Rio Grande by Matt Braun

Author:Matt Braun
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2011-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-five

A week later Stuart made another run downriver. To look at him, he hadn’t a care in the world. In public, and particularly around Jovette, he carefully nurtured the image of the jaunty Irishman. Yet his brief encounter with Stillman was very much on his mind, and he welcomed the opportunity to discuss it with Jonas Parker. Personal differences aside, they were still on speaking terms regarding the business.

At the terminal, Parker greeted him with reserve. Their relationship had steadily deteriorated over the past three weeks, and the older man made no attempt at pretense. All the lighthearted banter had simply vanished. Parker’s attitude was civil, not standoffish but decidedly formal. He treated Stuart somewhat like a stranger.

With small talk at a premium, their conversation was limited to the business at hand. A gang of roustabouts began transferring cargo from the warehouse to the River Belle, and once the operation was under way, they stood watching in strained silence. After a time, Stuart mentioned a confidential matter and indicated the need for privacy. At his suggestion, they left the wharf and walked upriver along the shoreline. A short distance away, out of earshot of the work crew, they halted under the shade of a tree. Parker pulled a pipe from his pocket and began stuffing it with tobacco. Stuart waited until he’d lighted up and had the pipe drawing to his satisfaction. Then, without preamble, he went to the heart of the problem.

“I had a bit of a run-in with Jack Stillman.”

“Oh?” Parker’s eyes narrowed. “When was this?”

“At the fort, last Saturday night. There was a dance, and I don’t need to tell you, it gave me a bad moment to see him hobnobbing with the military.”

“Who invited him?”

“I’ve no idea.” Stuart paused, considering. “I’m fairly certain it wasn’t the colonel, but it’s clear Stillman has himself a friend somewhere.”

“That’s bad,” Parker observed. “Especially if it’s the quartermaster.”

“Well, as I’ve said, I have no way of knowing. But it figures he’d try another tack, now that we’ve outmaneuvered him on the new boats.”

Parker frowned, puffing little spurts of smoke. “The question is, will he start spreading bribes around and eventually work his way up to the colonel?”

“Aye, we’d be sunk for damn sure, then.”

The position of their riverboat line, already precarious, now seemed critical. The larger Brownsville merchants, convinced Stillman would ultimately prevail, had shown no inclination to change carriers. To all Stuart’s arguments—a downriver terminal and more reliable transshipment; faster upriver boats and speedier delivery at competitive rates—they had turned a deaf ear. A small amount of commercial freight, excess caused by the town’s rapid growth, occasionally fell to Stuart and Parker. But the tonnage was of no great consequence, and unpredictably sporadic due to Stillman’s influence with the business community. The military contracts, moreover, were only marginally profitable. Half the time the Troy and the River Belle lay idle at dockside; Army freight alone was not enough to keep both boats in service. With no turn for the

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