The Valeron Code

by Terrell Bowers

  ‘Wendy is in Denver, shopping with her mother and Aunt Gwen,’ Wyatt pointed out. ‘And my mother has too many chores with them gone to worry about Nessy.’

  ‘That still leaves Tish,’ Cliff said.

  Jared snickered at the notion. ‘Tish doesn’t do anyone any favours, if there isn’t something in it for her. You’d have a better chance trading a blind horse to Shane.’

  ‘Yeah, but—’

  ‘I’ll go in Cliff’s place,’ a bass voice spoke up from a short way off. As the men turned to see the speaker, Landau Queen approached the group. He had been close by, harnessing a horse to a carriage for Scarlet Valeron, who was going to town to pick up the weekly groceries with her younger sister. ‘I’m a fair hand in a fight,’ he stated, ‘and I owe you folks a debt.’

  Locke’s features modulated when he faced the man. ‘You protected and looked after Scarlet when she was kidnapped, son. You’ve nothing to prove.’

  ‘Kilt the man who took her!’ Jared supported his father’s comment. Then with a wry grin, ‘Beat me to it. Guess you do owe me something for that.’

  ‘I was riding with the men who took your daughter . . . all the way to Brimstone.’ Landau shook his head. ‘I should have never let that happen.’

  ‘No one would expect a lone man to stand up to five ruthless outlaws,’ Wyatt allowed. ‘You did what you could to ensure her safety. That’s why you’re now working for us.’

  Landau didn’t back down. ‘All the same, I’d be right proud to ride with the boys.’

  Jared chuckled. ‘You don’t fool me. You figure to win us over so you can court my sister with our blessing.’

  The man didn’t argue; he simply smiled.

  ‘All right,’ Locke made the decision. ‘The three of you grab your gear and head for Deliverance. If you need help, you only have to send word. Reese can get a dozen men and even toss his Gatling gun in a wagon if need be.’

  ‘I still ought to be going,’ Cliff grumbled.

  ‘You can’t go without taking Nessy, and we don’t want her being in danger,’ Wyatt argued. ‘No one much cares if you get yourself shot up or killed, but that little girl deserves a chance at a real life.’

  Cliff shook his head and grumbled. ‘Don’t know why I ever come here. All I get for my efforts is picked on and treated like a stray dog.’

  ‘A stray dog we put up with,’ Jared quipped, ‘so long as you keep Nessy happy.’

  He harrumphed. ‘Having a way with females – it sure come round to bite me on the rump!’

  Mason fought to break surface through the black void. Finally, he forced a crack in one eyelid and reached full consciousness. He discovered he was lying in bed, with a feather pillow under his head. Sunlight shone through a single window, adorned with pink curtains, trimmed with white lace. Obviously, this was not a man’s bedroom.

  ‘Are you back with us?’ a soft voice asked at his side.

  Mason lacked the strength to turn his head. He searched for enough moisture to form a word. ‘W-water?’

  After a moment and some shuffling of feet, Lynette’s face appeared above him. Her hand slid under the back of his neck and she lifted his head forward. The tipped cup of water pressed against his lips and he was able to slake the dryness in his throat. She pulled the cup away once he’d finished drinking and appeared to study him with a critical eye.

  ‘Julia didn’t think you’d wake up today. She spent a full thirty minutes removing that bullet from your back.’

  ‘I don’t remember much of anything.’

  ‘How about your battle with Scraps?’

  ‘Yeah, I recall tossing him in the cell with the ex-mayor.’

  ‘Well, you were making a round through town about dark and someone shot you from behind. No one saw who pulled the trigger, but it looked as if you might die from the wound.’

  ‘You predicted I’d get myself shot.’

  ‘Julia was afraid the gunman would come to finish the job if you stayed at her place. Richard helped us carry you up to my apartment after she removed the bullet. She told everyone you had died and even had the carpenter fashion a coffin. Richard added to the ruse by hiring a couple of men to dig a grave.’

  ‘Hope you don’t expect me to climb in a box and get buried alive.’

  ‘No, we are going to put a couple sacks of grain in the casket and have the funeral this afternoon. That way, no one will be looking for you.’

  Mason sighed. ‘Greenhorn mistake, allowing someone to shoot me.’ He added: ‘Bigger mistake, them not getting the job done.’

  ‘Julia sent a wire to your relatives – the Valerons.’

  ‘Reckon I’ll have some help right sudden. That side of the family takes it real personal when someone tries to kill one of their kin.’

  ‘Do you think you could eat something?’

  ‘Don’t want to put you to any trouble, Miss Brooks.’

  She clicked her tongue. ‘What kind of thing is that to say! You get yourself shot while trying to protect my newspaper and make this a decent town to live in, and I’m not supposed to take care of you?’

  Mason swallowed hard. ‘I . . . well, I’ve never been looked after by a proper lady. I don’t know the rules.’

  ‘Regardless of the situation, the rules are always the same, Mr Mason. When a woman offers her service, you either chose to graciously accept – or find yourself in a world of trouble if you decline!’

  He managed a crooked grin at the impassioned words. ‘Seems the wiser choice to accept.’

  ‘Wiser in all sorts of ways,’ she concurred bluntly.

  Before she could exit the room, he asked: ‘Them there situations? Does that encompass everything?’

  ‘Everything?’

  ‘I’m a might curious . . . about romance?’ he wondered aloud. ‘Do the same set of rules hold true for that too?’

  ‘It’s a trifle early in our relationship to ask such a question,’ she reciprocated.

  ‘Well, I’m already in your bedroom. That ought to count for something.’

  Lynette used a scolding tone of voice to reply. ‘I see you were telling the truth, claiming to have never been looked after by a proper lady.’

  ‘Right. My mistake,’ he apologized. ‘I’m beholding to you for seeing to my care.’

  ‘Besides,’ her voice muted slightly, ‘I told you before, I haven’t been courted in some time. As for actual love, I believe that is a luxury many people can never afford. There are too many needs to be met in life, goals to be achieved.’

  ‘Pardon my saying so, Miss Brooks, but I never thought of courtship as a duty or chore.’

  ‘Then why don’t you have yourself a wife and children?’

  Mason gave her a serious look. ‘Reckon it’s because I never met up with a woman like you.’

  ‘Me?’ She appeared both flushed and uncertain over his statement.

  ‘I’ve been a drifter all my life, never willing to put down roots. It’s like I was searching for something with no idea of what it was. You know what I mean?’

  Lynette appeared to think before answering. When she did, it was a whisper, and there was a distant look in her eyes. ‘I believe I do.’

  ‘You’re right about my life,’ Mason admitted. ‘I’ve done a lot of fighting and helped folks whenever I could, but I’ve never belonged to anything or anyone. Since I met you, I’ve had a yearning deep inside, kind of like there’s an empty spot in my heart where there ought to be something more.’

  ‘I think the empty spot is in your head.’

  He managed a chuckle at her spunk. ‘Reckon you’re right.’

  For a brief moment, Lynette stared directly into his eyes. The scrutiny was intense and probing. Just as quickly, she averted her gaze and backed up a step.

  ‘I’ll fix you something to eat,’ she told him abruptly. Then she was gone.

  Mason groaned inwardly and reprimanded himself. Way to go, you slick talkin’ devil. Scared her off with one invasive question!

  De
aler and Rutherford were both smouldering with ire. It was Rutherford who spoke first.

  ‘I can’t believe you shot him in the back!’ He swore vehemently. ‘You were supposed to take him on face-to-face.’

  Baron Kent lifted his shoulders in a careless shrug. ‘Makes no difference if I killed him in a street fight or gunned him down from behind. The man is done and gone. I found the keys at the jail and let everyone out of their cells this morning. Everything’s back to normal.’

  ‘Normal?!’ Dealer exploded. ‘A fair gunfight would have ended it. Shooting the man in the back is going to cause talk and bad blood around town. Not to mention what Lynette will write in the newspaper. What if someone sends for a US Marshal?’

  Baron waved a dismissive hand. ‘Who has the sand to risk doing something like that?’

  ‘The new mayor for one!’

  ‘Julia ain’t the mayor no more. Mike is back in charge, and his two mutts will keep the people in line. If he needs help, I’ll lend a hand.’

  Rutherford, still fuming, took Dealer’s side. ‘You told us you could take Mason. The man’s hands were probably busted up from his battle with Scraps. He would have been lucky to get his gun free of the holster.’

  ‘The guy wore gloves,’ Baron debated. ‘As for Scraps, he didn’t even hit him. Not once!’

  Dealer spat his contempt, the brown liquid from his chaw making a splatter on the floor. It was to make a point, but it prompted a sharp response from Rutherford.

  ‘We got a spittoon in here for a reason. Quit soiling the floor!’

  ‘I’m disgusted, Rudy,’ he excused his action. He quickly said: ‘I didn’t mean to call you by that name, Harve, but I’m fed up with our handling of one lone man. Scraps has bragged endlessly about how he could whup a grizzly with his bare hands. Then he goes out and gets his ears beaten down by a troublesome do-gooder. Next thing, our high-priced top gun sneaks around in the dark like a yellow coyote and back-shoots the man.’

  ‘I never seen anyone hit with the power of that jasper,’ Baron remained defensive. ‘I mean, you could hear the bones crack when he made contact. Scraps didn’t have a prayer against him. The poor devil can’t open his mouth more’n a inch or so. Julia said his ribs are cracked and he has a fractured jaw.’

  ‘So that’s it!’ Dealer taunted the gunman. ‘You were afraid Mason was as good with a gun as he was with his fists.’

  Baron glared at him. ‘I wasn’t about to find out. I took the surest route to get the job done!’

  ‘And maybe turned the whole valley against us,’ Rutherford growled. ‘If you didn’t have the guts to face him head-on, you should have hired a couple men to brace him on the street. No one would put up a fuss if the guy died while trying to match guns with two or three men.’

  ‘It’s over. Finished!’ Baron practically snarled back at them. ‘You never questioned how I handled the bank owner!’

  ‘No one knows old man Walters didn’t take the buyout offer,’ Dealer countered. ‘Everyone believed he took the money Harve offered him and left town like a whipped pup. This is different. You killed a man right on the main street of town, a man who was acting sheriff.’

  ‘You two pay me to take care of problems, Dealer. I took care of it!’

  Rutherford raised a hand to prevent further arguing. ‘We can’t undo the damage, but we’re going to have to be on alert. Someone might contact the US Marshal’s office about the shooting. Plus, we’ve got a circuit judge headed this way. We have to deal with him too.’

  ‘There’s nobody to make any charges against us,’ Baron proclaimed smugly. ‘With Mason dead, that should be the end of it.’

  ‘Unless your feisty editor decides to testify,’ Rutherford told Dealer pointedly. ‘She never believed Walters took the money and left.’

  ‘I’ll convince her to keep her mouth shut,’ Dealer promised. ‘She isn’t going to risk having her brother busted up or killed. I’ll use him for leverage.’

  ‘We’ll leave that to you then,’ Rutherford allowed. ‘Baron, you stay shed of any trouble. I don’t want any more dead bodies to deal with.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah,’ he muttered insolently. ‘I’ll be around when you need me.’

  ‘All right,’ Rutherford ended the meeting. ‘Don’t let on to anyone that you did the shooting.’

  Baron snorted: ‘You think I’m that stupid?’

  ‘I, for one, never underestimate your God-given talents,’ Dealer sallied.

  The insult caused Baron to glare at the saloon owner, but he held his tongue and left.

  Dealer waited until he was gone to shake his head. ‘I always knew that man was more skim milk than cream. This puts us in a hell of a bad light.’

  Rutherford shrugged. ‘We took over the town without much of a fuss when we first arrived. No one knows we are the Renegades from down Texas way. Besides which, Colorado officials aren’t going to care much about warrants from Texas. I had hoped we could take control without any killing, but the banker wouldn’t sell.’

  ‘Had better luck with the saloon owner,’ Dealer said. ‘Baron did scare him off without a fight. He took the money I offered and ran like a scalded cat.’

  ‘We’ve got a good setup here. Lots of travellers, main stage route, and even the possibility of a railroad spur coming this way. If that happens we’ll be rich beyond our dreams.’

  His partner grinned. ‘I have some pretty fine dreams. Plus, Lafferty and Scraps still work for wages.’ Then with a sullen expression: ‘And, the day will come when we won’t need Baron to stick around.’

  ‘First things first. I know you’re hot for the woman editor, but this situation is more important than you making another conquest. We have to make sure there is nothing for the circuit judge to do when he arrives.’

  Dealer spat again – hitting the spittoon this time. ‘Don’t worry, Harve. Everything will be taken care of.’

  ‘There she is!’ Wyatt said, pausing at the top of the hill. ‘Deliverance.’

  ‘Whoa!’ Jared exclaimed, his voice hinged with excitement. ‘Looky over there!’ He pointed at a ten-foot tall cedar a hundred feet away. ‘There’s a perfect branch for a hanging. Dad-gum, I’ve been watching for the last five miles and seen nary a tree that’s built for a noose.’

  ‘If I remember right,’ Landau quipped dryly, ‘you didn’t have any trouble hanging those three kidnappers outside of Brimstone.’

  Jared grinned. ‘I allowed them boys to ask the Lord for forgiveness, but they took to cussing me instead. “Blessed be the Peacemaker”,’ he quoted from the Bible.

  ‘Peacemaker?’ Landau questioned his use of the word. ‘You talking about the gun on your hip?’

  ‘No, sir!’ Jared cracked. ‘I gave each one a chance to make peace with the Maker before I sent them packin’ to Hades.’

  ‘Well, Cousin,’ Wyatt said, ‘I hate to ruin your day, but that tree limb yonder isn’t more than six feet off of the ground. You try stretching someone’s neck, he only has to stand on his toes to keep the noose from tightening.’

  Jared frowned. ‘Well, I reckon we could slip a rope around their ankles and cinch their feet up behind them to their belts.’

  ‘You’re one cold fish,’ Landau complained. ‘It’d be like hanging a man while he was on his knees.’

  ‘If I get holt of the guy who shot Rod in the back, I’ll sure ’nuff hang him . . . even if I have to do it from the rafters at the livery stable!’

  Wyatt waved a hand to dismiss the subject. ‘Let’s not gather the eggs before we have any chickens. We have to find out who tried to kill him first.’

  ‘Pretty fair-sized town,’ Landau pointed out. ‘Take a gander at the two-storey casino – ’pears about as large as the Valeron barn.’

  Jared agreed. ‘Wide main street for the businesses and houses for two blocks on either side. This town was laid out with a plan for growth.’

  ‘What say, Wyatt?’ Landau asked. ‘How do we play this?’

  The more experienced Vale
ron gave his head a shake. ‘We best take time to figure out what we’re up against. We’ll slip over to see Mayor Wright, then visit cousin Mason. You keep a low profile; circle around and come in from the other end of town.’

  Landau posited, ‘I get it. You might need someone to cover your backs, once the people in town know who you are.’

  ‘Yeah. You can pretend to be an out-of-work cowpoke or whatever. Be sure to stay close enough to be around if there’s trouble.’

  Landau nodded his understanding and turned his horse in the direction of the nearby hills. He began the ride that would allow him to approach Deliverance from the opposite end of town.

  Wyatt led the way down to the main street with Jared at his side. Halfway through the busy settlement, they spotted the doctor’s shingle and neck-reined their mounts toward his house.

  ‘First time I can recall a town medico being mayor,’ Wyatt remarked. ‘Most of them don’t have time for politics.’

  Before they reached the hitch-rail, a ruckus drew their attention a short way down the street. A woman was shouting loudly at a couple of grungy looking fellows. ‘Something’s happening at the newspaper office,’ Jared said. ‘Didn’t that wire say Mason was helping the town editor?’

  ‘It did. Let’s have a look.’

  Wyatt and Jared headed their horses that direction and quickly rode over to see what was going on. As they stopped at the front of the building, one of the two men forcibly grabbed a young woman by her arms.

  ‘We’re gonna go look-see upstairs and help you pack, Missy!’ He snarled the words at her. ‘If you want to stay in one piece, you’ll not get in our way!’

  ‘You can’t storm in here like a couple of vandals!’ she cried, struggling against his superior strength. ‘Get out!’

  The brute wrestled her aside. ‘We warned you about interfering before. This time you might end up riding that rail we promised.’

  At that moment Wyatt came up behind the two men. He spotted a fancy dressed man sprawled out on the floor, looking dazed, and bleeding from the nose.

  ‘Hold it!’ he ordered, drawing his gun. ‘What’s the trouble here?’