The Texan

by Bobbi Smith

  “You don’t think we need to talk to Josh about any of this?” Emmie asked.

  “Heavens, no,” the chaperone insisted. “He’s a man. What would he know about such things?”

  They all laughed.

  Emmie’s mood was light, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that her mother wouldn’t be a part of her wedding day.

  The bounty hunter was feeling good as he rode into Shotgun. The Rocking R Ranch was nearby, and he was certain his days of hunting down Josh Grady were just about over. He had made his plan. It wouldn’t be long now before he’d be bringing Josh in for the five-hundred-dollar reward.

  He reined in out in front of the saloon and went inside to have a drink. He wanted to relax for a while and listen to all the talk in the bar. He usually learned what was going on in town that way, and he hoped today would be no exception. He dismounted and strode inside, ready to close in on his wanted man.

  “Whiskey,” he said as he sidled up to the bar.

  “Coming right up,” the barkeep said. He served the drink quickly and took the money the tall, lean stranger shoved across the bar to him.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re new in town.”

  “Yep, my name’s Jones—Rod Jones.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rod Jones. Drink up; there’s plenty more where that came from.”

  Rod did just that. The talk in the saloon was uneventful, so he knew things had been quiet there in Shotgun for a while. He finally decided to bring up Josh Grady’s name himself.

  “I wanted to ask you, what’s the best way out to the Rocking R? I’m a friend of Josh Grady’s, and I wanted to stop off and see him while I’m passing through,” he said to the barkeep.

  The other man thought nothing of giving the stranger directions to the ranch. It was common knowledge. “So, you’re an old friend of Josh’s?” he asked as he wiped down the bar in front of him.

  “We go back a ways,” Rod lied.

  “He’s done a fine job taking over the running of the Rocking R.”

  “It’ll be good to see him.” And Rod knew it would be good—real good and real profitable.

  Rod drained the rest of his drink and walked out.

  It was time.

  He rode for the Rocking R.

  About an hour later one of the ranch hands saw a stranger riding in and went to get Burley. Burley left the stable where he’d been working and went out to see who the man was and what he wanted.

  “Afternoon,” Burley greeted him, feeling decidedly uneasy about the stranger as he looked up at him. There was something about the fellow that seemed almost dangerous.

  “Howdy,” Rod returned, taking a casual look around for Josh. He saw no sign of his quarry anywhere, but he knew he couldn’t let his guard down for a moment. “Nice place you got here.”

  “Yes, it is. What can I do for you?”

  Rod introduced himself and then asked, “Is Josh Grady around?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “We’re friends from Josh’s old days. I’m a bounty hunter, too. I was in the area and hadn’t seen him for a while, so I thought I’d stop by and say hello.”

  After learning about the man’s past, Burley understood why he’d been on edge. He relaxed and said, “Josh isn’t here right now. He and George rode out earlier this morning to check the north range. I expect they’ll be back by sundown. You’re welcome to stay and wait for him, if you want.”

  “Any chance I could catch up with him there?”

  “You can try,” Burley said, and he told the bounty hunter the general area where Josh and George had been headed. “You want one of us to ride with you?”

  “No, I’ll find him. I’m pretty good at tracking,” Rod said with a confident smile.

  “I’ll just bet you are.”

  Rod rode away, feeling more certain than ever that he would soon be on his way back to Sundown to claim his reward.

  “Who was that?” a ranch hand asked as he came to stand beside Burley

  “An old friend of Josh’s who was just passing through.”

  The two men thought nothing more of the visitor and returned to work.

  Rod was ready. As soon as he was out of sight of the ranch buildings, he stopped long enough to take the wanted poster out of his saddlebag. He unfolded it and studied the picture on it again. Having never seen Josh in person, he wanted to make sure he got the right man. Satisfied that he would recognize his quarry at first sight, Rod folded the poster up and put it in his shirt pocket.

  Rod couldn’t believe his luck when, after an hour of riding in the direction the ranch hands had told him to go, he spotted a lone horse man in the distance. But the fact that the rider was by himself troubled him. The men at the Rocking R had said Josh had ridden out with someone named George, and he couldn’t be sure this was his man.

  The rider hadn’t seen him yet, so Rod quickly took cover near a rocky outcropping and waited until the man drew closer so he could get a better look at him. He didn’t want to ruin the capture by acting rashly.

  Josh and George had split up to go after some strays and had agreed to meet back at the watering hole. Josh had finished first and decided to relax in the shade while he waited for George to return. He was thinking he’d obviously had much better luck than his brother when he heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction George had ridden. Fearing George had run into rustlers and was in trouble, Josh wasted no time getting back in the saddle. Gun drawn, he galloped toward the sound to see what was wrong.

  Rod had gotten his shots off with practiced ease. His first shot had missed, but the second shot had hit the rider, and he’d watched as the man had fallen from his horse to lie unmoving on the ground. Rod mounted up and headed down to claim the wanted man. He knew he had to move fast, just in case the other ranch hand who had ridden out with Josh was somewhere close by.

  Rod reined in next to the man he believed to be Josh Grady and dismounted. He knew he had to catch Grady’s horse and load the man up. He’d have to take the body back to Sundown in order to claim the reward. He was hoping Josh was already dead, so he wouldn’t have to worry about doctoring him. Gun in hand, Rod went to the fallen man.

  It was at that moment that Josh topped the low rise nearby and saw a man walking toward his fallen brother, holding a gun on him. Fury filled Josh, and, believing the man was a rustler, he began to fire as he raced toward them.

  Rod was a fast gun, but, caught unprepared, he had no chance. The bullets slammed into his chest and he collapsed, his gun flying from his hand. He lay facedown in the dirt, his life’s blood draining from him.

  Josh dismounted and ran to his side. He turned the unknown gunman over to stare down at him.

  “You!” Rod choked, gazing up at him in disbelief.

  “Who are you? What are you doing on the Rocking R?” Josh demanded, but the man went limp.

  Once Josh was certain the stranger wouldn’t be ambushing anyone else, he holstered his gun and rushed to his brother, fearing he was dead. He knelt down beside George to check his wound.

  “George…”

  Josh was flooded with relief when his brother gave a low groan and half opened his eyes. “What?” he managed weakly as he came around.

  “Don’t try to talk,” Josh ordered.

  “Who was he?” George didn’t always do what his brother told him to do.

  “I don’t know. I’d never seen him before. Must have been a rustler. Now be quiet. Save your strength. You’re going to need it to make it back to the ranch.”

  He tore open George’s shirt to find that the bullet had hit him in the shoulder and passed cleanly through. He fought to get the bleeding under control, then took off his own shirt and cut it into strips to tightly bind the wound. George said nothing, but Josh could tell he was in a lot of pain.

  “We’ll ride back double. I don’t want to take the chance that you might fall.”

  “All right,” George ground out as he fo
ught to control the pain.

  Josh tied the dead gunman’s body on his horse before helping George up onto his own. He climbed up behind him and took hold of the reins. They started back to the house at a slow pace, with Josh leading the other two horses.

  “I’ll bet the last time you rode double, you probably enjoyed it a lot more,” George managed weakly, trying not to laugh because it hurt too much.

  Emmie was working down at the stable when she saw them coming.

  “Oh, my God! Burley! Get some of the boys! Josh is riding back in, and it looks like there’s been trouble!”

  She dropped what she was doing and ran out to meet Josh, with Burley and several ranch hands right behind her.

  “Josh! What happened? And George!”

  “George was ambushed,” Josh quickly explained. “Burley, you’d better send for the doc.”

  Burley immediately ordered one of the men to town.

  Josh carefully dismounted, and then, with Burley’s help, they managed to get George down. George couldn’t help groaning as the two men each put an arm around him and half carried him up to Josh’s house.

  They were just going inside when Kate came outside to see what was going on. She took one look and came running down to help.

  “What happened?”

  “George was shot,” Emmie told her.

  “I’ll be right back.” Kate rushed up to the main house to get all the medicine and supplies she had. As she was going indoors, she came face-to-face with Millie.

  “Is something wrong?” Millie asked, seeing the other woman’s stricken expression.

  Kate stopped to tell her the news. “It’s George.”

  Millie panicked. “What about him?”

  “He was shot.”

  Millie was almost hysterical. “Is he—”

  “He’s alive, and one of the boys is already on his way to town to get the doc.”

  Millie didn’t say another word. She just ran from the house to do what ever she could to help.

  “George…! Where is he?” she demanded as she came through the door of Josh’s house.

  “He’s in here, Millie,” Emmie called from the back bedroom.

  Millie hurried to stand in the doorway and watched as Emmie and Josh helped make George as comfortable as possible in his bed. She bit back a cry when she saw how pale he was and the bloodied bandage on his shoulder. She went to stand at his side and took his hand.

  The moment she touched him, George opened his eyes and looked up at her. He managed a half smile. “We ran into a little trouble.”

  “Hush—don’t even try to talk. I’ll be right here. The doc’s on his way,” Millie said as tears threatened.

  “There is something I need.”

  “Anything.” She wanted to ease his suffering in any way she could.

  “A kiss.”

  Millie didn’t hesitate. She leaned over him and gently pressed her lips to his. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” he said, and he closed his eyes.

  Josh brought a chair up to the bedside for Millie, so she could sit with him while they waited for the doc to show up.

  “I’ll be back,” he told her.

  Josh started from the house and Emmie went after him. She’d heard the fierce determination in his voice and wanted to know where he was going.

  “Josh?”

  “Stay here.” Josh strode toward the stable.

  She did as she was told.

  Kate came hurrying to Josh’s house then, with Miss Harriet right behind her.

  “What can we do to help?” Miss Harriet asked. Kate had already told her that George had been hurt.

  “Let’s go see,” Emmie said, casting one last look Josh’s way before going back inside to help take care of George.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Josh went out to where Burley was taking care of the horses.

  “How’s George holding up?” Burley asked.

  “It’s a clean shoulder wound. He should be all right.”

  “Thank heaven.” Burley nodded toward the gunman’s body which was still tied on the horse. “What do you want to do with him?”

  “We’ll take him into town to the sheriff, but first I want you to go through his things. I need to know who he is,” Josh said in disgust. “Let me know if you find anything. If he’s in with the rustlers, there may be more of them out there.” Josh’s expression was grim as he lifted his gaze to look out across the endless miles of Rocking R land.

  “I will.”

  “I’ll be with George.” He left Burley and the hands to their gruesome search.

  The moment Josh came through the door, Emmie went to embrace him. She could feel the tension in him as he held himself rigidly in control. The realization that something might have happened to him, too, left her trembling.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked, looking up at him.

  “I’m not going to be all right until I find out who was behind this.”

  “How did it happen?”

  He quickly explained, then said, “The boys are checking his belongings for me now. With any luck, we’ll find something that will help—”

  Before he could finish, they heard Burley shouting his name. Josh moved out of Emmie’s embrace and went to see what he’d found.

  Burley was running up to the house waving a piece of paper in his hand.

  “Wait till you see this!” Burley said, still shocked by the discovery he’d made in the dead man’s pocket. He handed the folded sheet of paper to Josh.

  Josh took it from him and opened it up. He found himself staring down at a wanted poster.

  Josh lifted his hardened gaze. He knew now that the dead man had been a bounty hunter, and he had mistaken George for him. Josh looked down at the poster again.

  “Sundown,” he muttered.

  “Josh, what is it?” Emmie asked, coming to his side. The moment she saw the wanted poster he was holding, she gasped in horror. “Oh, my God! Why are you wanted for murder in Sundown?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” Josh knew there was something sinister going on.

  “What can we do?”

  “‘We’ can’t do anything,” he told her, his expression grave. “As soon as I’m sure George is going to recover, I’ll be riding to Sundown to track down the man who put up the bounty.”

  “Can’t you let the law handle this?”

  “In Sundown there is no law.”

  “But if one bounty hunter was able to find you, won’t there be others looking for you, too?”

  “That’s why I have to go.”

  “We’ll ride with you,” Burley offered, and the men who were gathered around agreed.

  Josh looked at them. “I appreciate your offer, but this is my past. I’ll handle it. I need you to stay here and keep the ranch going.”

  Burley didn’t want him to go alone. “Then I’ll come with you and—”

  Josh fixed him with a look that stopped him. “I work alone.”

  Josh Grady, the bounty hunter, was back.

  Emmie said nothing as they returned to his house to await the doctor’s arrival, but there was no way she was going to let him do this by himself.

  Millie heard the doctor enter the house, and she left George’s bedside to go speak with him. The elderly gentleman had just come in with Josh.

  “I’m so relieved that you’re here.”

  “We were lucky. It’s been a quiet day in town—up until now,” Doc McKinley said as he walked into the bedroom and set down his black bag. “How are you doing, young man?”

  George had watched him come into the room, and he managed a slight smile. “I’ve been better.”

  “I’ll just bet you have. Josh, here, was telling me you were ambushed.”

  “That’s right. I was out chasing strays, and the next thing I knew, Josh was hauling me back to the house.”

  “Well, let’s see how this looks.” The doctor glanced over at Millie, Josh, a
nd Emmie, who were all standing in the bedroom doorway. “Why don’t you ladies wait out in the sitting room?”

  They moved off, and Josh came in.

  “Sit him up for a minute,” the doc directed.

  Josh did just that, and Doc McKinley dug in his medicine bag and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Take a deep drink. You’re going to need it.”

  George followed the doctor’s orders while the doc spread clean towels behind him.

  “All right, let’s lay him back down,” he told Josh.

  Once George was as comfortable as he could be on the bed, Josh stood back and Doc McKinley went to work. He carefully cut away the ban dage.

  George was glad for the whiskey as the doctor worked on cleaning out the wound. When at last his shoulder was wrapped in a clean ban dage, George smiled at the doctor in relief.

  “You were lucky. An inch or two over and you’d have been dead.”

  George hadn’t thought about being lucky, but he supposed when he looked at it that way, he was. “Thanks, Doc.”

  “I’ll be out to check on you again in a day or two,” Doc McKinley said as he got ready to leave. He looked at Josh. “Make sure he gets a lot of rest, and let me know if he develops a fever.”

  “We will.”

  “If he’s in pain, just let him have some whiskey. That should help.”

  Josh walked the doctor out as Millie and Emmie came back into the bedroom to sit with George.

  Miss Harriet and Kate had been hovering nearby, and when they saw the doctor drive off in his buggy, they hurried over to find out how George was. They caught up with Josh on the porch on his way back inside.

  “What did the doctor say?” Miss Harriet asked worriedly.

  “George should be fine in a few weeks.”

  “Thank heaven,” Kate said. “We’ll go tell Burley and the boys for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Josh went in to see his brother. George was still pale, but he looked better than he had earlier.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “You don’t want to know,” George growled.

  “That good, huh?”

  George gave a miserable groan that was as close to a laugh as he could muster.