Entwined Paths (The Landon Saga Book 2)

by Tell Cotten

  “Can I come in?” The familiar voice asked.

  Yancy nodded, so Cooper yelled, “Come on in!”

  Seconds later, Lee Mattingly rode into camp. He smiled real big when he saw Josie, and then he looked at Yancy.

  “Well hello, Yancy,” he drawled. “It’s been a while.”

  “Lee.”

  Lee glanced at Tussle.

  “J.T., it’s good to see you again.”

  “Likewise,” Tussle said.

  Lee nodded at Jed and looked at Cooper.

  “Coop,” he said.

  Cooper nodded back, and Yancy cleared his throat.

  “What are you doing here, Lee?”

  “Well, I was on my way to Valverde’s Pass, but yesterday I came across a lot of Injun sign. And then I even spotted some. Now, it seems like there’s a lot of Injuns going the same direction that we are. So, I figured it might be best if we traveled together.”

  Yancy frowned as he thought on that.

  “What tribe were they?”

  “I didn’t get close enough to tell, but my guess is Apache. Them, or Kiowas.”

  “Does it make any difference?”

  “Nope,” Lee shook his head. “Neither one likes us.”

  Yancy nodded, and then he frowned suspiciously.

  “What’s your business in Valverde’s Pass?”

  “I’m hunting some brothers by the last name of Oltman,” Lee replied truthfully.

  “Tom Oltman’s brothers?”

  “That’d be them.”

  “Why?”

  Lee swallowed, and then he explained about the bank job.

  Afterwards Yancy was silent as he thought it over, and he sighed and shook his head.

  “And what about this job you’re on?” He asked.

  “What job?” Lee frowned, startled.

  “Josie told us you had a job,” Yancy said bluntly. “You tell us, or we part ways here and now.”

  Lee glanced at Josie and sighed.

  “Fine,” he muttered. “I’m after Jessica too.”

  “Why?”

  “I decided it was time I did something good for a change,” Lee lied with a straight face.

  “You’re leaving something out,” Yancy declared.

  “Think what you want, Yancy,” Lee said, unfazed. “But the truth is; I’m after Jessica.”

  Yancy frowned as he studied Lee. He glanced at Cooper and then sighed.

  “All right. You can come with us,” Yancy said. “But only if you follow my orders, understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” Lee smiled.

  Yancy scowled as he turned and finished saddling his horse.

  Lee, meanwhile, watched Josie. She finally looked at him, and he smiled. Josie smiled back nervously, but then she turned to Cooper.

  “By the way, how did Josie tell you about the job?” Lee asked curiously as everyone got mounted.

  “Kolorado,” Cooper explained. “He speaks Apache.”

  “What?” Lee’s mouth fell open. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

  “You didn’t ask,” Cooper explained.

  Chapter sixty-two

  Everybody stood by and watched while Cliff and Brian got ready to leave.

  They laid Rusty over his horse, and Brian tied his hands and feet to the stirrups. After that they got mounted, and Cliff grabbed the lead rope to Rusty’s horse and took out.

  Brian and Jessica fell in behind, and they trotted out the gate and headed up into the mountains.

  Soon as they were gone, Trent looked at Clay and nodded at his Colt.

  “Are you any good with that?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll see,” Trent smiled, and then he looked at his brothers. “I want us all to stay together. Best place to wait is in the livery stable. Let’s put our horses up, and then we’d best get a bite to eat. We might not have the time later.”

  Everyone nodded, and Trent looked back at Clay.

  “And you,” Trent said firmly. “You can stay with us, but only if you follow orders. Understand?”

  “Sure, long as I get to kill that scout.”

  “You’ll get your chance.”

  Clay nodded, and then everyone led their horse towards the livery stable.

  Chapter sixty-three

  Yancy’s bunch arrived at the underground spring at Valverde’s Pass midafternoon.

  They’d crossed several more Indian tracks during the day. They were all going in the same direction, and Cooper figured that a big war party was probably gathering somewhere to the north. And, that could only mean trouble.

  They rested a bit at the springs. Cooper scouted around some, and he could tell that a fight had taken place recently.

  They pushed on, and they were real watchful as they looked for any sign of ambush or Indians.

  They arrived at the trading post a couple of hours before dark, and Yancy pulled up when they were a few hundred yards away.

  “I see an armed Mexican on the wall,” Cooper commented.

  “They’re probably friendly, but we’d best be ready for trouble, just in case,” Yancy replied.

  Everyone nodded, and they all pulled out their guns and checked them.

  “Josie, you bring up the rear,” Yancy said. “Any shooting starts, dive off your horse and hunt some cover.”

  Josie nodded, and Yancy glanced at Cooper.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  They walked their horses in. The armed Mexican on the wall watched them silently, and Cooper nodded at him as they passed through the gate.

  They rode up to the cantina. Everybody dismounted, and Lee walked up to the swinging doors of the cantina and peeked inside.

  “It’s empty, except for the bartender,” he announced.

  Suddenly, Cooper spotted some movement.

  “There’s somebody coming from the livery stable,” he said.

  Everyone turned and looked, and they saw five men walking slowly towards them. They were spread out in a line.

  “Recognize them?” Yancy asked softly.

  “I do,” Lee narrowed his eyes. “It’s the Oltman brothers and one of the fellers you’re after.”

  Yancy glanced at Josie.

  “Josie, duck inside that doorway. The rest of you spread out a bit.”

  Everyone did as they were told, and then they waited.

  The Oltman brothers stopped when they were about thirty feet away, and it was silent as everybody stared at each other.

  “You know who we are?” Trent finally asked.

  “We know,” Yancy nodded.

  Trent frowned as he eyed Yancy.

  “You’d be Yancy Landon,” he figured.

  “And you’d be Trent.”

  Trent nodded, and then he studied Cooper.

  “You Cooper?”

  “I am.”

  “You killed my brother!” Clay blurted angrily.

  “I told you to be quiet!” Trent growled.

  Trent glared at Clay, but he ignored him as he glared at Cooper.

  Trent’s eyes lingered on Clay, but finally he turned and studied Lee.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I lied,” Lee replied.

  “About what?”

  “Turns out, I do have hard feelings.”

  Trent grinned wolfishly.

  “What happened to the Injun woman?” He asked.

  “You mean Josie?” Lee asked. “She’s right there, inside the doorway.”

  Trent glanced over, and his eyes grew wide.

  “She’s a white woman?”

  “You didn’t notice?”

  Trent frowned, but then he shrugged as he looked back at Yancy.

  “You killed my brother, Tom.”

  “I did,” Yancy agreed.

  “Why?”

  “He pulled a gun,” Yancy explained.

  “I know that. Why did he pull a gun?” Trent asked irritably.

  “You’d have to ask him.”

  “But Tom’s dead!” Trent exclaimed.


  “He is,” Yancy agreed.

  It was silent as everyone thought on that, and then Trent cleared his throat.

  “You killed my brother, and now we’re going to kill you,” he declared. “Tomorrow morning. Seven o’clock. We’ll be in front of the stable.”

  Yancy nodded slowly. He didn’t reply as he studied them.

  “If you run,” Trent warned, “we’ll come after you.”

  Again, Yancy just nodded.

  “There’ll be no tricks. You have my word on that,” Trent said. “Your word?”

  “No tricks,” Yancy agreed.

  “Good,” Trent said, and he turned to go.

  Everybody watched as they left, and Jed glanced at Yancy as soon as they were out of earshot.

  “What are we going to do, Yancy?” He asked worriedly.

  Yancy thought on that, and a rare smile crossed his face.

  “Show up,” he replied.

  Chapter sixty-four

  It was a steep climb into the mountains. There was a trail that led upwards, and Cliff let his horse follow it.

  Cliff was quiet and subdued, and Brian couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  They rode in silence for three hours.

  By then they were high in the mountains. It was colder, and Jessica couldn’t help but shudder.

  Right as it was getting dark, they spotted a small cabin nestled in among several trees. There was also a small corral made of logs and a lean-to where saddles could be kept.

  Cliff pulled up. He examined the area, and he nodded to himself and looked at Brian.

  “Cabin looks empty,” he said. “We’ll stay here tonight, and in the morning I’ll bury Rusty.”

  “Sure,” Brian nodded.

  “I’ll bury him over there, by those trees,” Cliff pointed.

  Brian nodded again, and then he helped Jessica down. He dismounted and examined the cabin.

  It was dusty inside, but it was well built and there was also a fireplace.

  Brian helped Cliff carry Rusty inside, and then he unsaddled the horses while Cliff built a fire and started supper. Jessica went with Brian and helped with the horses.

  “Things have worked out perfect,” Brian told Jessica while they worked. “Stew’s dead, and I have a feeling that Cliff will be wanting to part ways tomorrow.”

  “Then we can head for Midway?” Jessica asked hopefully.

  “Yep,” Brian flashed Jessica a grin.

  “Good,” Jessica smiled back.

  “Unless Cliff says something, don’t say anything tonight,” Brian warned. “He’s acting mighty odd. The slightest thing might set him off, so we’ve got to be careful.”

  “I won’t say a word.”

  “Good girl,” Brian said. “Now let’s go eat some supper.”

  Jessica nodded, and they headed to the cabin.

  Chapter sixty-five

  They couldn’t leave their horses at the livery stable, so instead they unsaddled and picketed them out behind the cantina.

  After that, they ate supper in the cantina. Everybody was hungry, and they tore into their meal with a vengeance. Afterwards, everyone sat around and drank some more coffee.

  The cantina was empty, except for them and Pedro.

  Pedro had introduced himself earlier, and he told them about Rusty dying. He was now at the end of the bar, eating a late supper.

  “We’ve got some important matters to discuss,” Yancy announced.

  “What things?” Tussle wanted to know.

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Oh,” Tussle nodded. “That.”

  Yancy took a swig of coffee and cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice was soft and very clear.

  “Well, this is it,” he said. “Come tomorrow, we’re going to face the Oltman brothers and Clay.”

  It was silent as everyone thought on that.

  “First thing; we all need to understand that no matter how it turns out, more’n likely some of us won’t make it.”

  Josie looked up sharply, as did Jed and Tussle.

  “If there’s any of you that want out, now’s the time. There’ll be no hard feelings.”

  “Why can’t we just leave?” Tussle asked. “This ain’t helping Jessica any.”

  “We leave and they’ll come after us,” Yancy explained. “It’s best if we deal with this permanently, and then proceed after Jessica.”

  “You mean kill them,” Tussle responded.

  “’Bout as permanent as we can get.”

  It was silent as everybody thought on that. Nobody said anything, so Yancy nodded.

  “All right. We’re all in,” he said. “Now, we do this my way, and the less chances we have at getting killed. Understand?”

  Everybody nodded.

  “Good. Now, here’s how we’ll do it,” Yancy said. “We’ll leave at exactly seven o’clock. We’ll walk up and start shooting, and we’ll never even break stride. Now, they’ll be spread out, waiting for us. They’ll expect us to stop, but we won’t. One of them, probably Trent, will start to say something. It’ll probably be something sarcastic. Now, soon as he starts to talk we’ll start shooting.”

  “Is that fair?” Tussle asked.

  “Listen. This ain’t going to be a competition to see who’s faster,” Yancy explained. “There’ll be no rules. We’ll shoot them as fast as we can while they’ll shoot us as fast as they can. That’s how it’s going to be.”

  “My goodness,” Jed shook his head in wonder. “Aren’t you afraid?”

  “Of what?”

  “Getting killed!”

  “Course I am,” Yancy replied. “But, I don’t think on it much. If it’s my time then so be it. I’m ready.”

  Yancy looked around at everybody.

  “I suggest you all take some time tonight, and prepare yourselves for what might happen,” he warned. “If there’s any of you that ain’t in the practice of prayer, it might be a good time to start.”

  Yancy looked over at Pedro.

  “After it’s over, will you be available, Pedro?”

  “Si, Senor,” Pedro nodded. “I will take care of whoever is shot. Both sides.”

  “Muchas gracias,” Yancy replied.

  “There’s something else I’d like to ask of you,” Cooper spoke up. “If things go wrong and we don’t make it, would you look after Josie?”

  Josie was startled, and she stared at Cooper through those big, blue eyes. Lee noticed this and frowned.

  “Si, senor,” Pedro replied. “I will do it.”

  “I thank you,” Cooper said.

  Pedro nodded.

  Yancy glanced at Cooper with a thoughtful frown, and then he looked back at everyone else.

  “Now,” he continued, “when we leave here, we need to be spread out at least five feet apart. And, don’t go running sideways in front of each other. Stay in your lane of fire.”

  Again, everybody nodded.

  “Now; last thing. We can’t all be shooting the same person,” Yancy said. “So, I’ll take Trent. Coop, Clay will be looking for you, so you take him.”

  Cooper nodded.

  “I want Oscar,” Lee announced. “I’ve never liked him.”

  “Why?” Yancy asked.

  Lee frowned in thought and shrugged.

  “I don’t know. I’ll think of a reason later.”

  “Fine. He’s all yours,” Yancy sighed, and he turned to Tussle and Jed. “That leaves Tyson and Reed for you two.”

  “What do we do after we’ve taken care of our man?” Tussle wanted to know.

  “We can only plan this so far,” Yancy replied. “After that we’ll just see what develops.”

  It fell silent as everybody thought things over.

  “Is there anything else anybody needs to go over?” Yancy asked.

  Everybody shook their heads.

  “Good,” Yancy said, and then he glanced at Lee.

  “One last thing,” he told Lee. “There’s still something you ain’t telling us. I
want you in front of me at all times.”

  “You don’t trust me?” Lee asked in an appalled voice.

  “That is correct.”

  Lee tried to look offended, but Yancy ignored him.

  “I’m going to check on the horses,” Yancy said, and he walked out abruptly.

  Lee just stood there with a thoughtful frown, and Cooper smiled and shrugged.

  A smile slowly crossed over Lee’s face, and he chuckled.

  “You know,” he told Cooper, “I think your brother’s finally starting to like me.”

  Chapter sixty-six

  Cliff, Brian, and Jessica ate supper in silence.

  Jessica sat in the corner out of the way, and she was careful not to say anything.

  Rusty was starting to look bad. It gave Jessica an eerie feeling, and she tried her best not to look at him.

  Cliff sat close beside Rusty. He didn’t eat much, and he kept looking down at his little brother.

  Brian sat beside Jessica. He also looked a little uncomfortable, but he didn’t say anything.

  After supper Jessica and Brian cleaned up everything while Cliff just sat there, looking deep in thought.

  Afterwards there was nothing else to do, so Jessica wrapped up in her blanket and stretched out. A few minutes passed, and she fell asleep.

  Meanwhile, Cliff and Brian sat by the fire and drank coffee.

  “It didn’t take her long to fall to sleep,” Cliff commented.

  “She’s had a rough few days,” Brian said.

  “She has,” Cliff nodded, and it fell silent.

  They both drank two cups of coffee, and then Cliff looked at Brian.

  “I’ve made a decision,” Cliff announced suddenly.

  “Oh?”

  “After I bury Rusty, I’m going to take Jessica back to Midway.”

  Brian was startled.

  “What? Why?”

  “It’s my fault Rusty’s dead,” Cliff said remorsefully. “Now, I ain’t a Christian, but my ma was, and she told me when I was young that I needed to change my ways. If I had listened, Rusty would still be alive.”

  “It ain’t your fault Rusty got shot,” Brian argued. “It could have happened to any of us.”

  “But it’s my fault he was there,” Cliff replied. “Now, I can’t bring Rusty back, but I can take Jessica back home. I reckon that’s a start.”