Her brothers tried to make the incidents sound like nothing but she knew better. They wanted Eliza to think going after hootowls was so boring that she'd never think of doing so herself. "Well, they were wrong." Eliza giggled as she climbed up the side of the canyon.

Not once during the long, dusty, sweaty climb did she think about making sure no one could see her. The sounds of the gun battle grew until she came close to peeking over the canyon's side to see what was going on.

"Dumb idea." Eliza gripped the rifle tighter and grabbed what looked like a sturdy bush to steady herself. The bush proved anything but steady as the roots slid out of the gravel and she found herself skidding down a few feet. "Whoa!" She looked over a shoulder at the canyon far below her. "That was close."

Vowing to pay better attention, Eliza started back up the slope a bit more slowly. Soon, the sounds of bullets slamming into rock faded away and she could discern her brothers' shouts as they gave orders on how to climb the canyon walls.

"They won't catch that hootowl before me." She grinned at how the word slipped out of her mouth like she said it every day. "Archie Griswold is mine."

Once atop the ridge, Eliza looked around for the cave where she and Ellie hid out whenever they wanted to avoid their chores. To Eliza's disgust, thistle draped over the cave's entrance. She purely hated tangling with that particular plant. The prickles all over the stem and around the pinkish-purple flowers always caught in her hair and clothes.

"Darn." Eliza searched for another cave in which to creep through and catch Archie Griswold. "Surely, he'll avoid thistle. After all, he's a Peer of the Realm and wouldn't do anything to injure himself."

Her silly assessment of the outlaw made Eliza stop for a second and shake her head. Ever since Aunt Eliza shooed Eliza into the woods behind their ranch, Eliza had wondered why such a supposedly honorable man killed people for no reason or wanted a girl for his own. The night before the shootout in Black Hawk, she'd listened at the top of the stairs instead of sleeping and discovered what her brothers thought Griswold's intentions were. Eliza wasn't sure they were right but knowing the man meant to hurt her so badly firmed her decision to go after him rather than making her hide in her bedroom with a pillow over her head.

"Well, that dirty darn man must be bad if my brothers are so set on bringing him to justice." Eliza checked the rifle to make sure it was loaded and started past the thistle covered cave but then stopped. "That Griswold wouldn't care if his clothes got torn up." She huffed out a frustrated breath. "And he certainly won't care about stopping for a mere female."

She grinned. Archie Griswold was in for a surprise. Most of the time, Eliza's thoughts centered her own comfort or what new gown she'd order from the dressmaker. Now that she was on her first bona fide adventure, the excitement had her by the seat of her borrowed britches. Eliza snuck back to the cave and listened carefully before braving the mass of thistles.

The sound of more gunshots and a horse screaming pushed Eliza to step into the cave. She darted past the irritating thistles and scurried along the well-worn and well-known path but stopped when someone ran toward her. Another person entered the cave in pursuit of the first person.

"He's mine," Brian called.

"Oh no he's not," Eliza vowed. "That hootowl is mine!"

She tiptoed around a corner and found Griswold reaching for a shooting iron. Eliza lifted her rifle and aimed at the outlaw's back as Brian came around the corner with his gun at his side.

"Hands up, Griswold," Eliza said. "You're mine."

To her complete satisfaction, Brian's mouth fell open and he stared at Eliza as if she'd grown another head. Griswold glanced over a shoulder and grinned, a most evil grin that had her ready to run for her life but she held firm.

"Little girlie came to me." Griswold began to pull his weapon from its holster. "Put that shooting iron down and git over here. I'm about to teach your no good brothers a harsh lesson but I want them to know what'll happen to you before they die."

Eliza cocked the rifle and aimed at the despicable man's belly, where she was sure to hit something because he was so fat.

"My brothers aren't anywhere near as good with a rifle as me," Eliza said. "They may have taught me to shoot but I've done quite a bit of practicing while they were gone."

Her finger tightened on the trigger when that awful man stepped toward her. Shadowy figures lurked behind Brian, creeping closer and closer. Eliza said a prayer her next move worked and tightened her finger on the trigger as she swung the rifle so the barrel pointed at one of Griswold's massive, tree-trunk thick legs.

"Take cover!" Brian hollered and hurled himself backward. "Eliza's gonna shoot!"

The rest of the shadowy figures hit the ground at the same time as Brian. Griswold snickered and turned his back on Eliza.

"You're afraid of a little, bitty girl?" Griswold hooted and howled with laughter. "No wonder I caught your ma and pa so easy. You Calls ain't nuthin' but dirty, rotten cowards."

"Laugh at this, Lord Archibald Griswold." Eliza squeezed the trigger like she'd done any number of times in the past when dispatching a snake.

The rifle discharged with a far louder bang than she'd expected. Eliza flinched but managed to see Griswold topple to one side when the bullet went through his meaty thigh. The disgraced English Lord squealed like a pig at slaughter and rolled around on the ground.

"Sit up and put your hands in the air," Eliza said and took aim again, this time at Griswold's head.

Her eyes widened as she realized her plan had one very big hole in it. How would she ever convince this monstrous, smelly outlaw to walk in front of her until she reached her horse? Then she had to mount and get Griswold back to Black Hawk.

Adrian and Brian scrambled to their feet and raced over to Griswold. Hank, Matt, and Jason weren't far behind the oldest Call brothers but that dirty darned Fistless took his time sauntering over to where the others glanced at Eliza and flipped the outlaw onto his stomach. While Adrian tied Griswold's hands with a bit of cloth ripped from the outlaw's shirt, Brian used the rest of the shirt to wrap a crude bandage around the man's leg.

"Matt, Jason, go on back down into the canyon and bring out our horses," Hank said. "We'll figure out where Eliza left her horse and meet you at the entrance."

Matt and Jason raced back through the cave, pausing long enough to give Eliza glares designed to make her drop the rifle and return to being a weeping, wailing woman. She returned their looks with one of her own. Never in all her born years had her brothers taken her seriously and not once had they given her the chance to be anything other than the baby sister. Eliza might hanker after a pretty dress or moon over a good looking man but she was a frontier woman, steel under all the lace and softness. After today, she'd never be the same again.

"Get up," Eliza told Griswold when Brian and Adrian finished with the outlaw.

To her surprise, Griswold lumbered to his feet and fixed her with an astonished stare. The man walked in front of Eliza, never once trying anything. She followed him out of the cave with her three oldest brothers around her and Fistless taking up the rear.

"Darn woman just doesn't know her place," Fistless muttered. "She should be back in town cleaning that pigsty of a house or cooking something edible instead of going after a man who did nothing wrong."

Eliza took her eyes off Griswold for a minute to glance at Hank, Adrian, and Brian but they appeared not to have heard the Pinkerton man's outrageous statement. During the short trip to the end of the canyon, she concentrated on all the things Fistless had done since she'd seen him with Jason and Matt almost two weeks ago. Fistless seemed to go out of his way to drag the Call's into Griswold's reach and then the Pinkerton's man would back off and make outrageous claims about the character of those living in the West.

"Hang on." Brian held up a hand and looked into the canyon. "Okay. I see Matt and Jason. Let's get down from this ledge. I'll go first."

He clambered down the ledge and then signaled for Adrian to get Griswold down.

"Need a rope," Adrian said. "We can't take a chance this hootowl will fall and break his neck. I want to see him dangle at the end of a rope."

So did Eliza, more than anything in the world but she also wanted to make sure they had all the outlaws in jail to prevent someone from freeing them. And, right at this moment, she believed the man at the rear of their group wasn't what he claimed he was. Fistless played with his little two shot Derringer far too often for her comfort. Like right now, where he pulled the little, useless gun out of his pocket and then put it back when Adrian stood in front of Griswold and planted his feet firmly on the ground.

"Griswold's coming down," Adrian hollered.

Brian pulled out his Colt and aimed right at the outlaw's massive belly. Eliza pointed her rifle at the back of the man's head but made sure she was nowhere close to Fistless. The Pinkerton man's name and his attitude had lulled her brothers into a sense of laughing ease around him. No matter how hard she tried, Eliza couldn't get past the discomfort she felt whenever Fistless made one of his comments about the character of those who inhabited the area west of the Mississippi.

Matt and Jason arrived as Griswold made it to the bottom of the hill. Along with Brian, they hoisted Griswold atop a swaybacked horse and the rest of the party went down the hill. Hank helped Eliza so she didn't have any problems.

"Well, fellows," Hank said after they'd all mounted. "Eliza caught the hootowl. She'll get the reward for his capture. I guess we have to let her bring him in."

"You don't mean for that spoiled brat to take over where men should be in charge, do you?" Fistless asked.

"Not only do we mean to let her do it," Hank said. "She will. Eliza's never been one to shirk her duty and I figure she earned the right to bring in her first bounty." He chuckled. "Looks like all the tricks we taught her as a kid have come back to haunt us. We got us the first female bounty hunter in the West in our family."

"And don't you forget it," Eliza said in a pert tone. "One of you slap that nag Griswold calls a horse and let's get on the road." She glared at Griswold. "Man outta be shot for how he treats his animals. That poor horse doesn't need to carry all that weight."

"Why do you people care so much about animals?" Fistless demanded. "It's not like they have feelings."

"I doubt you'd understand if you have to ask," Brian said. "Let's ride."

On the trail, Eliza kept her rifle aimed at Griswold's back. Her brothers rode beside and behind her with that insufferable Fistless muttering nasty comments about her character under his breath.

"You might want to hush, Fistless," Matt advised in a dry tone. "Eliza's meaner than a cougar when she's riled up. And the things you're saying are sure to rile her up."

"That little tart needs a spanking," Fistless responded. "She'd certainly know her place if she lived in a respectable household."

The sun beat down on Eliza's head but she was certain the heat running through her had more to do with her rising rage. Eliza turned to Brian, who rode between her and Fistless.

"Keep an eye on the prisoner, please," she said in a sugar sweet voice. "I need to do something."

"Sure thing, sis," Brian said.

He dropped back and rode over to Eliza's other side and then pulled out his weapon. Eliza took the reins in her teeth and removed her borrowed hat. She shook her head until her honey blonde hair danced down her back, plopped the hat back on her head, and then swung the rifle until she had Fistless in her sights.

"I don't take kindly to a mealy mouthed Easterner without enough sense to carry a proper weapon calling me a tart," Eliza said. "You've done nothing but make our job more difficult since you showed up with Matt and Jason."

"What are you saying?" Hank asked but he drew his weapon and aimed it at Fistless as did the rest of her brothers.

"I'm saying Mr. Harley Fistless, if that's really his name, should ride beside his boss," Eliza said. "I'm saying that telegram from Mr. Alan Pinkerton came awful fast from a man supposedly riding out personally to talk to Ma and Pa."

"What?" Jason asked. "What are you talking about, Eliza?"

"Ma and Pa got a telegram from Mr. Pinkerton the morning Griswold attacked the ranch," Eliza said. "But I never got the chance to say anything to any of you. Aunt Priss didn't know but I heard Ma and Pa discussing the telegram. That was about an hour before those awful men rode in."

"When's Pinkerton supposed to show up?" Adrian asked.

"Sometime in the next couple of days," Eliza said. "At least, that's what I remember Pa telling Ma. Mr. Pinkerton was riding out here on his horse from Kansas City but he had to check on a couple of other folks first."

Fistless gulped a couple of times when the flat-eyed stares of all five Call brothers landed upon him. The alleged Pinkerton's man urged his horse forward, showing more talent for riding than he'd done since this whole travail began, and stopped beside Griswold.

"It almost worked, boss," Fistless said. "Lord knows, we never figured that little girl would guess what we were up to."

"Aw, shut up," Griswold said. "I don't want to hear anything else from your mouth, Fistless. I should have known you'd turn yellow just by your name."

The two hootowls continued hollering at each other until the group reached Black Hawk. Eliza pushed her horse forward until she rode directly behind that despicable Griswold. She led group rode down the middle of the street to the cheers of the townspeople and a grim nod from Sheriff Watkins. Sheriff Watkins held a rifle on Griswold and Fistless but Eliza concentrated on the dapper looking man beside him.

"She was right," Adrian said. "That's Alan Pinkerton and he doesn't look too happy."

"Sure doesn't," Hank agreed. "I do believe Harley Fistless will discover Pinkerton's doesn't put up with someone pretending to be one of their investigators."

Everyone dismounted and Eliza groaned when Aunt Priss shoved through the crowd.

"Elizabeth Call, just what do you think you're wearing?" Aunt Priss screeched. "Every man can see your." Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper. "Legs!"

"Well, you didn't expect me to capture Griswold and his accomplice, Fistless, in a dress, Aunt Priss," Eliza said. "Did you?"

All the townsfolk and her brothers broke into laughter. Eliza relaxed a little. She was sure Aunt Priss would figure out some way to punish her but for now, it felt good to have helped bring in the men responsible for their parents' deaths.

THE END

 

The seventh and final installment of The Call Chronicles: JUSTICE is available now!

Kathi Sprayberry has always had a fascination with the nineteenth century Wild West and the untold stories of survival and living on the frontier. She currently lives in Northwest Georgia with her husband and youngest son. When not writing, Kathi enjoys photography and reading. Her western stories, BROTHERS UNDER THE SKIN, DESERT ROSE -- BOUNTY HUNTER, and "JACKIE RYAN -- US MARSHAL" have appeared on the Frontier Tales website. Another story, "THE PREACHER'S DAUGHTER," will debut in November. Both "BROTHERS UNDER THE SKIN" and "DESERT ROSE -- BOUNTY HUNTER" won Best Loved in the months they appeared.