by Neil Hunter
‘Hey, the cabin,’ a man called. ‘All we want is the girl. We know you got her. Tracked you from where you picked her up. Just send her out and we’ll be gone. Get in the way and we’ll kill you easy as that.’
Tyrell glanced at Cassie. She could see fingers of blood running down his cheek from the wood splinters.
‘Do you want to go with them?’
She stared at him as if he was asking the most ridiculous question ever. Then she realized he was simply clarifying the situation.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I do not wish to have anything to do with them.
‘Good enough.’ Tyrell turned back to the window. ‘Lady says she doesn’t want to go with you. So there’s an end to it. You leave and I won’t take this any further. Don’t make the mistake of figuring I’m just talking. Come ahead I’m not responsible for what happens.’
After a short pause someone opened up with a rifle. Sending a half dozen shots into the outside wall. Tyrell had already pulled back from the window. He could hear the lead slugs pounding against the timber. When the shooting stopped Tyrell picked up the soft thud of a horse’s hooves moving towards the cabin. The shooting had been a cover. A distraction so that one of the riders could move in close. Tyrell turned to follow the rider’s line of travel. The man was angling in towards the cabin door.
Tyrell stood just inside the cabin door, part in shadow.
The rider reined in some twenty feet away. Cuffing his hat back and leaning on his saddle horn. He had a rifle across his thighs.
‘Now see here,’ he said. ‘We need to talk.’
‘No we don’t.’ Tyrell said and shot him between the eyes. The man arched back, his rifle slipping to the ground. He hung in his saddle for a small time, then keeled over. His left foot was caught in the stirrup and his nervous horse pranced back, dragging the body with it.
Tyrell levered a fresh round into the breech. Over his shoulder he spoke to Cassie.
‘You alright back there?’
‘Yes,’ was all she said. She hadn’t been able to see what had happened because Tyrell’s body blocked her vision.
‘You sonofabitch,’ a man yelled from a distance. ‘Why’d you shoot Clyde like that?’
‘He was warned. You all were told.’
Silence fell, then, ‘We need to come get him.’
‘First man I see gets a bullet.’
‘Hell, you can’t do that.’
‘I will. Leave now. You have no business here.’
‘That ain’t so. The woman.’
‘Is not your concern. You’ve no claim on her.’
‘Mordecai Callender thinks different.’
‘He there with you?’
‘A couple hours behind. We picked up her trail and followed.’
‘Then go back to Callender. Tell him what I told you. Come after the woman it’s going to cost you dear.’
Silence fell again. Tyrell could the dark bulk of the riders still in the trees. He saw the pair lean close as they talked. One hauled up his reins and took his horse aside, moving across so that he was separated from the other man. Tyrell sighed. More tricks. They were splitting so they could come at him from opposite directions. He watched as the man who had just moved stood in his stirrups, shouldering his rifle.
‘Damn fool,’ Tyrell muttered.
He put up his Henry and fixed his target. Triggered two close spaced shots and saw the man drop from the saddle. The surviving rider spurred his mount forward, firing as he came, clearing the tree line. His shots were uneven. He had made the mistake of shooting at the gallop and none of his shots came anywhere close. Tyrell led the target, fired once and the rider pitched from his saddle with a startled cry. He hit the ground hard, sliding forward, his body limp as if every bone in his body had dissolved. His horse ran on for a while, stopping and bent its head to pull at the grass.
‘Will?’
He turned to look at her. ‘It’s over,’ he said. ‘They made their choices. Now it’s done.’
He took his Henry and stepped outside, checking the trees for movement and saw nothing. He moved quietly, unhurried and approached each horse. He unsaddled each animal. Removed all the trappings, then shooed the animals away. He brought all the gear together, piling it so anyone who came to the cabin would see it. He took each man by the shoulders and dragged them to the saddles. From his lean-to Tyrell pulled a large tarp and covered the bodies.
One of the dropped rifles was a Henry of the same caliber as his own. He took it back to the cabin with him. He handed it to Cassie, along with a box of cartridges.
‘You load it now. Keep it handy. If it comes to a head and you need to shoot don’t hesitate once you have your target. Pull that trigger and we’ll talk it over later.’ He watched her face as he spoke. ‘You know what these people are capable of. If it comes to you, or them, it’s not the time to get righteous.’
‘I understand.’
From his clothes chest Tyrell found a long coat for Cassie. It was large for her frame but once it was buttoned down it gave her some protection from the weather. He found a worn pair of old ankle length moccasins. Cassie gave a smothered laugh when she observed their size on her feet.
‘I look like a clown,’ she said while Tyrell laced them up.
‘At least you’ll be a clown with warm feet.’
‘Thank you, Will.’
‘I’ll fetch the horses and we’ll go.’
‘You have blood on your cheek.’
‘A scratch,’ Tyrell said. He scooped water from the pail and sluiced the blood away.
In an hour they were on the move. Tyrell put Cassie on the roan. She would have argued but he put an end to it straight off.
‘She likes you and she’ll give you a comfortable ride. Talk to her and she’ll do what you ask.’
Tyrell had chosen a powerful chestnut. The animal was strong willed, could be ridden all day without tiring and responded to a firm hand. He divided supplies and ammunition between the two horses. He slid the Henry rifles into the saddle sheaths and when he mounted up he had the Greener across his thighs.
Leading out they passed the three covered bodies. Cassie experienced a mix of feelings; she regretted the fact three men had needed to die; she was none the less thankful Tyrell had been on hand to face them. Callender would be enraged when he found his men, but she felt sure he would keep coming regardless.
The cabin fell behind them. Cassie saw they were climbing, making for the higher slopes. Madison Springs lay on the far side of the divide, down on the flatland. The landscape bloomed around them. The previous day’s rainstorm had fed the hungry earth and nature’s response had brought out flowers and freshened the deep grasses. She could see why Tyrell had settled easily into this place. There was enough to satisfy any man up here. Land fit for building. In Tyrell’s case it was the place to develop his horse ranch. To expand and exist in the high mountain air, coming to terms with his past and looking towards the future.
Almost instantly she felt guilty pangs invade her thoughts. Showing up here she had brought Tyrell trouble. Already men had died because they were hunting for her. Now Will Tyrell was part of her problem. Events had transpired to make it so. Even though she had no way of changing the way it had occurred, she still felt he had inherited her plight by default.
It was well after noon as they skirted a rock bed, searching for softer ground, and found they were at the point where the divide gave access to the down slope. Once across the ridge they were riding the way would become easier. Cool wind tugged at their clothing. Around them only silence. That eternal, unchanged silence that never changed from decade to decade.
Cassie eased herself in the saddle, stretching her spine and took a brief look back at the way they had come. A spread of undulating green. Patches of darker shading where brush spread across the landscape.
And then she saw the dark, gray smudge. She stared at it for a moment, realizing what she was looking at, and a sick feeling rose in her throat.
‘Will,’ she said. ‘Oh, Will.’ He picked up the distress in her voice. Wheeled the chestnut around and cantered to join her. Cassie simply pointed and he followed her direction. She saw him clasp both hands around his saddle horn. ‘Is it...?’
His shoulders rose slightly as he nodded. ‘The cabin.’
‘Will, oh, Will.’ She felt tears flood her eyes as she reached across to press her own slim hand on his. ‘All my fault. It’s all my fault.’
‘You didn’t shoot those men, Cassie. That’s down to me.’
‘But your cabin.’
‘I was going to rebuild anyhow.’ He sat upright. ‘Let’s move on. Way to go yet.’
He led out, turning his back on the smoke. Cassie gigged the roan into movement and fell in behind.
Tyrell heard the stifled gasp from Cassie. He reined in and pulled his horse alongside the roan. Before she could turn her head away he saw the white complexion and the beads of sweat.
‘Your leg?’
She nodded, unable to pretend any longer. Tyrell dismounted and moved round to lift her bodily from the saddle. He carried her to a grassy hummock and set her down, then went back to the horses and brought blankets from the bedrolls. He slid a flat rock under her splinted leg, then covered her with the blankets, kneeling beside her.
‘How long has it been paining you?’
‘Couple of hours.’
‘Why didn’t you…’
‘No point slowing us down.’
He shook his head in frustration. ‘Only a damn woman.’
‘And what does that mean?’ she demanded in the same feisty tone she had used at their first meeting.
‘It means not playing being tough when you’re in pain. Hell, Cassie, I don’t want you holding back on me.’
She reached up and caught his wrist, using her strength to pull him close. Her arms went around him and she held him. ‘There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to stop any more hurt getting to you.’
‘There’s no need.’
‘Isn’t there? You’ve put your life behind you to help me. Had to face men who would have killed to get to me. And now everything you had has been burned to the ground. Will Tyrell, there’s no way I can pay you back for all that.’
He leaned back so he could stare into her eyes. ‘What else could I have done? Ridden off and left you on that mountain? No man could have done that. Those three came to my cabin with blood in their eyes. They were looking to grab you and ride back to Callender’s lair, broken leg and all. Men like that live by the gun. It’s all they know. I warned them if they tried I’d stop them. Ain’t my fault they ignored that warning. Man I knew when I was a young ’un told me something. When they come to brace you, make your stand. Give them fair warning and if they still keep coming don’t warn them a second time. Come out shooting and put them down. Make it righteous and let the Lord give them counsel.’
She gently kissed his cheek. ‘Amen to that, Will Tyrell.’
They stayed put for an hour. Tyrell made a small fire and heated water for coffee. They both drank. Grateful for the strong brew. Tyrell made Cassie rest while he cleared away the utensils. Despite her unease at the thought of Callender and his men following Cassie actually dozed. When he gently roused her Cassie stared around for a moment, wondering where they were.
‘Easy now,’ he said.
He scooped her up and carried her to the roan, placing her in the saddle and padding around her leg with the blankets. She watched as he fixed them in place with rawhide thongs from his saddlebag. He damped down the fire, making sure it was completely out before mounting up himself.
‘If that leg pains you any more you tell me. No holding back. You hear?’
She nodded.
This time Tyrell fell in behind her. She noticed he had exchanged weapons, taking out the longer range Henry and easing the Greener he had been carrying into the sheath.
‘Just keep that spiny ridge down there in sight,’ he called to her. ‘Keep to the western side and we’re on track. Let the roan find her own way.’
They rode all through the quiet afternoon and into the coming dusk. Although Cassie’s leg did start to hurt some more from the gentle rhythm of the horse beneath, she said nothing. She had soon noticed how often Tyrell kept checking their back trail. He tried not to alarm her, but Cassie understood his concern. If they were spotted out here on this fairly open slope leading to the flatland below, finding cover would not be easy.
In the event no one showed. They reached the base of the slope just as darkness fell around them and Tyrell called a halt.
‘Are they going to come, Will?’
‘Sooner or later. Once they pick up our trail.’
‘How soon?’
‘Hard to say. I left three of them laid out cold under that tarp. Callender might want to bury them. Or send them back home with a couple of his boys. Trying to second guess a feller like Callender I’d say could be hard.’
‘And when will we reach Madison Springs?’
‘Soon enough,’ he said. ‘Cassie, if you figure we’ll be safe when we reach town don’t be disappointed if it ain’t so. I didn’t exactly leave on good terms.’
She let go a sigh. ‘Seems to me, Mr. Tyrell, we are in somewhat of a pickle.’
Tyrell laughed. A genuine sound. ‘You must read a heap of books.’
‘Why do you think that?’
‘I never heard a woman come out with such fancy statements.’
‘Are we going to ride through the night?’
Tyrell shook his head, lifting his hat to scrub a big hand through his thick hair. ‘Not going to be much of a moon. Be risky travelling in the dark. We lose a horse if it stumbles no telling who gets hurt.’
‘Doesn’t the same apply to Callender? Coming across the divide and all?’
‘Let’s hope he decides to wait until dawn.’
Tyrell moved alongside her and they moved off again, riding for only a short way until he found what he was looking for. An island of boulders and trees where they could draw the horses and themselves into cover. He dismounted and led his horse and the roan into the boulders. He tethered both animals before he helped Cassie down, carrying her to spot he’d chosen. Without a word he freed the blankets again, arranging them around her leg and making her comfortable. He handed her the Henry from the saddle sheath. Then he saw to the horses, unsaddling and hobbling them. He cast around the brush and trees, searching for wood and twigs to build a small fire. He formed a circle from smaller stones to contain the blaze after he had it burning and set the coffee pot, filled with water from his canteen, to boil.
Cassie found herself watching his precise unhurried actions. They marked him as a man with an ordered manner. Despite the possible danger they might be in he carried out these small duties steadily.
‘We’ll have to make do with this,’ he said, passing her some dried strips of meat. ‘There’s some crackers too, but I’ve had ’em a while so they could be a tad hard.’
‘They’ll be fine.’
He handed her a mug of steaming, strong coffee. For a time they concentrated on the meal such as it was. Tyrell kept his rifle and the shotgun close to hand.
‘You must be wondering how your father is. And the ones who were shot.’
‘I tried not to let myself get upset while I was at Callender’s place,’ she said. ‘But every so often I couldn’t put things out of my mind. The way they beat dad and shot Jim and the others. Dad’s not a young man. Oh, he’s strong, but the way they attacked him, Will, it was like they didn’t care if he lived or died.’
‘Where you come from? Are you near a town?’
‘Yes. Bell’s Creek is no more than a few miles from our spread.’
‘Likely they have the telegraph?’ She nodded and Tyrell said, ‘They have it at Madison Springs as well. You can send a message.’
‘I’d forgotten about that.’
Tyrell smiled briefly. ‘There you go then,’ he said.
Weariness cam
e over Cassie and within minutes she drowsed and slipped into a deep sleep.
Dawn had already brightened around them when she opened her eyes again. The air was fresh, touched with a coolness she registered almost immediately though she was warm beneath the blankets Tyrell had wrapped around her as she slept.
She sat upright, staring around and for a moment she couldn’t see him and felt a rise of alarm. Then movement caught her eye and she saw him some yards away, his back to her as he studied the way they had come.
He was motionless, his gaze fixed on the far distance, rifle in his hands and from the set of his shoulders she knew he had seen something.
‘Will?’
He didn’t respond apart from leaning forward a fraction, the weapon in his hands lifting slightly.
‘Are they there?’
This time he acknowledged her. Turning briefly to look down at her.
‘A way off yet,’ he said. ‘But they showed themselves a while back. Taking it a step at a time. Cautious but covering ground faster than I thought.’ He moved toward her, leaning his rifle close by. ‘We need to move. Now.’
Cassie watched him saddle the horses, remove the hobbles and put them away. With his usual economy he bent and removed the blankets. Lifted her in his arms and raised her into the saddle. Leaving her to settle herself he quickly broke camp and packed everything away. He did all this without another word and she didn’t disturb him.
They rode on in silence. The roan moved smoothly, following Tyrell and his chestnut with practiced ease. Cassie found she had little to do when it came to guiding her.
Into mid-morning a slight squall hit them with no warning and they rode through it without pause. Cassie found the cool rain almost a comfort, raising her head to catch the downpour. The squall moved on quickly and overhead the sky cleared and let the sun break through the clouds.
A little later they came on a long, wide slope that allowed them to increase their movement. Cassie sensed Tyrell knew this terrain and they covered it quickly before skirting a wide swath of timber. Tyrell hauled back on his reins and fell in alongside Cassie.
