[Gideon Johann 01.0] Last Stand

by Duane Boehm

  “Son of a bitch,” Gideon said. “I never thought DeVille would stoop so low.”

  Ethan rubbed his forehead, feeling nearly too weak to continue to stand. “Mary, I don’t know how you tricked him, but …” he said before stopping when he realized how she probably got the information out of Jasper.

  Sarah, feeling more alert than she had all week was determined not to seem judgmental. “Mary, God bless you, I don’t care how you got the information, just that you did,” she said and arose from the table and embraced Mary. She could not let her go, too overcome with emotion and guilt for having ever passed judgment on the life Mary had chosen.

  “Gideon, what do you think we should do?” Ethan asked.

  “I say we ride towards the cave and wait for nightfall. Then I’ll go in and get Benjamin. I think it’s our best bet,” Gideon said.

  Sarah released Mary and turned to Gideon. “Gideon, I don’t care about the money, and besides, now that you know where they are, you can catch them when they leave after they give us Benjamin back. They can all stand trial.”

  “Sarah, it’s all open ground around that cave. There is no way we can be close enough in daylight to stop from happening whatever they have planned. Like I said, I never thought Frank would stoop to this, but now that he has, he is too cautious of a man to leave witnesses. I’m sure the plan is to kill the ranch hands, maybe even Sligo, and I fear they will kill Benjamin also, in case he heard something. Sarah, if we wait, they are in control and I don’t think Benjamin leaves the cave alive. If we act now, we are in control. Two ranch hands getting surprised in a cave are no match for me. I swear to you that I will get Benjamin out of there. You have to trust me on this,” Gideon pleaded.

  “Gideon is right, Sarah. We need to get Benjamin tonight. I’d rather trust Gideon to succeed than Frank to do the right thing,” Ethan said.

  Sarah could feel the anger rushing over her at the thought that a sad pathetic man more worried about building a cattle empire than his or anybody else’s happiness had tried to destroy them over a land deal. “That bastard stole Benjamin because we were going to buy the Holden place. He wanted to ruin us over a piece of land.”

  The realization of the truth in Sarah’s words hit Ethan hard. His own need to become a big time rancher had led to this. “Sarah, I am sorry,” Ethan said. “I never would have wanted that land for all the money in the world if had known it would lead to this. I should have been happy with what God has blessed us with.”

  “Ethan, I will have none of that kind of talk,” Sarah said. “It is not a sin for a man to want to better his family by honest means. This is all on Frank DeVille. The rest of us are just his victims. Do not feel guilty again. I won’t have it.”

  Abby wanted to reassure Ethan in hopes that he would realize that nobody blamed him. “Ethan, Sarah is right, you are blameless in this. Nobody should go through life avoiding their dreams for fear of evil.”

  Ethan did not say anything, but went to where his gun belt hung and grabbed it.

  “Hold on a minute,” Sarah said. “Isn’t there still time to eat and get over to that cave before sunset? There’s no need riding over there and waiting for dark with your bellies’ growling.”

  “Sarah is right. We have time and I can always find an excuse for Sarah’s cooking,” Gideon said, trying to lighten the mood.

  Doc decided that is was time for Mary and him to take their leave. He did not think they would want her at their supper table. “Well, Mary and I best be getting back to town.”

  “Since when did you ever pass up one of my meals? You don’t look sickly to me, and Mary is going to be our guest of honor. That’s the least I can do for the lady. I don’t know where we would be without her help,” Sarah said.

  “Ma’am, that is not necessary. You don’t need me sitting at your table, and besides, I should be getting back,” Mary said.

  “I won’t take no for an answer. Anybody that tries to save my child will always be welcome at my table. And don’t call me ma’am. I’m Sarah, same as I always was,” Sarah said.

  “Sarah, may I help you cook the meal? It’s been a long time since I helped cook a real meal,” Mary said.

  “Sure. Me, you, and Abby will get these boys fed in no time,” Sarah said.

  The women prepared the meal and brought it to the table as everybody gathered around for Ethan to say the blessing. Ethan and Gideon did their best to make it seem as if it were a Thanksgiving dinner, telling jokes and reminiscing, but the weight of what was about to happen weighed too heavily on the group for it to be a success until at last they gave up and everybody ate in silence.

  With the meal finished, Marcus asked, “Do you have a horse that I can use? I would like to go with you.”

  “Sure, Marcus,” Ethan said. “I suspect it is time we get to riding.”

  Sarah walked over to Gideon and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s my baby, Gideon. Don’t let anything happen to him,” she said.

  Chapter 26

  Gideon, Ethan, and Marcus talked little as they traveled to the cave. Gideon concentrated on the different scenarios that might play out in rescuing Benjamin and how he would react to them. They rode to within an eighth mile of the cave and stopped where the ground cover disappeared and the land turned flat and barren. Tying their horses up behind the tree line, they watched the sun disappearing from sight, waiting on nightfall before they could proceed.

  “I haven’t been in that cave since we were in our teens. Do you remember it at all?” Ethan asked as they peered out at the cave through the brush.

  “Yeah, there is that first room that sunlight comes in and then it bends hard to the right into that big chamber with the water. I bet they are in that part,” Gideon said.

  “How are you going to do it?” Ethan asked.

  “I’m going to walk in as quietly as possible and they will be surprised whether they hear me or not. They’ll think it is Sligo if nothing else. The element of surprise gives you one hell of an advantage,” Gideon said.

  “What if they don’t have any light?” Marcus asked.

  “I doubt they’re going to be sitting in the pitch black, especially now that they have a bottle to share,” Gideon said.

  “I still can’t believe they were there and I missed it,” Marcus said.

  “You didn’t know that you would be checking a cave that day and needing a torch. Let it go. It’s going to be all right now,” Gideon said.

  They waited until the dark made it impossible to see the cave entrance from where they were hid. Satisfied it was time to go, Gideon pulled out his rifle and handed it to Marcus, who was unarmed. “We’ll just walk on up there and you two can wait outside. I will holler before I come back out of the cave. So if somebody comes out without yelling, you know it’s not me and waylay them,” he said.

  Now that the time was at hand, Ethan started feeling nauseous with worry. His stomach was churning and the acid was rising up into his throat. He kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong and the heartbreak that it would bring. “Are you sure about this, Gideon?” Ethan asked.

  “It’s our best chance. After tonight, it gets tricky and they have the advantage. Even if we stopped Sligo from getting to the cave in the morning, we have no idea what these two would do. They’d get nervous, and nervous is unpredictable. Relax Ethan, I’m going to get Benjamin out or die trying,” Gideon said.

  “Maybe I should go in,” Ethan said. “It’s not right for you to risk your life for us.”

  “Ethan, for Christ sake, I’m the only one experienced in these kinds of things and that’s what friends do. Benjamin saved my life and now I’m going to go get him. Perfect little circle, don’t you think? And besides, you might shoot yourself with the way you aim a pistol,” Gideon said.

  “I’m not half as bad at shooting a pistol as you make me out to be,” Ethan said defensively.

  “I know, but you’re so perfect in every other way that I have to take what I can get to ride you,�
� Gideon said.

  “I’ll be sure to tell Sarah what you said. I’m sure she’d have something to say about my perfection,” Ethan said, realizing Gideon had taken his mind off worrying.

  “Let’s go,” Gideon said and started walking.

  The stars and moon lent enough light that navigating across the expanse was not a problem. The little breeze had been stilled with the darkness. but the temperature was falling, leaving a nice cool evening. Nobody spoke now, but walked with purpose towards the destination.

  At the mouth of the cave, Gideon drew his pistol and cocked it. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly along with any tension. The next couple of minutes would decide his and Benjamin’s fate. He said a silent prayer that this time he would be saving a child instead of killing one.

  Gideon walked into the cave and saw that it was pitch black save for the little light from their fire that danced on the wall where it made the turn into the next room. He wasn’t sure why, but he had expected more light as he headed slowly towards the back, trying to feel each step out to avoid tripping on something unseen. He could hear one of the men bragging in a loud voice that he was going to have himself a kept woman with all his money while the other one was trying to get him to take the horses out to graze. A couple of steps from the turn, Gideon kicked a rock, sending it bouncing noisily on the hard surface.

  “Is that you, boss?” a voice called out.

  Gideon took the last two steps quickly, spun to the right, and surveyed the room. One man was standing and reaching for his gun. The other kidnapper was sitting a few feet from Benjamin. Gideon aimed at the middle of the first man’s chest and fired. The roar of the shot was deafening in the cave as the sound reverberated off the walls. The bullet lifted the man off his feet and flung him backwards into the pool of water as Gideon fired at the second man just as he dove behind Benjamin.

  The man drew his gun and pointed it at Benjamin as he did his best to hide his large frame behind the boy. “Toss your gun away and let me walk out of here if you don’t want the boy hurt,” he said.

  Gideon wished the fire was burning brighter. The large man was exposed behind Benjamin . Gideon felt sure he could shoot him without endangering the boy, but a little more light would make the task a lot easier. Benjamin looked more relieved to see him than scared of the situation. “I’m the deputy and I can’t let you escape. If you want to live, you need to surrender. I want you to testify against Sligo and DeVille. You’ll serve some time in prison and then you can get on with your life, otherwise you die,” he said.

  “Who said anything about Sligo and DeVille?” the man asked.

  “You must be Walter then. Your buddy Jasper went to town today and ran his mouth. If I kill you, they may get away with plotting this all out. You and Jasper will die and take all the blame,” Gideon said.

  “That damn idiot. One day away from being rich and he can’t keep his mouth shut,” Walter said. “Unless you don’t care if this boy gets killed, you better throw down your gun and let me walk.”

  “Walter, there is one hole in your logic there. If you shoot Benjamin, I’m going to blow you into hell,” Gideon said.

  “But can you live with his death on your …” Walter said before Gideon fired his revolver when he saw the man unknowingly lower his gun away from Benjamin’s head as he talked.

  The boom of the gun was followed by Walter screaming shrilly. Gideon had hit him in the shoulder, sending him flopping backwards with Benjamin in his arms. He had lost his gun and was writhing around, holding his shoulder as Benjamin tried to climb off the flopping man. Gideon put his foot on the gun, reached down with one hand and yanked Benjamin off Walter.

  “How are you,” Gideon asked as he draped his hand on Benjamin’s shoulder and pressed the boy into his leg.

  “I’m fine. I knew you and Pa would come for me,” Benjamin said.

  “Well, you were right. We need to hurry up here before your pa goes crazy waiting outside,” Gideon said as he picked up Walter’s gun and stuck it in his belt.

  “Walter, get up. We are walking out of here right now,” Gideon ordered.

  “You shot me. How am I supposed to walk now,” Walter said.

  “I shot you in the shoulder, not the leg, and I could have killed you if I had wanted. If you don’t get up and walk, I’m going to blow your balls off with my next shot. I don’t have time for this. Now get up. I’m taking you to jail. It’s your decision whether it’s with nuts or without,” Gideon said and cocked his gun.

  Gideon watched Walter find a way to get to his feet at the sound of the gun click. “Lead the way out of here,” Gideon said as he grabbed one of their torches lying on the ground and lit it in the fire.

  “We’re coming out,” Gideon yelled when they neared the mouth of the cave.

  Walter walked out first, followed by Gideon, and then Benjamin in the rear. Gideon stepped to the side, allowing father and son to see each other, whereupon Ethan dropped to his knees as Benjamin ran into his arms. “Benjamin, are you hurt?” Ethan asked.

  “I’m hungry. We didn’t eat very good in there, but I’m fine,” Benjamin said.

  “I bet when you get home your momma will fix you anything that you want,” Ethan said.

  “I knew you and Mr. Gideon would come for me.”

  “Well, there are lots of people we need to thank for this moment. I will tell you about that later. Did they mistreat you any?” Ethan asked.

  “No, nobody hurt me. I just worried a lot.”

  “I love you, son.”

  “I love you too, Pa,”

  Ethan continued to embrace Benjamin as he slowly began to take stock of the injured man. He stood and took a couple of steps away from Benjamin before gripping his rifle by the barrel. He swung the butt hard into the injured shoulder of Walter and watched as the man screamed and dropped to his knees. Swinging the gun again, Ethan caught Walter across the shoulder blades and planted him on his face. Ethan felt no guilt for the pleasure he was taking in the man’s pain as he ground his foot into Walter’s injured shoulder while the screaming became intolerable.

  Gideon grabbed Ethan’s arm and jerked him away. “You’re scaring Benjamin. That’s enough. Do you understand?”

  Ethan looked at Benjamin, and seeing the fear on his son’s face, the feeling of guilt began for assaulting the man in front of his son, but not for actually doing it. In fact, if not for Gideon, he would have still been torturing the man. His hatred was such that the bloodlust he felt was intoxicating. “I’m sorry, Benjamin. That man almost took you from me and I was angry,” he said.

  Benjamin nodded his head, trying not to cry at seeing a scary side to his father.

  Gideon needed to get things back on track. There was a lot to do and Benjamin needed to get home to Sarah. “Benjamin and Ethan stay here with the prisoner while Marcus and I will go back into the cave to saddle their horses and load up Jasper,” he said before leaning into Ethan’s face. “Get a hold on yourself, because tomorrow, the preacher in you is not going to be happy with the part of you that turned vigilante.”

  Gideon and Marcus emerged from the cave a short time later leading the two horses with Jasper draped over one of them. Walter had regained enough of his composure to fear Ethan. He seemed happy to see Gideon return to have his hands tied and be helped into the saddle.

  Gideon took the reins of both horses and started walking. “When we get back to our horses, you two can get Benjamin back to his momma and I’ll take these two into town. Doc can fix Walter up and I’ll see if Sligo is in one of the saloons.”

  “You’re not going to go after Sligo by yourself, are you? Wait until morning and me and half the town would probably join you,” Ethan said as he walked beside Gideon.

  “If he is in town, I am. I’ve already gotten the better of him twice. He’s scared of me,” Gideon said.

  “Don’t get overly confident there. That’s a good way to get killed,” Ethan warned.

  “You just n
eed to get on back home. I have not lived this long by being overly confident. Maybe I should start helping you with your sermons,” Gideon chided.

  They reached their horses and Gideon lifted Benjamin up behind Ethan after the father had mounted. “I’ll see you two later tonight or in the morning,” he said.

  “You came back for me. I knew you would,” Benjamin said.

  “You probably let them kidnap you just to get me back here,” Gideon said and patted the boy’s leg.

  “Gideon, wait for morning so that me and the sheriff and others can help you. Benjamin is safe and the rest can wait,” Ethan said.

  Gideon did not answer. If he got the chance to end it tonight, he would. The last thing he needed was for Ethan to get killed trying to help.

  Marcus handed Gideon back his rifle without either man speaking. Now that their mission was over, they could get back to not liking each other.

  Gideon mounted and headed towards town with Jasper and Walter in tow while Ethan, Marcus, and Benjamin headed for home. Ethan rode as fast as the night allowed, knowing that Sarah was sitting on pins and needles waiting for their return. Once they reached the road home, they could see lanterns shining from the porch.

  “Looks like you got a welcoming party for you,” Ethan said.

  Sarah, Abby, and Winnie were all standing anxiously on the porch as they rode into the yard. “Momma, I’m back,” Benjamin shouted out before they could see him in the dark.

  Sarah could not move. Her feet seemed to be frozen to the porch. She could only rock her body and cover her face with her hands as the reality set in that the ordeal was finally over with. Benjamin ran up onto the porch, wrapping his arms around his mother and squeezing her for all he was worth. His touch brought Sarah out of her stupor and she squatted down and hugged him back. “Oh, I’ve missed you. I didn’t know what I was going to do if I never got you back,” she said before crying too hard to continue.

  “It’s all right, Momma. They didn’t hurt me and I’m going to be more careful from now on so that it doesn’t happen again. I promise,” Benjamin said.