Vigilance Committee War

by Bill Sheehy

  ‘What do ya think?’ asked Louie.

  ‘Not much we can do with all them there. Too many of them. Let’s wait a bit and see what happens.’

  Once again the horse’s head was held while the hand swung into the saddle. This time he didn’t relax and when the horse bucked, he was ready. When the sorrel bucked, it’d put its head between its knees and pitch one way then the other. The rider pulled back on the reins and held the horse’s head up. The bucking slowed as the horse tired. It wasn’t long before the hand had the horse trotting around the corral.

  Buck couldn’t hear what the men standing around said, but three of them walked off, heading for the cabin. The fourth climbed into the corral to join the others.

  ‘Keep an eye on them,’ said Buck, then going to the front to watch the three men. He recognized two of them, Yarberry walking beside Fitzwalter. The third, he figured, had to be the outlaw the marshal was wanting, Neil something. He watched as they went into the cabin.

  ‘I’m going to check those fellas out,’ Louie said and went out the back door.

  Not sure what his partner was up to, Buck went back across to watch. The men in the corral had stripped the sorrel and opened a gate to let it out. Turning, they looked back across the corral. They must have seen or heard Louie. Buck started to turn toward the back of the barn when he heard the cabin door open. Hesitating, he decided he’d better see what Yarberry was up to.

  Chapter 43

  The gunfighter and the other man, the one Buck thought was probably the marshal’s outlaw, came out the cabin door and walked across toward the big tree. Pulling a couple wood kitchen chairs around, they settled down and leaned back.

  Seeing movement at the corner of the cabin, Buck saw Fitzwalter walk a short way disappearing into a small outhouse. Knowing where the three were, he headed toward the back of the barn. Just as he got to the door, Louie came in smiling.

  ‘I had a little talk with the boys,’ he said. ‘I figured they were just hired hands and I was right. Don’t think too much of their boss or his friends, either.’

  ‘That was taking a chance.’

  ‘Not really. I saw how those boys were looking when Yarberry and the others laughed when that one fella got thrown.’

  ‘So they agreed to stay out of it?’

  Louie chuckled. ‘They’ve decided there was some fences down in the south forty needing work. They’re gone. One of them did mention something about if Fitzwalter were to get dead they would likely file on the place themselves.’

  ‘Well, they’ll have to wait. He isn’t dead yet.’

  ‘Uh huh. Yet,’ said Louie, nodding toward the front of the barn. ‘You come up with a plan?’

  ‘There’s two of them, the baddest ones I reckon, over under the tree. About the best I can think of is to simply walk out and brace them. Fitzwalter’s busy in the outhouse and the other two are relaxing in the shade.’

  Louie nodded. ‘Might work. They won’t be expecting us and maybe we’ll get lucky.’

  Checking the loads in first one revolver then the other, Buck smiled. ‘Isn’t luck. We’ve got skill on our side.’

  Slowly opening the double barn doors, the two men walked side by side toward the sitting men. Holding their revolvers at their side they got to about twenty feet from them before being spotted.

  ‘Hey,’ someone yelled. Yarberry came out of his chair, pulling his gun as he turned to face the intruders. Buck didn’t hesitate. Taking the next step he raised his gun and shot the gunfighter. Yarberry got one shot off before crumbling, raising the dirt in front of Buck. Neil took two bullets from Louie’s gun before falling.

  The sudden silence fell like a blanket on the ranch yard. Buck and Louie stood looking down at the two bodies for a long heartbeat.

  They whipped around when the cabin door slammed open and Fitzwalter come out running. The man was yelling, his face bunched in a grimace as he ran, firing his pistol at the men. Both Buck and Louie reacted, shooting the man in the chest.

  Reloading, they holstered their weapons.

  ‘I’ll bring up the horses,’ said Louie after a moment. Buck nodded. Going over he checked the two bodies under the tree. Both were dead. He didn’t bother with Fitzwalter.

  Riding down the ranch road toward the log gate, they saw horses off in the distance paying close attention to the two men. A meadowlark landed on a tall grass stem causing it to wave easily back and forth. Buck smiled at how peaceful everything seemed. Reaching the stage road they turned north.

  ‘Won’t make Fort Rawlins before late afternoon,’ said Louie, rolling a smoke as they rode along. ‘Sure makes my stomach growl, thinking it’s been forgotten.’

  ‘Uh huh,’ Buck said after touching a match to his cigarette. ‘It’ll make supper that much better.’ Slouching in the saddle they rode quietly, enjoying their smoke and the warm morning sun.

  Buck broke the silence after a while. ‘Guess we can tell the marshal where he can find his bad man.’

  ‘Yeah, and we don’t have to worry about Harry Yarberry or Issac Black coming up behind us neither. Except for the fact we ain’t got a job to go to, life is pretty good.’

  Buck nodded. He wasn’t worried. As his grandma used to say, something would come up or it wouldn’t.