House of Winslow 14 The Valiant Gunman

by Gilbert, Morris

  Hope bowed her head, tears coming to her own eyes, and then she sensed a movement behind her. Turning, she saw Cody, who had entered and was staring at his grandfather and Dan Winslow. His eyes were big, and his lips were clenched together tightly. As Dan got up, Cody kept his eyes fixed on him. Winslow leaned over and whispered something to Amos; then when Winslow moved away from the bed, Cody asked, “Dan—can I go with you?”

  Winslow glanced at Hope, then nodded. “Sure, Cody.” The two left, and when Hope turned back to her father, she saw that he was smiling and that there were tears in his eyes.

  “Thank God!” he was saying over and over, as she held tightly to his hand.

  As Cody walked beside Winslow to the barn, he asked, “Is my grandpa gonna die, Dan?”

  “I think he will, Son,” Dan replied. He stopped and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, looking down at him. “But you mustn’t be afraid. He’s going to be with Jesus.”

  “I know—but I’ll miss him!” Then Cody reached out and took Dan’s hand. “Will—will you be here?” he asked in a small voice.

  Dan squeezed the boy’s hand and said, “I’ll be around if the Lord spares me. But there’s going to be a fight, Cody. Some of us are going to get hurt, maybe killed.”

  “Dan—try not to get killed!”

  Dan Winslow gave the boy a hug. “I’m a pretty tough fellow, Cody. And I’m going to try harder to keep myself in one piece than I ever tried before. Now—let’s go see what we have to do.”

  He stepped into the barn and saw at once that everyone gathered there was expecting something from him. “Cody, go stand with Zane,” he said, and when the boy went to Zane, Dan looked around carefully. This was his army, and it was not a large one. There were no more than twenty men in front of him, and most of those had never fired a shot in anger. He ran his eyes over them, noting those who were good fighting men: Sid Kincaid, Smoky Jacks, and Gus Miller were all he could count on. Others, such as Dave Orr and Zane, were unknown qualities, and farmers like Dutch Shultz and Lowell Cox had been in the war, but Dan had no idea if they could stand fire or not. Some of the men he hardly knew at all, such as Leon Amboy, a tall, thin man with a pair of mild, blue eyes. Despite the odds, Dan knew he must not let any doubt appear.

  “I guess you all know what we’ve got to do,” he said. “And maybe some of you think it can’t be done. You’re thinking that Arrow’s got a crew of fifteen tough men—and I’m telling you that the Littletons will throw their crew into the fight, so you can figure we’ll be up against at least twenty men—and Head can get more. Most of you are farmers, not gunmen, so you’re feeling pretty much like letting the thing go.”

  “Well, it’s a long shot, isn’t it, Dan?” Dave Orr spoke up at once, voicing the doubts of several of the men. “I’ve never shot at a man in my life. How can I go up against a man like Caudill or Jack Hines?”

  Several of the men agreed, but Lowell Cox said, “This won’t be a shoot-out between two men, Orr. I wouldn’t stand a chance in a thing like that, no more than you. Most of us wouldn’t. But there’s a way to do these things, and I figure Dan Winslow’s the one to turn the trick.”

  “Guess I agree with that,” Dutch Shultz said instantly. He was a slow-moving man and a slow speaker as well. He was, moreover, a solid man—one who was not impulsive—and Dan had sense enough to know that it was men like Cox and Shultz who would have to draw the more fearful men into the fight. He stood back, letting Cox and Schultz answer Orr’s arguments, saying nothing at all.

  Finally the tide swung, and even Dave Orr was convinced. Orr was the only educated man in the group, and though education would be of no use in a fight, these uneducated men had respect for learning and were impressed when Orr agreed, “All right, we’ll do it. Now, Dan, how do we go about this thing?”

  Winslow stood still, every man watching him. His lips made a long, faintly smiling line; but it was the wistfulness of that smile which stirred the wonder in some of them. Winslow was tough, and he had a streak of raw courage that most men lacked. Yet now, behind the smile and steady blue eyes of the man was something like profound knowledge and profound regret. It made him different—it set him apart. Maybe it was loneliness that came out of knowing and seeing too much.

  “Silas Head has put a bounty on us,” Winslow said slowly, almost idly. “It’s like to him we’re a bunch of lobo wolves, so he’s paying Ash Caudill and his crew to hunt us down for the bounty.”

  He paused and let the silence run on so long that Zane finally burst out, “Well, Dan—what will we do then?”

  Winslow looked around the room slowly, then nodded as he said, “Why, Zane—we’ll turn wolf!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  A NEW BEGINNING

  “You boys set right still and none of you will get your heads shot off—maybe!”

  Only four of Arrow’s crew were on the ranch, including Ash Caudill, Jack Hines, Shorty Ellis, and Luke Mott. And all four of them were in the middle of breakfast when they looked up to see two men standing at the head of the long table, guns drawn and aimed at them.

  “What in the—!”

  Smoky Jacks cut in, a thin smile on his lips. “Just settle down, Caudill. Zane, take their guns. We wouldn’t want these cutthroats to be tempted.”

  Caudill was the only man who had come to breakfast wearing a gun. Now he had a burning desire to draw the gun—but the steady muzzle of Jacks’ .44 discouraged him. As Zane Jenson took Caudill’s weapon, the foreman tried to bluff the two men. “You two are making a big mistake,” he said. “We’ve got twenty men in call.”

  “No, you ain’t, Caudill,” Jacks grinned. “You got your crew scattered all over creation. Now, you fellers get outside.” Zane kept Caudill’s weapon in his left hand and gave Jack Hines a hard look. Hines turned slightly pale as he remembered the last time he’d seen the young man. But Zane only motioned with both guns, and the four of them walked out into the yard without further argument.

  In the big house, Diane and her father got a similar shock. The servant came to the table where they were also at breakfast, saying, “Gentleman to see you, sah.”

  “Who is it?”

  “It’s that Mistah Winslow.”

  Silas Head shot a look at the man, then shifted his gaze to Diane. “I’ll see about this,” he said quickly. “You’d better stay here.”

  Diane paid him no heed but went with him, following as he stepped out on the porch. The first thing she saw was Dan Winslow standing on the ground looking up, then she looked across the yard and saw Ash and three of the crew being herded toward the house.

  Head saw this as well, and said frostily, “I take it you’re here to rob us, Winslow.”

  “No, Head, just to collect a debt—and to lay down a little rule for you.”

  “What debt—and what rule?” Head shot back. He was not wearing a gun—had not for years—and it grated on him to be helpless before his enemy.

  Winslow’s eyes were hard as flint as he said, “Your man Caudill took a crew over the valley lately. They made a stop at Lowell Cox’s place. Caudill killed one of his cows.” Dan turned and asked, “That’s right, isn’t it, Ash?”

  When Caudill remained silent, staring at Winslow with hate-filled eyes, Smoky Jacks gave him a sharp dig in the ribs with his revolver. “Speak up, Ash, I’m hard of hearing.”

  When Caudill nodded slightly, Winslow said, “That’s the debt, Head.”

  Silas Head said in a grating tone, “You won’t take one of my animals, Winslow.”

  “We’ve already got one.” He turned and waved his hand, and a big, heavy bull trotted out from behind a barn, driven by Sid Kincaid. “I’ll get him started to his new home, Dan,” Sid yelled, and turned the huge animal toward the road.

  Head’s ruddy face grew crimson. “You can’t take that bull!” he shouted. “That’s a champion breeder I had shipped all the way from the East. He cost more than Cox’s whole ranch!”

  “Beef for a beef, Head,” Winslow
said evenly. “Which takes care of the debt—now we come to the rule.” He paused to look at Diane. “I regret to speak like this before you, Diane.”

  Diane stared at him, then shook her head. “You’ll die for this, Dan Winslow. Don’t you know that? We can’t let you take that bull—and we can’t let you get by with coming here. If we did, we’d be—”

  Diane broke off abruptly, and Winslow finished the sentence. “You’d be just another ranch, not the king and his princess lording it over the poor serfs.” He noted the flush in her cheeks, but she had opened herself up for his barb. He turned his eyes back to Head, saying, “This rule, here it is. Whatever you do to us—we do to you. You take one of our cows, we take one back from you. You shoot one of our people, we shoot one of yours. Burn one of our houses, we burn this one.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  Dan shook his head. “Head, don’t make any mistake about this. There’s nothing you can do to us that we can’t do to you. I mean that.” He turned and said, “Zane, take Caudill to his bunk. Have him bring his personal belongings out here.”

  Caudill’s head jerked, but he had no time to argue. Zane forced him across the yard, and as they left, Head began cursing and blustering. He was ignored by both Winslow and Jacks, and as soon as the two men were back, Winslow said, “Keep an eye on them, Smoky,” and stepped into the house.

  He was back at once with a coal-oil lamp in his hand. He walked across to where Caudill had thrown his belongings on the ground, removed the chimney of the lamp and poured the clear oil carefully over the pile. He set the lamp down, found a kitchen match in his pocket and struck it against a rock. Giving Caudill one look, he tossed the match on the pile, and it caught the oil afire at once. As the blaze grew, Dan said, “Get out of the country, Ash.” Then he turned around and walked back to where Head and Diane were watching, their eyes filled with shock.

  “Go get the horses, Zane,” he said, and while the young man was gone, he addressed the big cattleman again. “I hope you show a little sense about this thing, Head. Your day is over. There’s room enough for all of us—but you’ve been a hog.”

  Head choked and began to shout, but Dan ignored him and turned to his horse. He mounted, as did Smoky Jacks, and Dan said, “Don’t send any raiders after us. I’m going home, and if you send men to hit it—or any other place—you’ll go to your grave sorry about it.”

  The three wheeled and rode out of the yard at a gallop. At once Ash began cursing, but Head bellowed, “Shut up!” His face was set now with an anger that went to the bone. “Why didn’t you keep a watch on this ranch?” he demanded of Caudill. “You’ve let them make a laughingstock of me!”

  Caudill was wild with rage, but he got hold of himself. “Nobody will be laughing—they’ll be too busy burying people!” He spun around, shouting, “Jack, go get Littleton and his crew. Luke, go get the boys over at Black Canyon, and you, Shorty, ride like the devil to the river. I want every man of our crew here by noon!”

  “What are you going to do, Ash?” Diane asked.

  “Do? I’m going to get that bull back,” Caudill snapped. “And while I’m at it, I’m going to burn Dan Winslow’s place to the ground—and a few more to boot!”

  Head said at once, “Be careful. Winslow’s no fool.”

  “He won’t carry through,” Ash said. “Look at the chance he had here. He could’ve shot us down and burned the house. Instead, he just burns some of my clothes and takes one animal.”

  “He’s smart,” Diane countered instantly. “We can’t have the law on him for burning your clothes—and you shot that farmer’s cow in front of witnesses.” Ash glared at her but had no ready comeback. “He’s beaten you every time,” Diane added cruelly. “Don’t let him beat you this time—or it’s all over.”

  Caudill strode over close to Diane and thrust a defiant finger in her face. “He’ll be dead by sundown,” he said through clenched teeth. “And anybody else that’s fool enough to stand against me and the boys!”

  ****

  Dan Winslow watched as Sid carried the last of Rosa’s things out of the house and dumped them in the wagon. Sid had, at Dan’s order, loaded all their personal things, and now he asked, “What’s this for, Dan? Where we moving to?”

  “This place won’t be safe, Sid. Caudill will be here as soon as he can get his crew together. We’ll take the stuff over to Gus’s later. For now, put the wagon over in the meadow under the shed, then come up on the bluff.”

  Winslow wheeled his horse and rode around the garden that Sid and Rosa had planted, then up the steep path that led to a bluff overlooking the clearing. When he got to where the men waited, he said, “Dutch, take your three men and get started. You may not have anything to do, but I’m thinking that when he busts them up here, the stragglers will either go down the road to get away, or they’ll take the old trail beside the river. Lowell, you take Amboy, Keyes, Sanders, and seal off that road.”

  Gus Miller said, “Dan, I don’t like splitting up like this. We need all the men right here. This is where they’ll hit, and we need to hit back with all we got.”

  Dan shook his head. “Gus, we’ve been over that. I want this thing over and done with. If we let them get away, it’ll be all to do over again. This way no matter which way they take, they’ll run into us.”

  “All right, Dan, you’re the captain,” Miller shrugged. “I just hope you’re right. Those boys are tough.”

  “We’ve got the high ground, though,” Dave Orr commented. “They’ll have to climb this ridge to get us. Pretty hard going for them.”

  “It’s kind of like Lookout Mountain,” Lowell Cox said. He grinned at Dan, saying, “That was one time us Yankees put the run on you Johnny Rebs. I was one of the fools that made that climb, right up into the guns of the rebs.” He shook his head with a puzzled look. “We should’ve lost that fight. Never could figger out why you fellers let us git up that hill.”

  Dan said, “When men get fired up, Lowell, they can do most anything. And if we want it bad enough, we can finish Arrow here today. But it’s going to be a close thing. Now, get going, you men, and remember—we don’t want any heroes. Hear me?”

  “Sure,” Lowell Cox answered. “Keep your head down, Dan.” He led his little band away, and Dutch did the same with his three men. When they were gone, Sid came back, and Dan looked over his force. There were seven of them, including Zane, Smoky, Sid, Orr, Pie Dutton, Birch Bingham, and himself. “We’re going to have company pretty soon,” he said. “There’ll be at least twenty or so, all Ash can get together. I’m going to put you all in the spots where you can do the most good. It’s what’s called ‘enfilading the enemy.’ Which means shooting at them not only from the front, but from both sides.”

  He walked around the small bluff placing each man, warning them all, “No matter what happens, don’t shoot until you hear my first shot—no matter what happens! Then when I start firing don’t waste your shots. They’ll be caught in the open, but Caudill’s tough and smart. He’ll know there aren’t many of us, so he’ll try to rush this ridge. But if we keep up a steady fire, those Arrow boys won’t be able to stand it.”

  Finally he returned to the end of his thin line and lay down on the ground. He went to sleep almost at once, after saying, “Sid, wake me up when you hear them coming.”

  He stirred later at the sound of Zane’s voice.

  “ . . . don’t see how he can sleep like that, Smoky! It ain’t human!”

  “Well, he’s a nervy cuss, Zane,” Smoky responded. “Never saw a nervier one.”

  Zane was silent, unnerved himself at seeing Dan continue to sleep through their conversation. Then he asked, “This don’t look right to me, Smoky. Why don’t we wait for Arrow away from the house?”

  “Why, that’s what they’d like for us to do,” Smoky said. “That way they could—Wait a minute! I think they’re coming.” He turned and shook Winslow. “Dan—wake up.”

  Winslow was up at once and took a look at the horizo
n, where a group of tiny horsemen were making their way cautiously up to the house.

  “Well, you figgered right, Dan,” Smoky murmured, his eyes gleaming. “Must be about twenty-five of ’em.”

  They watched as the riders approached the house, and Dan ordered, “Smoky, go along the line. Pass the word to wait for my signal.” When Smoky scrambled away, Dan said, “Zane, keep your head down.”

  “Sure, Dan.” Zane paused awkwardly, then said, “I don’t expect to get killed in this fight—but guess I better get something off my chest.” Dan turned his gaze on the young man and saw that Zane was tremendously embarrassed. But he waited until Zane finally spluttered, “Well, shoot! I gotta tell you why I been acting like a bull-headed fool toward you!”

  Dan felt a wave of sympathy rise in him and smiled at Zane. “You’ve been jealous about Rosa, haven’t you?”

  Zane’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at Winslow with astonishment. “You knowed it all the time?”

  “Zane, young girls are real impressionable. They fall in and out of love pretty fast—or think they do. I was able to help Rosa, and she’s been grateful. She’s young and been treated pretty badly—and she was looking forward to having a father. When she lost him, I was there. She was just looking for security.” He turned and put his hand on Zane’s shoulder, saying, “She’s a fine girl, but you’re both young. Maybe something will come of it. I wouldn’t be too surprised—because you’re quite a man, Zane. Rosa would be fortunate to get you.”

  Zane’s face flamed, and he turned his head quickly. When he spoke, his voice was husky. “Thanks for that, Dan. I—I needed it!”

  Dan cut the moment short by saying, “Look sharp, our friends are busy.” Smoky came back, his eyes bright, but then when he took a look at the scene below, he gasped, “Why—them vultures are burnin’ the house!”

  Winslow smiled and asked softly, “What d’you expect them to do, Smoky? Give it a coat of paint for us?”

  Zane stared at Winslow. “You knew they’d do that, didn’t you, Dan?”