Blood Ties: A Texas Ranger Will Kirkpatrick Novel

by James J. Griffin

  He ducked, then stayed low in the saddle as he sent Rebel pounding after Will, who was struggling weakly against the current as he tried to get back to the riverbank, apparently having taken a bullet, or else stunned in the fall from his horse.

  “Hang on, Will!” Jonas yelled, as he swung the rope over his head. “I’ll pull you outta there.” He made his throw, which fell several feet short of the struggling Ranger. He cursed under his breath, knowing that he had just missed what was probably his only chance to save Will from the river’s clutches. Desperately, he hauled the rope back out of the Pecos, seeing that Will was rapidly losing his fight against the raging water. He watched helplessly when the current pulled Will farther downstream. However, luck was with both men that day. Just when it appeared Will would be carried out of Jonas’s reach, the current pulled him into a wildly swirling eddy.

  “I’m gonna make another toss, Will,” Jonas yelled. “Grab the rope.”

  He waited only a moment, until the current brought Will nearer the riverbank.

  “Now, Will!” he shouted, then made his throw. This time, it was true. The loop settled around Will’s upraised arm. As soon as Will grabbed the rope, Jonas took a dally around his saddlehorn. Being a trained cowpony, Rebel immediately began to back up, tightening the rope and pulling Will out of the river.

  Jonas jumped off his horse and ran up to Will, who was lying on his belly, gasping like a beached fish. He rolled him onto his back.

  “Will. You all right?”

  “I—I dunno. Think so. Lemme get…my breath. Who was…shootin’…at us?”

  “Dunno, but whoever it was seems to have stopped. Looks like you took a slug in your side. You’re bleedin’ pretty bad.”

  “Where’s Pete? He didn’t…drown, did he?”

  “I don’t know. He made it outta the river, but I don’t know where he’s at. I couldn’t keep an eye on him while I was tryin’ to pull you out. Lemme see how bad you’re hit.”

  “Don’t…worry about me…right now. You’d better…make certain whoever plugged me…ain’t still hidin’ in the rocks somewhere, with a gun trained on our backs. And try’n find Pete.”

  “Not until I’m sure you’re okay,” Jonas insisted.

  “I’m all right. I’m startin’ to get my air back,” Will answered. “I need to know if Pete’s safe. If you find him, there’s bandages and salve in my saddlebags.”

  “Okay, but I hate leavin’ you here,” Jonas answered.

  “Don’t worry about me. Just find Pete. I have a sick feelin’ the hombre who was shootin’ at us wanted to steal our horses. Lucky for you I was in front, or that bullet would’ve had your name on it. Get goin’, Jonas.”

  “I’m on my way. Be back in a few minutes. But what if I can’t find Pete?”

  “If you can’t, and there’s tracks, you trail him until you find the son of a bitch that stole him. Pete won’t be able to go too fast or far, not after crossin’ that flood.”

  “What do I do with the hombre when I catch up with him?”

  “Plug him, if you have to,” Will answered. “I don’t care how. Nail him in the back, or from the front, whatever you need to do to stop him. Don’t try’n get him to surrender, neither. Any man who’d shoot someone from ambush, then steal his horse, ain’t gonna give himself up. Just don’t let him get the drop on you. If that means shootin’ him in the back, so be it.”

  “Understood.”

  Jonas caught up Rebel, mounted, and headed up the old stage road they were following. Once he was out of sight, Will closed his eyes and passed out. The next thing he was aware of was Jonas calling his name. He struggled to sit up.

  “I’m right where you left me!” he yelled back. Once his vision came into focus, he could see Jonas approaching. Pete was trailing along behind him.

  “I can see that,” Jonas said, once he reached Will. He attempted a grin, but it came out as more of a flinch. He was clearly shaken. He nearly fell getting out of his saddle. “I found your horse, and I’ve already got the stuff from your saddlebags. Found a small bottle of whiskey in ’em, too. I figure you’ll need that.”

  “What’s wrong?” Will asked. “I can see you found Pete, but you look worse than I must…and I’m the one who caught a bullet.”

  “Yeah, I sure enough found your horse, a little way up the road,” Jonas answered. “I also found the hombre who was shootin’ at us, or more like what was left of him.”

  “Where?”

  “Just beyond that mesquite thicket yonder,” Jonas said. “He must’ve tried to ride your horse, but riled him somehow. Appears to me Pete threw him, then trampled him to death. There’s hardly enough of whoever he was left for the buzzards. His head’s all bashed in, his ribs are caved in, and his neck’s busted. Just thinkin’ about it has my stomach churnin’ again.”

  “I should’ve warned you that you might find somethin’ like that,” Will said. “Pete’s a good horse, and usually pretty gentle, but he doesn’t take to rough handlin’. It’s happened before with Pete. An hombre stealin’ a horse is usually in a mighty big hurry, and doesn’t much care how he treats the animal. Pete just won’t tolerate bein’ treated mean. Ain’t that right, boy?” he said to Pete, who had wandered up to nuzzle Will’s cheek.

  “My guess is, the bastard who tried to kill me and take my horse must’ve lost his tryin’ to cross the river. He waited to drygulch the first persons who came along, which just happened to be us. When he tried to ride my horse, Pete bucked him off, then stomped him. I reckon that son of a bitch won’t ever try’n steal another horse.”

  “Not on this side of Hell, anyway,” Jonas answered. “Will, you look like you’re gettin’ a bad chill. You’d better peel off those wet duds. I’ll gather some driftwood and build a fire. Then I’ve gotta try and stop that bleedin’. You gonna be able to get outta your clothes?”

  Will had started shivering, and his teeth were chattering.

  “I’ll…I’ll manage.” He winced when he tried to lift his gunbelt over his head, and pain shot through his ribs. “Just gimme a hand gettin’ this…damn gunbelt off, that’s all. And while…you’re gatherin’…that firewood, see if you can find my rifle…and hat. I must’ve lost ’em when that hombre…plugged me. Sure hope they didn’t fall into the river.”

  “I’ll take a quick look for ’em, but right now, I think it’s more important to take care of that bullet hole in your side,” Jonas answered. He pulled the gunbelt off Will’s shoulders and placed it alongside him. “The river’s piled up plenty of wood. I’ll only be a couple of minutes. You take it easy until I get back.”

  Will muttered something under his breath.

  “Did you say somethin’, Will?”

  “Yeah. I said ain’t no greenhorn kid gonna order me around.”

  “Suit yourself, but if you don’t let this ‘greenhorn kid’ take care of you, you just might bleed to death, Ranger,” Jonas snapped. He turned his back on Will and stalked off.

  “Damn son of a bitch of a snot-nosed boy,” Will muttered. Nonetheless, he had enough presence of mind to realize Jonas was right. He was indeed chilled from his near-drowning in the Pecos, and was beginning to feel light-headed. While he waited for Jonas to return, he pulled off his soaked clothes, then laid back in the sun. He instantly fell asleep.

  Will was awakened by Jonas shaking his shoulder. He felt much warmer than when he had drifted off. He could smell burning wood.

  “Will, you still with me?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am,” Will said.

  “That’s good. When I came back and saw you lyin’ there, I was afraid you’d bled out. I’ve got a fire goin’. It should warm you up pretty quick. And I did find your rifle and hat. They’re over by the horses. Now, it’s more’n high time for you to get patched up.”

  Will shook his head, and gave Jonas a dubious look.

  “You gonna be able to handle that? Without gettin’ sick, I mean?”

  “It ain’t gonna be any worse’n castratin
’ a calf, or doctorin’ a sick horse,” Jonas answered. “Yeah, I got sick after shootin’ Kyle, but he was my kin. As far as the bushwhacker, I’d never seen a man torn up so much. I’ll be able to fix you up okay. Now shut up and lemme take a look at you.”

  Jonas performed a quick examination of Will’s wound. The ambusher’s bullet had torn a long gash in Will’s right side, down low along his ribs.

  “Seems like you got lucky,” he said. “The slug ain’t in you. Another inch or so to the left and it would’ve buried itself in your belly. All that needs to be done is clean it out and bandage you up. Won’t take all that long.” Jonas glanced at the scar along Will’s right cheek, and another puckered and faded bullet scar high on the left side of Will’s chest. “I can see you’ve taken a bullet or two before, so I imagine you know this is gonna hurt.”

  “Not as much as your jabberin’, instead of gettin’ at it,” Will answered, grinning.

  “All right. I get what you’re sayin’,” Jonas answered. “It wouldn’t hurt to stitch that wound up, and I saw you have heavy thread and a good-sized needle in your saddlebag, but they’re dirty from bein’ dunked in the river. I could douse ’em with some whiskey, or I could just clean out the wound, then dress and bandage it. If it starts bleedin’ again later, then I’ll have to stitch it. Up to you.”

  “I’d rather take a chance on just bandagin’ it for now,” Will said.

  “That would’ve been what I’d done, if I were in your place,” Jonas said. “I’ll pour some of your whiskey over it, then coat it with the ointment and bandage you up. The bandages you had were soaked, too, but the fire’s dryin’ ’em out right quick, along with your clothes. You want a slug of whiskey before I start?”

  “That’s not a bad idea. Take one for yourself, too.”

  “I reckon I will.”

  Jonas uncorked the bottle and held it to Will’s lips. After Will took a good-sized swallow, Jonas took one for himself, then poured a large splash of the fiery liquid over Will’s side. Will winced at the sting.

  “You doin’ okay?” Jonas asked.

  “About as good as a man who’s been plugged and half-drowned can be,” Will answered.

  “Good. I’ll bandage you up, then start boilin’ some coffee,” Jonas said. “Good thing you had that and the bacon wrapped in oilcloth. And it’s a lucky thing the waterhole was on the other side of the river, too, so our canteens are full.”

  “Some coffee does sound good,” Will said.

  Jonas finished treating Will’s wound, then got the coffeepot, two tin mugs, and the coffee from Will’s saddlebags.

  “You just take it easy, Will,” he said. “By the time the coffee’s done, your clothes should be dry enough so you can get dressed, long as the chills are gone.”

  “They are,” Will answered. “I need to get those duds back on, anyway. I'm startin’ to fry under this sun, and I think I’m startin’ to get burned in places a man should never get burned.”

  Jonas winced, then burst into laughter. Will glared at him.

  “It ain’t funny, kid,” Will grumbled.

  “I—I’m sorry, Will,” Jonas said, once his laughter had subsided. “It just struck me as funny, that’s all.”

  “If you think it’s so funny, why don’t you undress and see how it feels?” Will retorted.

  “Me? Not a chance!” Jonas answered. “I’ll get your clothes.”

  ****

  A short while later, they were sitting alongside the fire drinking hot coffee and munching on a few pieces of hardtack that had been inside the oilskin, so were still edible.

  “As soon as we’re finished eatin’, we’re gonna be on our way again, Jonas,” Will said.

  “Are you certain, Will? You gonna be able to ride?”

  “I’ve ridden in worse shape than this,” Will answered. “We need to keep movin’, since my instructions are to be in Austin as quick as I can. Besides, I don’t know about you, but I don’t hanker to spend the night here, with those horse skulls grinnin’ down at us and the bushwhacker’s body just over yonder.”

  “I’m sure glad to hear you say that.” Jonas paused, and shuddered a bit. “I wasn’t lookin’ forward to spendin’ a night here, either. Just the thought gives me the willies. Speakin’ of that bushwhacker, just what are we gonna do with him?”

  “There’s nothin’ we can do,” Will said. He shrugged. “We ain’t got a horse to tie him to, and we ain’t got a shovel dig a grave and bury him. You say there ain’t much left of him, right?”

  “Not enough to tell who he was, that’s for certain.”

  “Then before we ride out, I’ll check his pockets to see if he might’ve carried somethin’ that tells us who he was, but I doubt it,” Will said. “After that, you can pile some rocks over him, or drag him to the river, dump him in, and let the Pecos have him. Personally, I’d leave him for the buzzards. Any son of a bitch who’d shoot a man from hidin’, then try’n steal his horse, don’t deserve more’n that, anyway.”

  “I sure ain’t that worried about him,” Jonas said. “And I don’t much feel like seein’ that corpse again. As long as you don’t mind, I’ll wait here for you, while you check it.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Will said. “And I have to apologize to you, for snappin’ at you when you were tryin’ to help me. I reckon I was half out of my head, between gettin’ shot, then fightin’ the river.”

  “Por nada,” Jonas said. “Don’t mention it. You’ve done a lot more for me.”

  “Still, I’m obliged,” Will said. “You’re beginnin’ to make a habit out of savin’ my sorry hide, kid. Keep this up and I may want to keep you as a pardner, permanent like.”

  “I could learn a lot from you, that’s for sure,” Jonas answered. “There’s an awful lot I don’t know about bein’ a lawman. Matter of fact, I don’t know anythin’ about bein’ a lawman.”

  “With all the renegades in Texas, you’ll learn real fast.”

  “I reckon. Will, I’ll clean up while you check the body, if that’s okay. I’ll have everythin’ ready to put back in your saddlebags soon as you get back.”

  “That sounds like a plan. I’ll get Pete, ride over there, then come back for you.”

  ****

  It took Will only a few minutes to check the dead man’s clothes. As he suspected, the bushwhacker carried no identification, or if he had, it had been destroyed when he’d apparently lost his horse while crossing the Pecos, and had to swim for his life. There were a few yellowbacks in his hip pocket, stuck together and faded from being soaked in the river, and nothing else. Will headed back to where Jonas was waiting, already mounted.

  “Well?” he said.

  “Like I figured, he didn’t have anythin’ on him. I don’t imagine anyone’ll be wonderin’ what happened to him, either. You ready to ride?”

  “Yeah,” Jonas said. “I put your gear in my saddlebags for now. Figured you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Not since we’re ridin’ together, anyway,” Will said. “Let’s head for Austin.”

  He heeled Pete into a walk. Once the horses were warmed up, he’d pick up the pace to a mile-eating lope.

  6

  Except for the Texas summer heat and dust, the rest of Will and Jonas’s journey to Austin was uneventful. They reached the capital city about four in the afternoon. Will detoured a bit, to take Jonas to the seven hundred seventy-five foot high summit of Mount Bonnell, which overlooked the city and the Colorado River flowing through it.

  “There she is, Jonas, Austin. We’ll be at Headquarters within half an hour. What do you think of her?”

  “It’s the biggest damn place I’ve ever seen, Will,” Jonas answered. “Sure hope we get to look around a little.”

  “We might, but I wouldn’t count on it,” Will answered. “If Cap’n Hunter wanted me back in a hurry, that means he’s got somethin’ planned. We’ll most likely be ridin’ back out again, either tomorrow or the next day, at the latest. No point in waitin’ to find out. Let�
��s go.”

  He lifted Pete’s reins, backed him away from the summit’s overlook, and led Jonas back down the mountain. A short while later, they were in the heart of the city.

  “Boy howdy, it sure is crowded,” Jonas said, as they weaved their way around scores of pedestrians, riders, carriages, and heavy freight wagons. Everyone seemed to be in a rush.

  “It’s a busy city, that’s for certain,” Will said. “The streets are usually bustlin’ until late at night. We’ll be turnin’ left at the next corner. Headquarters is a few blocks up Congress Avenue. You worried?”

  “I’d be lyin’ if I said I wasn’t.”

  “I wouldn’t fret too much. Cap’n Hudson’s a good man. Just about any Ranger in the outfit would ride to Hell and back for him. He’ll listen to your story, and give you a fair shake.”

  “But what if he won’t sign me on?”

  “Try not to think about that. And try not to show him you’re nervous. You don’t want him to think you don’t have the guts to be a Ranger before he gets to know a bit about you, do you?”

  “No, sir.” Jonas shook his head.

  They had turned the corner onto Congress Avenue.

  “Then try’n keep calm. That’s Headquarters up ahead. We’ll be there in a minute.”

  Shortly, Will and Jonas had tied their horses to a much-chewed hitchrail in front of Texas Ranger Headquarters, and were walking down a long, paint chipped corridor.

  “Cap’n Hunter’s office is just ahead, Jonas,” Will said.

  “I reckoned there’d be more people about,” Jonas answered.

  “Not very often. Most of the men are out in the field, and this late in the afternoon, most of the clerks have left. Cap’n Hunter’ll still be here, though. His wife died a few years ago, and his kids are grown and gone. Since Emily passed, he spends most of his time here. He’s even got a bunk in the barracks.”

  A thick haze of marked the doorway of Captain Hunter’s office.

  “Looks like the place is on fire!” Jonas exclaimed.

  “Nah, it ain’t,” Will answered. “I forgot to mention that’s the one thing about the cap’n most of us don’t like. He’s got a real fondness for cheap Mexican cigars. He’s always puffin’ on one. If you can get out of our meetin’ without gaggin’ or chokin’, that’ll prove right there you’ve got the stuff to be a Ranger. Let’s go on in.”