The Reluctant Bounty Hunter

by S G Read

  ‘How far are we going in Eugene?’ The foreman asked.

  ‘As far as I tell you to Victor, what is it like?’ Eugene answered.

  ‘So far it is the same all the way through, luckily there is enough sandstone to make is easy to lay charges. Why are you looking for something?’ Victor asked.

  ‘No, just interested in what it is like. I am documenting the dig to help me out in any future digs like this one.’ Eugene answered.

  ‘Some big lumps of rock we are moving, I am glad we don’t have to take them too far!’ Victor declared.

  Eugene smiled but said nothing about the blocking off of the cave with the loose rocks. Time enough for that later.

  Duncan moved away from town at first light and found somewhere to bed down. By now he needed some sleep. The town was stirring and Charlie was up and about. The coming night would be more of the same but at least Charlie would know that he was about.

  He woke and cooked some food before watching the sun as it fell below the horizon. He left the horse where it was with plenty of feed and moved into town. Tomorrow was Election Day and it was then Molly would make her move. Early on she would pass out leaflets to let the townsfolk know that their mayor had visited the cat house as a regular patron. A lot of the men would know that but when the wives found out they would be horrified and if the men did not act as horrified they might just get suspicious of their lack of reaction. They would be forced to vote for an alternative mayor and that was Charlie. The fact that Charlie had married the cat house owner was not a problem as the women saw her as no threat to their marriages now, as all her girls had been moved on. A vote for Charlie would seem acceptable as he had married Molly.

  He made his way through the cemetery slowly, to make sure he was not spotted and from there into town. He was not met by Crazy Dog and it worried him, so he made his way to Charlie’s house. He circled the town buildings to make sure he was not seen and then promptly found himself flat on his face. He looked back to what had tripped him to find it was Crazy Dog lying there. He crawled back, looking about in case he had been seen, to see if there was anything he could do. He felt a pulse but the Indian was out cold and Duncan feared the worst for Molly and Charlie. He used his knife to free the unconscious Crazy Dog’s tied hands and then moved on. He moved even slower now to make sure he was not spotted until he could see the back door of Charlie’s house. It was wide open. He drew his pistol and moved forward but something hard hit his head and he fell to the floor.

  Back at the tunnel they were making good progress. Eugene thought they were half way through now, with the front half well supported. He thought another week should see them into the valley and then they would be blocking up the cave entrance to make it into a store and making the tunnel permanent by bricking the interior.

  There were to be two sets of doors. One set out onto the plain would be set inside the tunnel so that they could not be lifted off their hinges while they were closed. Another set would be in the valley on the outside of the rock face to keep any intruders away from the hinges. With oak doors, possibly imported from England, the valley would be like a fortress, if they were under attack.

  In Charlie’s house Duncan opened his eyes. He was tied to a chair next to Charlie and Molly.

  ‘Good of you to join us Mr. Lee.’ The incumbent mayor declared. ‘You will be witness to Molly fulfilling her past role again so that I and the men with me can have some pleasure from her. Then she, you and the sheriff will meet an untimely end. Luckily we will catch and hang the Indian responsible for the crime on the very morning of the election, tomorrow.’

  ‘Don’t tell me, you have Crazy Dog lined up to take the blame for it.’ Duncan replied.

  ‘How astute Mr. Lee.’ The mayor retorted.

  ‘It is Marshal Lee Mayor and your days are numbered.’ Duncan replied. Now all he could hope for was that Crazy Dog would wake up and take action.

  ‘Empty words marshal. Now I shall be first to take my pleasure with Molly, while you both watch, then the men will have their turn until we have all had our fill, then you all die.’ The mayor declared. ‘Bring her over here.’

  ‘You touch my wife and you die.’ Charlie warned passionately.

  ‘You’ll take that risk, won’t you Luke?’ The mayor asked.

  ‘Yes. I reckon I will.’ Luke replied.

  As he took hold of her arm an arrow thudded into his neck. He gurgled and tried to staunch the blood flow, then slid to the floor.

  ‘That bloody Indian has somehow got free. Go get him!’ The mayor ordered.

  One man moved toward the door and a shot sent him flying.

  ‘Not a wise move.’ A voice called in and it was obviously not an Indian.

  Another arrow flew through the air and thudded into one of the mayor’s men. The mayor moved away from the back door with his men, to go through the house and out the front but when they opened the door Zeke stood there backed by four men.

  ‘Drop you weapons boys.’ He ordered, his pistol pointed at the Mayor.

  The mayor, seeing that the game was up, threw one on his men at Zeke, choosing to use that diversion to draw his pistol, then all hell broke loose. Pistols fired, arrows whistled into the room and men fell dead. Slowly the noise lessened and the smoke from the pistols cleared. Duncan still sat in the same chair next to Molly and Charlie but all the others in the room were dead or wounded. He looked at the back door where Slim stood.

  ‘You going to untie me?’ He growled.

  ‘Zeke is going to do that, I gotta look after Fox, he’s done got himself shot again.’ Slim answered.

  ‘Well look after him then, or a certain young lady will be after your blood.’ Duncan warned.

  ‘No!’ Slim declared in disbelief. ‘Not Sarah?’

  ‘You’ll find out if he pegs out!’

  Zeke climbed over the bodies and cut Duncan free and then cut Molly and Charlie free. Duncan went to see if Fox was badly hit while Charlie put his arms round Molly.

  ‘This won’t do.’ Molly declared after a few minutes. ‘We have posters to get round the town.’

  ‘Does it matter?’ Zeke asked. ‘The way I see it, there is only one candidate for mayor now!’

  ‘So there is!’ Molly exclaimed. ‘Still, it will be good practice for next year!’

  ‘It will?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘Yes it will Mayor Charlie Carpenter.’ Molly insisted.

  They went through to where the flyers were waiting and Zeke walked out to where Fox was laying. Molly appeared behind him immediately.

  ‘What am I thinking about?’ She complained. ‘Bring him through to the spare bed, I have sent Charlie after the doctor.’

  Fox was lifted gently and carried through to the spare room and they left him there with Molly bathing his wounds.

  ‘Not a lot to be done until the doc gets here.’ Slim declared. ‘They’ll be hell to pay if I done got him killed!’

  ‘Why will you have got him killed?’ Duncan asked.

  ‘It was my idea to follow you, when we saw your tracks into town.’ Slim answered.

  ‘Yes, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes then.’ Duncan agreed.

  ‘She might blame you for not bringing her along as well though.’ Slim added.

  ‘I reckon she’ll blame everyone, so we’d best impress on the doc to do a good job, even though he is an Indian!’ Zeke declared.

  ‘Oh, he’ll do a good job!’ Slim assured them all and patted his pistol butt.

  Crazy Dog appeared at the back door, he had dried blood on his head but was armed for bear.

  ‘Too late Crazy Dog, we got all the bad guys.’ Slim declared. ‘Fox got himself shot again though, twice this time!’

  ‘He will learn when to duck one day!’ Crazy Dog replied, but it was obvious that he was relieved.

  Duncan sat it a chair to wait for the doctor and fell asleep soon after the doctor arrived. No one woke him and when first light came Molly was off delivering posters and flyers. The poste
rs had been hastily altered to read only one candidate and she knew that at the end of the day Charlie would be mayor, even if he only got one vote, hers!

  Chapter 18

  Duncan woke when the sun shone through the window on him and he stood up yawning. He stretched slowly and looked about, he was all alone. He walked through to the spare room and saw the doctor sitting there next to Slim, who was fast asleep. He nodded to the doctor.

  ‘What are his chances Doc?’

  ‘He is young and strong, so he should pull through.’ The doctor answered. ‘It helped that the others were lousy shots.’

  Duncan spent the rest of the day policing the election. Walking about with his marshal’s badge in plain sight, to make sure that anyone seeing him knew he was there for any trouble. Zeke and the other marshals did the same and when voting ended they counted the votes, even though it was a forgone conclusion. When the voting ended Charlie was appointed the new mayor and the old mayor’s wife was shunned now, everyone knew what the outgoing mayor was like, and she had supported him.

  When it was time for bed Duncan had two choices open to him, a bed in a cell at the sheriff’s office or a softer bed in the hotel with breakfast throw in when he woke the morning. He chose the hotel and slept well after his night in the chair. First light found him eating breakfast and enjoying it. As he walked through town after breakfast, the townsfolk all seemed to want to say hello or good morning as he walked by and he felt obliged to answer. This meant he was pleased to reach the safety of Charlie’s house until he looked in on Fox and found Sarah sitting there. The look of surprise on his face when he saw he made her mad.

  ‘So a girl cannot track! Is that what you are suggesting? Well I watched you do it, and Fox was good enough to show me when he was about and some white man had not decided to use him for target practice. I went to see how Fox was and saw their tracks following your tracks, so I followed them to see what was going on. Is that so hard to believe?’ She ranted.

  While she ranted Duncan looked at Fox who was smiling.

  ‘You can wipe that smile of your face Fox!’ He exclaimed. ‘You have to learn when to duck!’ He turned to look at Sarah. ‘I know just what you are capable of Sarah, I am just surprised that the tirade you just unleashed was not unleashed earlier, up in my hotel room.’

  ‘Slim already told me they just followed you, to see what you were up to, so I cannot really blame you.’ Sarah answered.

  ‘If they hadn’t done I might be dead now and worse still they might have hanged Crazy Dog for it.’ Duncan replied.

  ‘Crazy Dog is here?’ She asked.

  ‘He is. He is now the deputy sheriff!’ Duncan explained.

  Sarah reached the door before she paused long enough to say. ‘I’ll be back in a minute Fox, so don’t you die while I am gone!’

  ‘I’ll try not to.’ Fox answered weakly and Sarah was gone to find Crazy Dog.

  ‘How you doing Fox?’ Duncan asked when Sarah was gone.

  ‘Wishing I had learned to duck a bit sooner.’ Fox replied sheepishly.

  ‘It’ll come, if you aren’t killed first!’ Duncan exclaimed.

  Outside Sarah ran to the Sheriff’s office to find Crazy Dog, who was still trying to stop his head aching. When she saw him she threw her arms round him and hugged him.

  ‘Not a very ladylike thing to do miss Sarah, was all that schooling wasted?’ Crazy Dog declared, but he still wrapped his arms round her and returned the hug.

  ‘I thought you were back on the reservation. What was it like?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Not somewhere I want to bring up my family, that’s for sure.’ Crazy Dog answered.

  ‘You have a family? When do I get to meet them?’ Sarah asked firing the questions like bullets. ‘How come you let Fox get shot?’

  ‘Because someone cleverer than me, hit me over the head with his pistol!’ He answered and displayed the wound to her. ‘I was lucky they were creeping about or they would have shot me. I am getting too lazy in my old age.’

  ‘Sit down while I bathe it and bandage it, and don’t squirm!’ Sarah ordered.

  Back at the tunnel Eugene took his latest measurement. He was sure they were over three quarters through the rock now and decided to warn Morning Sun and the rest of them that the rock face this side might suddenly explode and throw rocks into the valley. He rode out of the plain for what he thought would be the last time and turned towards the valley. He saw no one and walked his horse through into the valley, not bothering to remount his horse but walking it to the water to drink. He left it there and walked up toward the cabin. As he walked Duncan Wolf Lee pounced on him and he ended up carrying the boy up to the house.

  ‘Can you get this wildcat off me Morning Sun?’ He asked from outside the cabin.

  ‘Are you friend or foe?’ Morning Sun asked without appearing.

  ‘It depends on what you are cooking!’ Eugene answered and lifted Duncan Wolf Lee into the air.

  ‘I am cooking Duncan’s favorite pie, Eugene.’ Morning Sun answered.

  ‘Then I am a friend.’ Eugene assured her.

  ‘Put him down Wolf, he’s a friend.’ Morning Sun ordered.

  Wolf had no control over it and was ceremoniously dumped in the doorway as Eugene walked in. Wolf chased him in.

  Later Eugene rode back to the tunnel and did his measurements again. They were that close that he expected to see into the valley by now. Were his measurements wrong?

  ‘Give that back wall a whack with the big hammer.’ He ordered.

  The workman standing there shrugged and did just that.

  It took several hearty whacks to create a hole they could look through. With the report that they were through to the other side several more men arrived wielding hammers but in the end they had to blast it through to make the hole big enough. They set the explosives and scurried out of the tunnel so they could set them off and with a lout bang the tunnel was a tunnel.

  Now Eugene showed them the cave opening which they had to block up. They would use rock from the mining to do it, the same rock they would use to build an arch in the tunnel to support the roof. The plan was coming together!

  In town Duncan saddled up. Fox was in good hands and Mayor Carpenter was now in office and running things. Crazy Dog was now temporary sheriff until a new sheriff was found. As Crazy Dog was a Pawnee Indian he was not the immediate choice as sheriff but Charlie would not leave a deputy in charge, while they pondered on who to appoint. Crazy Dog walked reluctantly into the barbers and had his long hair cut. He intended to look the part. That way he stood a chance of staying on as sheriff. He was aware that the day of the Indian was gone where they were, although the Sioux were still killing and raiding as they were pushed back by the cavalry.

  Duncan rode out of town with Zeke and the other marshals. They rode slowly, like they owned the trail and camped in plain sight when darkness fell, with a huge fire to cook the food on.

  ‘You boys stopping for a bite to eat when we arrive tomorrow?’ Duncan asked and he rested in front of the fire, it made a change from hiding out of sight of the light shed by the flames.

  ‘I think I will.’ Zeke answered. ‘I have never been in that valley of yours.’

  ‘It would be wise to go into the plain before we go to the valley though, just in case the workmen have done what I wanted.’ Duncan explained.

  ‘Why? What you having done Dunc?’ Zeke asked with the other listening closely.

  ‘You’ll find out tomorrow, won’t you?’ Duncan replied and closed his eyes.

  In town Fox opened his eyes to see Sarah still sitting there looking at him.

  ‘Don’t you ever move?’ He asked.

  ‘Of course I do, but I do it when you are asleep, which is quite a lot.’ Sarah answered. ‘I did not think Indians slept as much as you do.’

  ‘Someone did use me for target practice Sarah.’ Fox complained.

  ‘So they did. Before you leave the valley again, I am going to teach you how to fire and du
ck at the same time!’

  ‘I hope you teach me well, I don’t think I want to get shot anymore.’ Fox answered.

  ‘I should hope not!’ Sarah agreed. ‘Now that you are awake I will feed you, the doctor said you are not to do too much for a few days.’

  ‘Can’t argue with a doctor, can I.’ Fox answered and smiled.

  Suddenly his looked changed and Sarah looked behind her to find Crazy Dog standing there with short hair.

  ‘What happened to you Crazy Dog?’ Fox asked in Pawnee.

  ‘In town we speak only English Prairie Fox, or they will think we are plotting against them.’ Crazy Dog answered in English. ‘I have had my hair washed and cut to fit in. Before you laugh, you will have to do it sooner or later. It might make you less of a target.’

  Duncan woke and poked some life into the fire, nights were getting colder and soon winter would be upon them again. By then he wanted to build new cabins in the valley, once the tunnel was complete.

  ‘Come on you lot, shake a leg.’ He ordered, raising his voice.

  They were on their way an hour later, riding just the same, as if they owned the trail. They tarried at the start of the plain while Duncan stood looking at the entrance. He could see the start of both of the rocky walls which enclosed the area but that was a lot of fence to maintain. He would think on that.

  They rode on and eventually came to the tunnel, which was part supported by wood and part by some of the rocks they had pulled out of it. As they supported one area by rocks, the next section of wood was removed.

  ‘Safe to ride through, is it?’ Duncan asked.

  ‘Yes it is.’ One man answered. ‘You’ll find Eugene in there somewhere.’

  They rode into the valley and Zeke looked round as he rode in, as it was his first visit. As they rode further in he kept looking about.

  ‘Not much snow in winter lands in here I reckon.’ He commented.