Blaze! Western Series: Six Adult Western Novels

by Stephen Mertz

  “Ma’am,” Atherton said, removing his hat. The other two men followed. “We’re here to stop the rustling.”

  “Interesting,” she said.

  “And we understand you’re here for that, too,” Atherton said.

  “And you want us to work together?” J.D. asked. “Is that it?”

  “No,” Atherton said. “We know who you are, Mr. Blaze. We know you’re a gunman. We’d like you to stand down and let us do our jobs.”

  “And if we don’t?”

  “I’m sure we could get an injunction—“

  “Mr. Atherton,” J.D. said, “you claimed you knew who I was.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Then what good do you think an injunction would do?”

  “Look,” Atherton said, “we need to familiarize ourselves with the situation, and then we’ll straighten it out. That should take a few days.” Atherton moved closer to J.D. and replaced his hat. “You’ve got ’til then.”

  “To do what?”

  Atherton turned to his colleagues and said, “Let’s go, boys.”

  They left the office.

  “They’re no different than you or me,” Allen said. “’Ceptin’ for the suits.”

  “You got anything else to say, Sheriff?”

  “I’m tellin’ you this because I been told by the mayor and Mr. Wheeler to cooperate with you.”

  “That’s fine,” J.D. said.

  “No, it ain’t,” Allen said, “but I got no choice.”

  “Then what is it you have to tell us?” Kate asked.

  “One of the men you killed was identified,” Allen said. “Three different people said he used to be a ranch hand around here.”

  “And did they know that he had joined the rustlers?” J.D. asked.

  “No,” Allen said, “they weren’t friends, they had just seen him around.”

  “Okay,” J.D. said, “now drop the other boot.”

  “Huh?”

  “He means,” Kate said, “now tell us what spread he was working for.”

  “Oh, uh,” Allen said, “that’s what kinda odd. It was Hal Evans’ H and E ranch.”

  Chapter 23

  “What do you say we split up?” Kate suggested, outside the sheriff’s office.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Look,” she said, “you need to talk to Evans about his man. And that girl was nervous. She knows something.”

  “And somebody tried to kill us today, Kate,” he reminded her.

  “I don’t need you to remind me of that,” she said. “But it’ll take them a while to regroup and try again, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, probably.”

  “Then you talk to Evans,” she said. “If he’s not at the Cattleman’s Club he’s probably out at his ranch. Meanwhile, I’ll keep my eye on the girl.”

  “You know,” he said, “I thought this would take us a lot longer.”

  “Some things just come together,” she said, “but it ain’t over yet, is it.”

  “No, it ain’t.” He pointed a finger at her. “You be careful.”

  “You, too.”

  * * *

  J.D. checked the Cattleman’s Club, then looked around town before he decided that Hal Evans had to be out at his ranch. He saddled his horse and rode out there, hoping to find some answers.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, Kate had two possible plans of action, and made her decision about which one to follow. She could either position herself across the street from the Red Garter Saloon and watch for the girl, Connie, or she could go inside, nurse a beer and watch her much more closely, see who she talked to.

  She went into the now crowded saloon, claimed a spot at the bar, bought a beer and settled in.

  * * *

  “Six of my men?” Dev O’Connor said to Slim. “Dead? How did that happen, Slim?”

  “I don’t know, boss,” Slim said. “I just found out when I went to town. Blaze and his wife brought them in tied to their saddles.”

  “So I’ve got fourteen men left,” O’Connor said. “That leaves us a little shorthanded, Slim.”

  “I can find more.”

  “You better,” O’Connor said. “We were just about ready to hit the Evans spread.”

  “Don’t worry, Dev,” Slim said. “I know where to get six more men, easy.”

  “Can they be trusted?”

  “You bet.”

  “And can they use their guns?”

  “Don’t worry, Dev,” Slim said. “I know what you want.”

  “We’re dealing with J.D. Blaze now, Slim,” O’Connor said. “He’s as fast as I’ve ever seen. We need men who’ll be willing to go after him.”

  “You pay ’em enough,” Slim said, “they’ll go after the ghost of Wild Bill.”

  * * *

  It took J.D. an hour to ride to Evans’ H&E ranch. As he rode up to the two-story main house—complete with porch and white columns—ranch hands turned and watched his progress. He saw two men put their heads together, wondered if they had been in the saloon and recognized him now.

  He rode up to the front steps and dismounted. A man came walking over to him, a cowhand who was not wearing a gun.

  “Help ya?”

  “I’m here to see Hal Evans.”

  “You got an appointment?” the man asked. “Boss don’t see nobody without an appointment.”

  “I think he’ll see me,” J.D. said. “Tell him it’s J.D. Blaze.”

  “I know who you are,” the man said. “I saw you in the saloon. You and your wife killed some of my friends.”

  “I don’t think they left us much choice, do you?” J.D. asked.

  “Probably not,” the man admitted, grudgingly. “I’m Josh Beghe, the foreman.”

  “Good to meet you, Josh,” J.D. said. “Will you tell Mr. Evans I’m here.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Beghe said. “I’ll go in and tell him.”

  J.D looked around, saw that he was being watched by at least half a dozen men.

  “Do I need to watch myself here?”

  “Don’t you watch yourself everywhere you go?” the foreman asked.

  “I do.”

  “Well,” the man said, “none of these men are armed, but...who knows. If you see somebody who suddenly has a gun...”

  “I get it, Mr. Beghe.”

  “Josh,” Beghe said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter 24

  “Do you have some news for me?” Evans asked, as J.D. entered his office.

  “Not exactly.”

  “Well then,” the rancher said, “have a seat and tell me what this is about. Drink? Whiskey?”

  “Yes.”

  Evans poured two whiskeys from a sidebar, handed J.D. one, and sat behind his desk.

  “Do you know a man named Ted Deckley?”

  “Ted Deckley,” Evans said. “Deckley.”

  “I heard he used to work for you.”

  “My foreman would know that for sure,” Evans said. “You could have asked him that on the way in.”

  J.D. sipped his whiskey, regarded Evans over the glass.

  “You didn’t want to ask him,” Evans said. “What’s this about?”

  “Earlier today sex men bushwhacked me and my wife, tried to kill us.”

  “And?”

  “We killed them.”

  Evans sat back in his chair.

  “I guess I hired the right people.”

  “Maybe you don’t always hire the right people.”

  “This Deckley?”

  J.D. nodded.

  “He was one of them.”

  Evans turned in his chair, looked out the window. Then he stood and opened it.

  “Hey, you. Yeah, you, what’s your name?”

  J.D. didn’t hear the answer.

  “Well, find me Josh and tell him I want him...now!” He closed the window, turned to J.D. “Let’s see what my foreman can tell us.”

  “Sure.”

  “Anot
her drink while we wait?”

  “Why not?”

  * * *

  Slim Dayton entered the saloon, looked around, saw the men he wanted, then spotted Connie. He walked to the bar, ordered a beer.

  “There ya go, Slim,” the barman said.

  “Thanks.”

  He nursed the drink until Connie came over to him.

  “Does—does he want me?” she asked.

  “No,” Slim said. “He’s upset about his men gettin’ killed. He wants me to find more.”

  “What’s that got to do with me?”

  “There’s three men here,” Slim said. “I need you to tell them to meet me.”

  “Where?”

  “The livery stable down the street.”

  “When?”

  “Now,” Slim said. “I’m gonna finish this beer and then walk over there. Got it?”

  “Okay.”

  “You sure, Connie?”

  She nodded.

  “Then get away from me,” Slim said. “I don’t want anybody thinkin’ we know each other already.”

  “Okay,” she said, touching his face briefly, as if she was trying to entice him, then walking away.

  He finished his beer.

  * * *

  Kate watched as Connie spoke with the small, slender man at the bar. He was not threatening looking, but he seemed to make her nervous. That made him interesting to her.

  The girl walked away, the man finished his beer and left the saloon.

  Kate followed.

  * * *

  Evans looked up as Josh Beghe entered the office.

  “Josh, did we employ a man named Deckley?”

  “We did, boss,” Beghe said.

  “What happened to him?”

  “I fired him.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Maybe a month.”

  “Was he a cowhand?”

  “No, sir,” Beghe said, “A gun hand.”

  “And why was he fired?”

  “I wasn’t sure about his loyalty.”

  “What are any of these gunnies loyal to, except maybe money?” Evans asked.

  “I didn’t like him, boss.”

  “That makes more sense,” Evans said. “Mr. Blaze has some questions for you. Answer them all.”

  “Yes, sir.” Beghe turned to face Blaze.

  “Did Deckley have any friends here?”

  “He had a few guys he drank with,” Beghe said. “I wouldn’t say they were friends.”

  “Well, did he have any other friends in town?”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “The men he drank with,” J.D. said, “do they still work here?”

  “Yes.”

  “I need to talk to them.”

  Beghe looked at Evans.

  “Bring them here,” Evans said.

  “That’s okay,” J.D. said, standing. “I can go to them.”

  “Boss—”

  “Take him!” Evans said.

  Beghe frowned, but said, “Yessir.”

  “Thanks for the drink,” J.D. said.

  “Come and see me before you leave, Mr. Blaze,” Evans said. “Please.”

  “Yeah, okay,” J.D. agreed. “I’ll do that.”

  “Josh,” Evans said.

  “Sir?”

  Evans took a gun from his desk and handed it to the foreman.

  “Stay with him the whole time.”

  “Yessir.”

  Chapter 25

  Kate followed the slender man to the end of the street, to a livery stable. He went inside and didn’t come out. If he wasn’t getting a horse, what was he doing?

  She wondered if he had spotted her, maybe gone out the back, but she decided to stick it out, see if he came out, or if anybody else went in.

  It was getting on toward dusk. She hoped J.D. would ride back before it got dark.

  As she settled into a doorway across from the livery three men came walking up to the front of the place and went inside. So that was it. He’d used the girl in the saloon to set up a meeting. Maybe the gang was already trying to recruit replacements for the six men she and J.D. had killed.

  She left her doorway and crossed over to the stable.

  * * *

  J.D. followed Josh Beghe to the bunkhouse, and inside. There were four men there, three playing cards at a table, and one reclining on the lower bunk of a bunkbed.

  “Listen up,” Beghe said. “Who used to drink with Deckley when he worked here?”

  The man on the bunk raised his hand and said, “I had a drink or two with Deck.”

  “So did I,” one of the card players said. J.D. noticed they were playing for toothpicks.

  “This is J.D. Blaze,” Beghe said. “He has some questions. The boss would like you to answer him.”

  “Blaze?” The man on the bunk sat up so quickly he almost bumped his head.

  “I saw you at the saloon the other night,” one of the other card players said.

  “Too bad about that,” J.D. said.

  “Yeah,” the man said.

  “You two didn’t know Deckely?”

  The other two men shook their heads.

  “You can go, then.”

  Both men rose from the table and made their way slowly to the door. J.D. noticed they were not armed.

  “Okay,” Beghe said to J.D. “They’re all yours.”

  “Did either of you have any idea that Deckley was connected to the rustling that’s been going on?”

  “What?” the man on the bunkbed said.

  “If he was a rustler, what was he doin’ workin’ here?” the other man demanded.

  “Maybe getting information,” J.D. said.

  “Who says he was workin’ with the rustlers?” the bunk man asked.

  “I do,” J.D. said.

  “How do you know?”

  “He kind of gave it away by trying to kill me and my wife today, with five other men.”

  “I—I never knew nothin’,” the card player said.

  “Me, neither,” said the man on the bunk.

  “Either of you ever notice him talking to someone in town?”

  “He talked to a lot of people in town,” the bunk man said.

  “Especially women,” the card player said.

  “Which women?”

  “Saloon girls,” the man answered. “In fact, one in particular.”

  “Okay,” J.D. said. “That’s the kind of information I want. What was her name?”

  * * *

  Kate crossed the street and stopped just outside the livery stable. The front doors were ajar, so she tried to listen in. She heard the murmur of voices from inside, but couldn’t make out what was being said. She was going to have to find a better spot.

  She moved along the side of the stable to see if she could find a window or another door. She didn’t encounter another door until she got to the back, but when she opened it a crack she could hear the voice and make out what they were saying.

  “...first thing we’re gonna have to do, before we even pull another job, is get rid of that Blaze bastard and his bitch wife.”

  * * *

  It was dark by the time J.D. got back. He hoped that Kate had stayed out of trouble, and that he’d find her at the hotel. He left his horse off at the livery stable first, catching the liveryman just before he went to have his supper.

  At the hotel he let himself into their room and was relieved to find her on the bed, reading. She got to her feet as soon as she saw him, rushed to him and kissed him soundly.

  “What was that for?” he asked.

  “I missed you, you fool,” she said. “When it got dark I was worried somebody had taken a potshot at you, again.”

  “And I suppose you stayed out of trouble while I was gone?”

  “I did.”

  “Hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  “Let’s go downstairs to the dining room,” he said, “and we can compare notes.”

  “And we’ve got a lot to
compare,” she said.

  Chapter 26

  “You were right about the girl,” he said. “Connie.”

  “I know.”

  “Well,” he said, looking down at his steak, “now it’s confirmed. One of the hands on the ranch said that Deckley used to spend a lot of time talking with Connie.”

  “That’s good,” she said, cutting into her own steak.

  “What did you find out?”

  “They’re hiring six more men to replace the ones we killed,” she said. “And their first job is to kill us.”

  He sat back and stared at her.

  “That’s a hell of a lot to find out.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “How’d you do it?”

  She told him about the little man who had talked to Connie, and then about following him and overhearing his conversation with the six new men.

  “So that’s it?” J.D. asked. “That’s how they do it? They just grab their new men from the saloons in town?’

  “Looks like it.”

  “And people in town don’t talk about the rustling.”

  “No, they don’t.”

  “Jesus,” he said, “it’s almost like the whole town is in on it.”

  “Well,” she said, “we can put an end to it tomorrow.”

  “Can we?”

  She nodded.

  “The six of them are meeting the other man—they called him Slim—and he’s going to take them to the hideout.”

  “And we’re going to follow them.”

  “Follow them, track them,” she said, with a shrug. “Either way, we’ll find them.”

  “Did you manage to find out the name of the leader?”

  “Never heard that,” she said. “Slim only called him the boss.”

  They paid attention to their steaks for a little while, washed the food down with some beer, then talked again.

  “How many men are we talking about?” he asked.

  “Sounded to me like there were about twenty.”

  “Twenty,” he said, “against us.”

  “We’ll need more guns.”

  He nodded. He knew what she meant. Not that they needed more people, just that they needed a couple more rifles, possibly another pistol each, and certainly a shotgun each.

  They’d have them right where they wanted them.

  * * *

  Before turning in for the night they decide to go and see Connie again at the Red Garter Saloon.

  “Which one is she?” J.D. asked.

  “That one, there,” Kate said, pointing. “Should we get a drink?”