Lawless Love

by Rosanne Bittner

  “I’ll come,” the man replied dryly.

  “Danny?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You’re also familiar with the grounds. You take Dwight, Darrell, Bullit, and Slim to the house. Hit it front and back. Search every room and watch out for that balcony.”

  “Glad to do it,” Danny replied, loading his pistol.

  “Pappy—you and Johnny go east and west. Hide out in the shadows and shoot anybody that runs past you. Lonnie, you stay here with Etta.”

  “You mean I don’t get to join the fun?”

  “Don’t worry. There’ll be more good times to come,” Moss answered sarcastically. They all snickered.

  “Everybody straight?” Moss asked. Various affirmative replies came back at him. “The important thing is that you don’t hesitate,” Moss told them. “When a man knows the other man means business, that’s half the battle. Tell them they either leave or die. If they put up a fuss, shoot ’em. If they even look like they’re goin’ for a gun, shoot ’em. I don’t want to lose none of you. Talk fast and hard and show them some steel. Let’s get this over with quick. I’m tired.”

  “You ain’t the only one,” Pappy whispered.

  “Let’s go,” Moss whispered hoarsely. They left their horses tied and disappeared into the darkness like silent Indians, and Etta grasped her stomach, feeling ill.

  “You okay?” Lonnie asked her.

  “I just feel so badly, that I have to ask men to risk their lives just so I can sleep in my own house,” she whispered. “It’s all so unfair.”

  “That’s why they’re doin’ it. After we’re here a while, I expect that ex of yours will give up or die, whichever.”

  Etta listened for the inevitable gunshots and prayed.

  Moss and his men moved stealthily among yucca plants and sagebrush, Moss pondering how quiet the mountain nights were. It was an almost deafening silence at times, broken only by the occasional howl of a coyote. They moved up on the two bunkhouses. Both had men inside, men who had begun to carelessly take it for granted that Etta Landers would not dare return, and so had not kept a good watch. He signaled to Sooner, Hank, and Duncan to stay with him, and Tom Sorrells went on to the other bunkhouse with Brad and Max. At the same time Bullit, Dwight, Darrell, and Slim headed for the house.

  Moss moved to the front door of the first bunkhouse, amused at how easy it had been to sneak up on Landers’s men. He looked over at Tom, who was at the next bunkhouse, then nodded. Simultaneously, the two men shoved their feet into the front doors, slamming them open and startling everyone inside. Moss moved inside quickly, brandishing his Winchester; Sooner, Hank, and Duncan moved in beside him. Four men looked up from a table where they had been playing cards, and seven more jumped up out of bunks. They all momentarily froze.

  “Grab your things and get out!” Moss growled.

  “Who the hell are you?” one of them asked.

  “Name’s Moss Tucker. We work for Etta Landers, and you’re trespassin’. Get your asses out of here before I plant your belt buckle against that back wall over there!”

  The men all looked at each other a moment.

  “Just the four of you?”

  As soon as he said it, there were gunshots from the next bunkhouse. Shouts could be heard from farther away, probably the house. More gunshots.

  “More than four,” Moss said with a grin. “Leave your guns and pick up your gear and leave.”

  There was a movement from one of the bunks. Moss caught it and whirled, firing the Winchester. A little flame shot out from the barrel and one of Landers’s men screamed out, blood pouring from his belly. Then he slumped to the floor. One of the men sitting at the table dove for his gun, which was hanging from a bedpost nearby; in a split second Moss cocked his rifle in midair and shot again. The second man screamed and grabbed his wrist; blood began flowing from his hand where Moss’s bullet had gone through it. There was another movement from one of the bunks, and Sooner whirled and raised his rifle.

  “I wouldn’t, mister,” he said calmly, as the man hesitated in reaching for a rifle in the corner. “All the pay in the world you might get from Ralph Landers wouldn’t be worth it.”

  The man swallowed and eased his hand away from the rifle. There were two more gunshots from somewhere outside, and then momentary quiet. Then someone could be heard running, and Tom Sorrells appeared at the doorway.

  “Everything okay here?” he asked.

  “These men was just leavin’,” Moss replied, backing up some.

  “There was eight at the other bunkhouse,” Tom told him. “Three are dead and the rest are saddlin’ up right now. I’m not sure yet what happened at the house.”

  Moss stepped up and lay his rifle barrel against the throat of one of the men.

  “How many were there all together?” he asked.

  The man swallowed. “Twenty-two,” he replied. “F-four were in the house, three out keepin’ watch north of here.”

  Moss backed up again. “You pack up and get out, and tell them three north of here that they’d do well to leave also, ’cause come mornin’, we’ll be out huntin’ for more Landers men. Move it!”

  Those who had guns on their hips removed them, and they exited one by one, most giving Moss a sullen look on the way through the door. The last one to leave turned to face Moss.

  “You’ll regret this, mister. Ralph Landers is gonna be damned mad. He owns the town—and the law!”

  “And how does he pay everybody off, besides with money?” Moss asked.

  “What are you talkin’ about?”

  “I mean whose bed is he sleepin’ in, mister? Yours?”

  The man turned gray. “Are you crazy?”

  “No. But maybe you’re ignorant! You’d best wonder what kind of man you’re workin’ for, mister, if he can be called a man at all!”

  The man swallowed. “I—I don’t believe you.”

  “Believe what you want. You ever seen Etta Landers?”

  “Sure, I—”

  “Kind of pretty, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Sure, but—”

  “How many men would turn away a wife that looked like that?”

  The man frowned.

  “Think about it. And think about the fact that he’s already rich, but he’s bent on pickin’ on a helpless woman to satisfy his own lust for more land and power. He’s ruthless and a tyrant—owns the law and the town. He’ll own you before long! Any time you want to join up on our side, you come on back here and talk to me.”

  The man eyed them all for a moment, then quietly left. Moss gripped his gun, again inflamed with anger over what Ralph Landers was and what he had done to Etta. He kicked the bunkhouse door hard, making it slam against the wall.

  “That true, Moss? What you said about Landers?” Hank asked.

  “It’s true,” Moss snarled. He turned to look at them. “Don’t let on to Etta that you know. It embarrasses her too much. Don’t even tell the other men. They don’t need to know. I just figured if I could plant a seed in one man, maybe it would grow. If I can win a few men away from Landers, more power to us. In the meantime, there’s always them that will do anything for money and don’t give a damn who they’re workin’ for. So our work is still cut out for us.” He looked over at the dead man still lying on his bunk. “Sooner, get outside and make sure one or two of them men get back in here and pick up this man. Let them bury their own.”

  “Sure, Moss.”

  “The rest of you come with me. We’ll check out the house.” They stepped inside. “Everybody okay out here?” Moss hollered out.

  “Got the house cleaned out for you, Moss!” Dwight yelled from an upstairs window.

  “Get on down here then. You fellas make yourselves at home in the bunkhouses. We’re gonna sleep in real beds tonight!”

  There were cheers and laughter.

  “Max, you and Brad keep watch for a while, then roust somebody out later to take over.”

  Pappy Lane rode in just then.
“You okay, Moss?”

  “Sure, Pappy. Any trouble out there?”

  “I winged one earlier, but he kept ridin’ and ought to be a good ways from here by now.”

  “Good. You okay?”

  “Can’t get the best of an old dog like me.”

  “Ride on up and tell Lonnie and Etta to come on down. I’m goin’ to the house.”

  “Sure.” Pappy started to leave, then hesitated. “Moss?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You sleepin’ in the house tonight?”

  Moss sighed and put his rifle on his shoulder.

  “Yes, I am. Somebody’s got to stay at the house with Etta. I reckon I’ll sleep downstairs, and I’ll set up a guard or two outside.”

  “It’s been a long trip, Moss. You’re tired and that house looks pretty fancy. I expect it has fancy beds, too. A mite temptin’ to a lonely man.”

  Moss grinned a little and shook his head.

  “It’s not the bed that counts, Pappy. It’s the woman in it. There won’t be no woman in my bed tonight, so it don’t matter if it has satin sheets, or if it’s made of straw. Quit worryin’, damn it.”

  Pappy smiled. “Just checkin’.”

  “You’re worse than a naggin’ old woman.” Moss chuckled and walked toward the house.

  Moss’s boots echoed in the high-ceilinged hallway as he casually walked over gleaming, hardwood floors. The house was cool and clean, beautifully decorated with painted vases, plants; oriental rugs, and expensive looking paintings. He was more than impressed. It brought back memories of the days when he courted Etta Graceland, the young, spoiled, but beautiful daughter of a wealthy California banker. A house like the one he walked in now was unusual in the West, which only made it seem even more elegant and wondrous. But it was the only kind of house a woman like Etta Graceland Landers would live in.

  “I’ll bet she even has indoor plumbing,” he thought to himself.

  Then his thoughts turned to Amanda. How wonderful it would be to give her a house like this one. She would fit perfectly. She had all the education and elegance of an Etta Landers, yet she was so much more a woman, a woman who deserved a house like this one. He knew Amanda could have done much better than to marry him, but now she lived in a small log cabin in the hot canyons of southeast Utah. His chest felt tight with the desire to make a good life for Amanda. And he already knew what he would do with the two thousand dollars Etta would pay him. He would build Amanda a house. It wouldn’t be quite as grand as the house he was standing in now, but it would be large and cool, and maybe they would even have indoor plumbing.

  He roamed the rooms, each one large and airy with lovely curtains at the windows, heavy oak doors, delicate and expensive knickknacks sitting here and there. Every table had a lacy cloth on it. He wandered up the stairs, picturing Amanda standing at the head of the stairway in a soft gown, waiting for him to come to bed. He ached all over in his need of her.

  The stairway was circular. He walked along the balcony, peeking into each bedroom, each one with its own fourposter bed. Then he came to the room he knew had to be Etta’s. Everything was pale green, and the bed had a ruffled canopy over it. He wondered how many men she had entertained in this bed. He shook the thought from his mind and quickly left the room. He headed back down the stairs, to see Etta standing below. She was pale and shaking.

  “Are you all right?” she asked quietly.

  “Sure am,” he replied with a smile.

  “Oh, Moss, thank you!” she told him sincerely, beginning to cry. “I’d never have been able to come back here…if not for you.”

  His smile faded and he came down the stairs. “Well, you’re here now,” he told her quietly. “And you’re tired. Go on up and take that bath you wanted and get to bed.”

  Their eyes held for a moment. “You could come up with me, Moss. You don’t have to make any promises. Just come up and sleep with me tonight. Who’s to know?”

  He studied the blue eyes, shaking his head with wonder at her inability to understand he no longer wanted her, and angry that she dared to tempt him this way, making his job more miserable. Moses Tucker was not a man to go for long without a woman, and there was only one woman he truly loved and wanted. But to have this object of beauty offer herself was cruel, especially when she knew he once loved her. The thought passed his mind of taking her simply to know the feeling of finally conquering Etta Landers. But the fact that she was degrading herself by standing there and offering herself for free was satisfaction enough.

  “I’d know, Etta. And Mandy would know,” he answered. “She’d die a little on the inside. And so would I. Somethin’ special we share together would be lost forever. We have somethin’ you’d never understand. Now get on upstairs and have your bath and go to sleep. I’ll be down here on the couch if there’s trouble.” He removed his gunbelt. “Tomorrow I’ll go visitin’.”

  She reddened with indignation, wanting him even more, hating him, loving him. “Visiting where?” she asked coldly, wiping at the tears and walking to the steps, moving on up past him.

  “Into Rock Springs. Where else? I figure it’s about time I met Ralph Landers, and I’d like to look up my old friend, Miles Randall.”

  “Oh, Moss, you can’t go into town! You can’t!” she told him, coming back down a couple of steps. “They’d kill you!”

  “In broad daylight? In front of all them fine citizens?” He threw his gun over the back of a chair. “No way. If Ralph Landers intends to do me in, it’ll be in the dark—most likely a shot in the back. You hired me to get rid of him, Etta. And I intend to. My first step is to make him sweat and worry. I’ll badger him till he’s gonna wonder if this place is worth it. If that don’t work, I reckon I’ll have to shoot him eventually.”

  She watched him longingly as he sat down to pull off his boots. “You’re probably right about Ralph doing nothing in the light of day,” she answered. “I wish I could be there to see his face when you go into town.”

  “That would be too dangerous.” He pulled off his boots and looked up at her, his eyes running over her. If he were not attached, he would gladly use her to his heart’s content, then leave her. How he would enjoy hurting her that way! But she had been hurt plenty by Ralph Landers already. That thought always brought a little feeling back into his heart for her. “You got any paper and pens around?” he asked. “I want to write to Mandy, tell her things are okay so far. Long as I’ll be goin’ into town, I might as well use the opportunity to get word to her. It might be a long time before I’m allowed back into Rock Springs.”

  She fought her jealousy of Amanda Tucker.

  “In the parlor—there’s a roll top desk in there. You’ll find your paper and pencils there.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” he told her mockingly, rising from the chair.

  “Do you know how to spell, Mr. Tucker?” she asked sarcastically. “Or do you need my help for that? I apparently can’t do anything else for you!”

  “Mandy’s used to my poor education,” he replied with a grin. “She’ll forgive the misspelled words.”

  “Yes. There are things more important than knowing how to spell, aren’t there?” she replied.

  “I expect so, ma’am.”

  “If you need anything, Moss, I’ll be…bathing for a while…and then I’ll be in bed. Just knock.”

  “Your hospitality is appreciated. I’ll just stretch out on the couch, like I told you.”

  “But there’s a bed in every room up there!”

  “I know that. I’ve already seen them. And they’re all too close to you. A man can only stand so much, and I am a man after all, as you damned well know. I’d appreciate it if you’d respect what I’m doin’ for you, Etta, and respect my marriage. You ruined my life once, and I’ll not let that happen again. I’d like to think there’s at least a little bit of decency left in your heart, so quit throwin’ yourself at me like a whore.”

  He walked into the parlor, and she stared after him. If she didn’t
need him so badly, she’d have gladly shot him in the back; yet never had she wanted him more than at that moment.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Everything okay. Give Becky kiss for me. Could be here at least a month. I love you. Miss your cooking. Most of all miss you. I’m a lonely man. Write care of Rock Springs, Wyo. Will come home as soon as I can, Love, Moss.”

  “You got all that?” Moss asked the telegraph man.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Get it out right away to Hanksville, Utah. It’s for Amanda Tucker, at the Red ‘C’ Ranch down on the San Juan River.”

  “The Red ‘C’? That’s an unusual name, sir.”

  “My wife named it. It’s not really the letter ‘C’, but it’s easier to brand the cattle that way. It’s really Red Sea—you know, like in the Bible?”

  “The Bible?”

  Moss grinned. “Yeah. My first name is Moses. Get it?”

  The man stared at Moss a moment, then broke into a smile, then light laughter.

  “Oh! Moses! Red Sea!” He laughed again. “Of course. What a clever idea.”

  Moss grinned and shook his head, reaching into his shirt pocket and taking out a prerolled cigarette.

  “My wife knows a lot about the Bible. It was her idea. Kind of crazy, huh?”

  The man laughed again. “Well, considering your reputation, Mr. Tucker…” The man suddenly lost his smile. “I—I mean—well, you’re sort of the talk of the town. Some here had already heard of you, and they say you’re…” The man glanced at Moss’s gun, hung low on his hip. “You’re, uh, an outlaw and good with that side arm you’re wearing.”

  Moss shrugged. “You know how them stories get exaggerated.”

  The man swallowed. “They’re waiting for you, Mr. Tucker.”

  “I figured as much. That’s why I rode in the back way, so I could get this letter off first. Figured maybe I wouldn’t be around later to send it.” He leaned over the counter, the cigarette dangling from his mouth. “I don’t suppose you’d fill me in on what I’m ridin’ into, would you?”

  The man looked around first to be sure no one else was looking.