“I just might do that.”
Luke’s sharp eyes landed on his brother’s face and could see Dax had made his decision. He couldn’t speak through the relief coursing through him. Instead, he clasped Dax on the shoulder and squeezed, letting the gesture convey how much the decision meant to him.
“The Territory Range includes long narrow valleys, caves, and hundreds of deer trials. Truth is, a man, or group of men, could get lost in there for a long time if they have enough food and water.” Hank scratched the stubble on his face and thought of places the Mayes gang could hide and still have easy access to the ranch.
Dax, Luke, Cash, Hank, Bull, and Ellis sat on the porch after supper, keeping watch and hoping trouble didn’t come at them tonight. A shooter could hide a hundred yards out and still have a good chance of getting either of the brothers.
“If you ask me, I think you two should stay out of sight and let the rest of us look for them. No sense in making yourselves targets.” Bull didn’t like waiting around for someone to take pot shots at either of his bosses. He preferred action to sitting.
“You mean hide?” Luke shook his head, indicating his disgust at the suggestion.
Cash snorted at the incredulous look on his friend’s face.
“Better than getting shot.” Bull didn’t back down. They’d be in a real fix if the outlaws got what they came after.
“There’ll be no hiding.” Dax’s firm response left no further argument. “We need to figure out how they’re getting information and follow them. Someone on this ranch knows where their camp is located.”
“Agreed. But who?” Hank sat back in the rocker, considering which of the men might betray the rest of them. “We have five new men from Idaho, plus the two others who rode in earlier this week. We don’t know much about any of them.”
“It’s not Tat or Johnny. They’ve been laid up and couldn’t have warned the gang we had learned of their camp. That narrows it down to three from Idaho and the two newest hires.” Dax raked a hand over his face and looked at Ellis. “Do you remember if any of the five were with the herd the night we learned of the Mayes camp?”
“Well, let’s see.” He looked toward the bunkhouse, trying to recall how the men had been placed. He looked at Bull. “You recall after Joe rode the new mustang we all went into the barn. Bob and Ted were with us, right?”
“They were.”
“I believe everyone else had stayed with the herd. The only men at the ranch were me, Bull, Joe, Bob, Ted and, of course, Tat and Johnny.” Ellis looked once more at Bull.
“Ted and Bob took off, saying something about going to the creek.”
“Wildfire Creek?” Luke asked, knowing it meandered around the main ranch property.
“That’s my guess,” Bull answered. “The closest spot is half a mile away. I don’t recall seeing Ted again, although Bob wandered in a couple hours later.”
“I don’t like it.” The hairs on the back of Cash’s neck bristled as he connected some missing pieces. “Ah, hell. I should’ve thought of this earlier. I sent a telegram to Austin, asking for the names of the cousins. The response said their names are Clark, Bill, and Jed Olin.”
Dax’s eyes widened. “You’re thinking Bob and Ted are actually Bill and Jed Olin?”
“I do.”
Bill crouched low, hidden behind a bush around the corner of the house and out of sight of the men talking in quiet tones on the porch. Even though they kept their voices low, he could make out most of what they said. The last sent a chill through him. They were out of time. Bill turned and moved in rapid steps into the darkness of the trees, skirting behind the foreman’s house Hank and Bernice shared, quietly entering the bunkhouse.
He signaled to Jed—a quick nod, the one they’d prearranged if they were discovered. Jed grabbed his gun belt and, leaving his other belongings behind, followed Bill outside. They slipped into the barn from the back, grabbed their saddles and tack, and entered the corral.
“Did you hear that?” Cash asked as he stood and started down the porch steps.
Dax and Luke followed, while Bull and Ellis ran to the large corral on the opposite side of the barn. Someone or something was disturbing the horses. The sounds came again, this time louder.
Cash reached the corral as the gate burst open and two riders shot through the opening, staying low in their saddles. Jed and Bill pulled their guns and fired behind them, taking no time to aim. They rode in the opposite direction of the camp, toward where their brother and cousins waited.
Dax and the others ducked, drawing their guns and firing at the retreating riders. Several bullets buzzed past the Olin brothers, missing by inches.
Dax’s bullet found its mark.
Jed heard Bill groan. He looked behind him to see his brother slump in his saddle before toppling to the ground. He didn’t stop, just kicked his horse harder and prayed his brother would be all right.
“One’s down.” Dax kept his gun pointed straight ahead and ran toward the man he’d shot, who writhed on the ground. He knelt beside Bob, seeing the man’s eyes begin to glaze over. He grabbed his shoulders and held him still. “Are you Bill Olin?”
Bill gritted his teeth and glared at Dax.
“Where is the camp?” Dax spoke louder and shook the man, trying to get anything he could from him before the opportunity was lost. Luke knelt next to them and glanced down at a wound no one could survive.
Bill’s eyes moved from one Pelletier to the other, hate radiating as his rage bored into each of them. At that moment, each knew what they faced. A family who’d do anything to avenge the death of their own, without conscience or remorse, eliminating anyone who got in their way.
“How is he?” Cash continued to watch the second man until he rounded a bend and rode out of sight. It appeared he’d made a sharp turn, heading west, away from town and toward the mountains.
“Dead.” Dax stood and stared down at the body of Bill Olin. “Now there are four.” He turned toward the house, his back straight and mind focused. He’d wasted enough time, waited long enough to resume the role into which he’d been born.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Thank you for coming all this way, Doc. I can’t tell you what it means to us.” Becky Kuhn held his hand in both of hers and squeezed. “You sure you won’t stay the night?”
“We’re grateful for the invitation. Regrettably, we need to reach the Frey ranch before sunset. I understand it’s about three hours north of here.” Charles set his satchel in the back of the wagon as Rachel climbed onto the seat.
“Take that road and stay on it until you reach a fork.” She pointed to a rutted wagon trail behind the house. “You can either go left, toward the west, or veer to the right. Take the right trail until you reach the creek and follow it to the Frey place.”
“Is it anywhere near the Pelletier property?” Charles asked.
“Well, I don’t believe I know the Pelletiers. The Frey property does share a common line with Pat Hanes’ ranch, though.”
“I guess you haven’t heard. Pat Hanes died in Texas. The new owners are Dax and Luke Pelletier, two Rangers who rode with Mr. Hanes. I’m sorry you didn’t know.”
Becky placed a hand over her mouth and Charles could see her eyes water. “Pat was such a good man. Fair and hard working. We need more people like him in the territory.” She brushed away a tear and stepped away from the wagon as Charles slapped the reins.
The morning had dawned clear and somewhat chilly for being so close to summer. It had taken two hours to reach the Kuhn ranch after staying the night with the Westons. Now, one more family and they’d be on their way back to Splendor.
Rachel kept glancing behind them, wondering if anything in Splendor had changed since they left. She reminded herself they’d only been gone two days. What could happen in such a short period of time?
They stopped after a couple of hours to stretch and let Old Pete rest. Rachel unhitched him and led him to the creek, while her uncle took a bri
ef walk. They expected to arrive at the Frey ranch within another hour.
She stood next to her horse and watched the water bubble up as it carved a path through the trees. Mrs. Petermann told her the creeks and rivers would run high for a few months, then level off by the end of summer. Timmy offered to take her fishing with him, saying he’d show her all the best spots. Rachel had never held a fishing pole, and had only seen fish spread out at the Boston docks and at the neighborhood fish market. She still had so much to experience in this new land and felt excitement ripple through her as she thought of everything she had yet to see.
“Rachel, are you about ready?”
“Coming.” She tugged on Old Pete’s halter and, within minutes, had him hitched to the wagon.
An hour later, they spotted the roofline of the Frey barn and the ranch house came into view several yards away. Of all the ranches they’d visited, this one had to be the most spectacular. Located at the eastern base of the Territory Range, the main house sat in a green valley with a large creek and hundreds of pines forming a semi-circle around the various buildings. According to her uncle, the Frey brothers, Frank and Hiram, owned one of the larger spreads in the region.
Charles reined Old Pete to a stop as two men emerged from the cavernous barn and waved. “Hey, Doc. Sure didn’t expect to see you out this way.”
“Sometimes I have to get away for a spell.” Charles climbed down and shook hands with both men.
“Frank, Hiram, this is my niece and nurse, Rachel Davenport. She traveled out from Boston a few months ago to help me at the clinic.”
Frank reached up to help her down. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Davenport.”
“How about something to drink?” Hiram asked and ushered them into the large, two-story house. “Pardon the mess, but it’s just us bachelors in this big place and we aren’t the best housekeepers.”
“Didn’t you have someone to help out?” Charles asked as they took seats in the dining room.
“We did, but she took off to be with her daughter’s family at Christmas. Sent us a telegram saying she decided to stay. It’s hard to get anyone to live this far out, especially with two cantankerous old men.” Frank placed glasses of water in front of their guests before pouring whiskeys for the three men. “Can I get you something else, Miss Davenport?”
Rachel glanced at the whiskey, remembering the time she shared a drink with Dax and realized she hadn’t thought of him all day. “No, water is fine, Mr. Frey.”
“So what brings you out this way?” Frank sipped at his whiskey, then chased it down with some water.
“Checking on the outlying ranches. We’ve been to see Ty Murton’s family, the Westons, the Kuhns, and now you two. How are you both doing?” Charles knew the answer before he asked the question. These two brothers were as tough as they came, both outlasting two wives.
“Fit as mules. A few of the men came down with some type of fever over the winter, but they all pulled through fine. Didn’t touch Frank or me. How are the other ranchers doing?”
“Good. A couple of the children caught something, but they’re doing fine now. Anybody else out this way I should stop and see?”
“Nope. We’re it, unless you want to travel a bit more north and east to Pat Hanes’ old place.” Frank poured each of the men another drink. “He was a good man.”
“I never had the opportunity to meet him. If you haven’t met them, the new owners are good people. You know they rode with Hanes as Texas Rangers?”
“We heard a couple brothers took over the place. Didn’t know they were Rangers with Pat. Reverend Paige and his wife visited a couple of weeks ago and told us what happened. Guess we should ride over and pay our respects.”
“How far is the Pelletier ranch from here?” Rachel asked, trying not to sound too interested.
“About two hours. The Westons and Kuhns live the farthest out. By the time you reach us, you’re only about three hours from Splendor. Seems long because the road is such a mess.” Frank set down his glass and stood. “Now, you two will have supper and stay with us tonight, right?”
“It’d be our pleasure.” Charles drained his glass, glad they were almost home.
“You left Bill behind?” Clark fumed at his younger brother, Jed, who’d ridden into camp late the night before after everyone else had turned in. Clark had woken early to see Jed’s horse, but not Bill’s.
“They figured out who we were. We tried to get away and almost made it, until a bullet got Bill in the back. He fell from his horse. If I’d gone back, they would’ve gotten me, too. What did you expect me to do?” Jed ran a hand through his hair, distress and guilt still haunting him at having to leave his brother behind. “There’s no chance he survived.” He collapsed onto a tree stump and rested his elbows on his knees, hands grasping his head.
Clark stalked over and grasped Jed’s shirt, yanking him up to within inches of his face. “You know what? You’re going back to make sure he’s not still alive. If he is, we get him out of there.” He let go of Jed with a forceful shove and took a deep breath, his initial rage turning to despair.
Duff and Whitey watched, knowing how their cousins felt. They’d felt the same anger and grief when the Rangers killed Deke.
“Jed can’t go back yet. We’ll need him here,” Duff said, trying to diffuse the tension.
Whitey walked toward Jed and offered him a hand up. His cousin had made the right decision to ride off without Bill. Even if he survived, Jed would’ve achieved nothing by surrendering.
Clark turned back to Jed. “Did they follow you?”
“No. I stopped a couple of times, but no one followed.”
“They will. There’s no chance the Rangers will let this one go.” Duff picked up his rifle. “We need to be ready for them.”
“What are you suggesting?” Whitey didn’t want to give up. The need for vengeance burned even stronger within him.
“Is that bounty hunter still with them?” Duff asked Jed.
“Yeah. His name’s Cash Coulter. From what I hear, he’s an excellent tracker.”
“Good. We’ll use that to our advantage.” He motioned for Whitey, Clark, and Jed to come close as he explained what he had in mind.
Dax, Luke, Cash, and Bull had waited at the ranch, while Joe rode into town to fetch Gabe. It hadn’t taken the sheriff and Noah long to join the group preparing to ride after the outlaws. Joe, Ellis, and a few other men stayed at the ranch in case the gang decided to come back. Gabe thought the chance remote, believing they’d try to ambush the makeshift posse on the trail.
“The tracks are so clear you’d almost believe they were trying to lead us somewhere.” Cash crouched down next to a group of horse tracks. They’d found the deserted camp an hour before and followed the trail south.
Dax crouched down next to Cash and studied the tracks. “Why do you say that?”
“What would you do if a group of men followed you? You’d do your best to hide your tracks by riding over rocks, or cutting in and out of the creek. Instead, there are four distinct sets of horse tracks heading in a clear direction.” Cash stood and looked further up the trail.
“Which way?” Dax asked.
“South.”
The trail meandered through low hills, continuing to head south, then west before connecting with the river, signaling the boarder of the neighbor’s property. Not once did Cash lose the tracks. He could sense something wasn’t right.
Luke rode to the front and reined Prince next to Cash and Dax. Gabe, Noah, and Bull stopped right behind him.
“This is the boundary between our land and the Frey brothers,” Luke said, indicating the river.
“Do you know anything about them?” Gabe asked.
“Just what Clausen at the bank told me. They’ve been in the territory a long time and both are widowers. They run a large herd each year and are well respected in Splendor.”
“Doesn’t sound like they’re the type of men to hide outlaws. Duff Mayes may be leading his
men around the hills until he finds a spot to cross over the Territory Range. He must know we’re after them. It would be a mistake on his part to stay in the area.” Gabe rested his hands on the saddle horn and scanned the horizon.
“We’re wasting time speculating. Let’s move.” Dax took off, anxious to find the men who were out to kill him and Luke. Gabe may have a point about them leaving the area—however, Dax’s gut told him otherwise. He didn’t believe they’d accept the death of their cousin without seeking vengeance. Their need for revenge would only increase because of the loss of another one of their own.
“I see three men near the barn talking.” Whitey sat perched on a rock overlooking the Frey ranch house.
“No one else?” Duff asked.
“Not that I can see from here.”
“Any guns?”
“One’s wearing a gun belt. I don’t see anything on the other two.” Whitey lowered his field glasses and jumped to the ground.
“Let’s spread out and get ready to ride. We’ll grab the three and hold them in the house until the Rangers show up.”
“What makes you think they’ll care one way or another about us holding a couple of hostages?” Clark asked.
“They’re still Rangers, aren’t they? There’s no chance they’ll let us kill a couple of their neighbors without doing whatever they can to save them. They’ll have no choice but to agree to do what we want.”
“The odds are they’ll have more men with them, like the sheriff and a couple of their ranch hands,” Jed said.
“It doesn’t matter. Once we have the Rangers, anyone they came with will have to let us ride out. If they balk, we’ll do something to make them listen.” Duff swung up on his horse. “Clark, I want you and Jed to ride around to the other side. Whitey and I will come in from here. Look for my signal.”
It didn’t take long for Clark and Jed to circle the ranch house. Duff and Whitey took a brush-covered path down a narrow slope and stopped as close as they could without being seen. The three men still stood by the barn. From his vantage point, Duff could see they were a little older than he’d first thought, but it didn’t mean they posed no threat. He looked up and waved a red bandanna to signal the time had come.
Redemption's Edge: Book 1, Redemption Mountain Historical Western Romance Page 26
