“Yeah?” Talbott grunted. “Well, if I can’t be with ’em. . . nobody can.”
At that moment, Aldus knew he’d run out of time.
Chapter 26
All Aldus could think about when he charged into the kitchen was keeping Talbott’s aim focused on him instead of James or Bethany. He rushed through the door, wincing as another shot was fired, half expecting to drop after taking a bullet. Fortunately he made it across the room to a narrow space between the stove and a tall cupboard. Sucking in his stomach wouldn’t help much since he was somewhat exposed, but he did it anyway as Talbott fired at him. Glass shattered and splinters fell onto Aldus’s hat, but he was otherwise unharmed.
Aldus thumbed back the Schofield’s hammer and leaned away from the cupboard to line up a shot. James was still hunkered down on the floor and Bethany had yet to stir behind the boy, so Aldus kept his aim high and squeezed his trigger. When the window at the far side of the room shattered, he knew he’d pulled his aim a bit too far in that direction.
“You thought you were such a big man embarrassing me in front of the whole town!” Talbott said. “You think you can just whip a man like a dog and get away with it?”
“If that’s what this is about, then why are you bothering with the boy and woman?” Aldus leaned out again to get a look and wasn’t fired upon. Either Talbott was listening or he was aware that he only had a couple of bullets left in his cylinder.
“I heard what you said about this family,” Aldus continued. “But I’m here now. And as for whipping you like a dog and getting away with it . . . I haven’t seen one thing to make me think I couldn’t.”
Talbott’s face was flushed with anger and the gun in his hand was trembling. “I’ll kill you, too, while I’m at it. That’d show Bethany what kind of weak fool you are.”
“You’ve already shown her what kind of man you are,” Aldus said in a voice that was as steady as his hands. “Since her boy is here, I think it’d be good for me to whip you again so he can see.”
One skill that helped any fighter didn’t have anything to do with his fists. It was the fine art of baiting another man to charge recklessly into a brawl. Anger might have put some power behind his swings, but an enraged man’s thoughts were scattered and every movement he made was wild. The only problem with that strategy was that if that angry man got a hold of the fighter who’d taunted him, the bout would most likely be over.
Aldus knew what he was doing when he’d spoken those words, and the cruel smirk he wore when saying them was more than enough to push Talbott over the edge. He flew at Aldus while firing his gun, but his target was already on the move. Aldus ran away from the stove and toward the middle of the room before circling in to charge at Talbott. His ears were ringing and his heart was beating so fast that he lost track of whether Talbott’s gun had been emptied or not. He swung the Schofield at Talbott’s head, hoping to knock the man out with one blow, only to have the pistol knocked from his hand.
Rather than try to retrieve the firearm, Aldus fell back on what he knew. His hands balled into fists and he drove a few straight, chopping blows into Talbott’s ribs. When he saw Talbott bring his gun around, Aldus reached out to grab his wrist in his left hand and pull it across the front of his body. That took Talbott off his balance, but not completely. Aldus hung on to Talbott’s wrist with both hands and jammed his back against the other man’s chest. Pulling Talbott’s arm down while bending forward, Aldus lifted him from his feet and flipped Talbott onto the floor. From there, Aldus twisted Talbott’s hand as hard as he could until the man beneath him let out a yelp and dropped his gun.
“Get out of here, James!” Aldus shouted.
The boy was terrified but managed to pull himself up. He stopped and looked over at his mother. Bethany was coming around and pulling herself to her feet.
“Go!” Aldus shouted. “I’ll see to her!”
James rushed over to his mother so they could both hurry toward the door.
Dropping to one knee, Aldus put his left hand flat on Talbott’s chest and dropped his right fist down like a pickax. His knuckles thumped solidly against Talbott’s face, opening a cut that had been put there when he’d hit him outside the Kolby Arms Hotel. Talbott’s arms flailed wildly, catching Aldus in the stomach and ribs in a series of thrashing punches. Aldus didn’t feel any of them land. He was too angry and too intent on putting his opponent down for the count.
“Give it up, Nate,” Aldus said after he delivered a jarring blow to Talbott’s jaw. “This ain’t gonna end the way you want it. Just give up before things get any worse.”
Talbott looked up at him wearing an expression that showed he was beyond the capacity of rational thought. Suddenly he smiled through the bloody mask covering his face and said, “Worse for you is more like it.”
Aldus felt a punch skim across his midsection. A biting pain followed the brush of knuckles, causing him to recoil reflexively and grab at the stinging section of his stomach. Warm blood spilled across his fingers, confirming that the wound across his belly most certainly hadn’t been put there by a punch. Looking down, he saw a hunting knife clutched in Talbott’s hand. Sometime during the struggle, the man on the floor must have snatched it from the scabbard hanging from his belt.
Aldus clutched a hand to his gut and put some distance between himself and the blade as Talbott climbed to his feet. There wasn’t a lot of blood soaking into Aldus’s shirt, and a few quick glances down told him that the cut wasn’t very deep. It ran across most of his stomach just beneath his breastbone, which meant he could have been gutted if Talbott had had a bit more strength in that arm.
“Come on, big man,” Talbott said, sneering. “Get a little closer so I can finish the job.”
Aldus came at him like a bull with head down and legs pumping for all they were worth. Whether it was a good idea or not, he didn’t have many options. Talbott cocked his arm back for a powerful stab, but Aldus got to him before he could follow through. Grabbing hold of Talbott’s shirt with both hands, Aldus swung him around and slammed him against the table. Talbott managed to keep from falling down by reaching back with his free hand to brace himself. Pushing off from the table, he slashed with his knife while spewing obscenities like so much poison.
Waiting until another swing came at him, Aldus stepped in and wrapped an arm around Talbott’s arm to stop the knife from coming any farther. He cinched in his grip and almost snapped Talbott’s elbow, but the crazed man still didn’t relinquish his weapon. Even after Aldus pounded his fist into Talbott’s body and head, the blade still remained where it was. Aldus was about to try to take his opponent down once more when Talbott swung his knee up to slam into Aldus’s stomach. Not only did the impact force a good portion of the breath from his lungs, but Aldus was overcome by scalding pain from the cut across his stomach. His knees buckled and he couldn’t do anything but drop.
Talbott grabbed a handful of Aldus’s hair and pulled his head back to expose his throat. Grinning triumphantly, he raised the knife in preparation for the killing blow.
A gunshot blasted through the kitchen, causing Talbott to look toward the doorway. Aldus took that opportunity to grab both of Talbott’s ankles and flip his legs out from under him. Standing up, Aldus reached down and took the knife from Talbott’s hand.
Standing in the doorway, Bethany had one hand on James’s shoulder and the other holding Aldus’s Schofield in a shaky grip. Both she and her son were white as ghosts.
Aldus pointed toward the door to the next room and said, “Get out of here right now, you hear?”
“Aren’t you gonna finish him off?” James asked.
“He’s already finished. There’s nothing to be gained by kicking a man when he’s down.”
When he heard movement behind him, Aldus twisted around to face Talbott. The fallen man was crawling on all fours toward the pistol he’d dropped. Walking straight toward him
, Aldus brought the hunting knife down to place it on Talbott’s throat. “You touch that pistol and I’ll put an end to you,” he said.
Talbott looked past him to James and Bethany.
“I’m trying to set a good example for that boy by not killing you,” Aldus said as he scooped up the pistol Talbott had dropped. “Why don’t you set one by owning up to the mess you made?”
Talbott drew himself up onto his knees. His head hung low as if everything that had happened suddenly fell onto his shoulders. When Aldus told him to get up, he didn’t protest in the slightest.
Bethany’s eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with tears.
“Best take James outside,” Aldus told her.
Talbott smiled and stretched out both arms. “It ain’t too late, darlin’. I love y—”
She pulled her trigger and the Schofield sent a round blazing through Talbott’s shin. He spun around like one of the targets in Hayes’s shooting gallery and flopped onto the floor.
“Don’t you ever speak a word to me again,” she said. “And don’t show your face around here or to my boys for the rest of your days.”
Lifting Talbott to his feet, Aldus held him upright as he hopped around and wailed in pain. “This is all your doing,” Aldus said. “You’ll take your medicine.”
Talbott hung on to consciousness by a thread as Aldus helped him out of the kitchen. Before they got too far, the front door busted open and two men stormed inside. “Raise your hands! Drop your guns!” the man leading the charge said.
Bethany moved past the other two. “It’s all right, Sheriff! It’s over.”
“There were shots.” Glancing down at Talbott’s leg, the lawman nodded. “Did this one cause the trouble?”
“Yes. I can tell you everything that happened, and my boys are witnesses,” she said. “Mr. Bricker here kept Nate from killing us.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have everyone tell me what happened. My deputy here can keep an eye on Nate. First off, I’ll need those guns.”
As the lawmen collected the guns along with Talbott’s hunting knife, Hayes poked his nose inside. “Thought you could use a hand, Aldus. I wanted to come in and help you myself, but I thought fetching the law might do more good.”
“You did the right thing,” the sheriff said. “Now, how about you bring Dr. Fagan out here? His office is at the corner of Second and Douglas not far from mine.”
Before he made a move, Hayes looked at Aldus and asked, “You need anything?”
“Go on and get the doc,” Aldus replied. “I got what I need.”
Chapter 27
Sheriff Dreyer was a soft-spoken man who knew Nate Talbott all too well. He listened to Bethany tell him about how Talbott had forced his way into her home and frightened her children. Michael had slipped away, fetched her from the tailor shop, and brought her back to the house. Before Aldus showed up, Talbott had been ranting about reclaiming what he thought he owned, and when Bethany took a stand against him, he knocked her out. Aldus told the sheriff about the ensuing scuffle as Dr. Fagan wrapped up Talbott’s leg well enough for him to be moved directly into a jail cell.
“What will happen now?” Bethany asked.
The sheriff scratched his head. “I’ll keep hold of him until Judge Stephenson can preside over a trial. From what I heard, he shouldn’t have to wait long before being carted off to the prison out near Lincoln.”
She nodded and the lawmen started filing out of her home. Without another word, Aldus walked over and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Bethany kissed him deeply and when she finally pulled away, she whispered, “Thank you.”
• • •
A few days passed and Talbott had already been taken to Lincoln, where he was to stand trial. Night was approaching, Hayes was taking inventory, and Aldus was touching up the paint on the targets in the shooting gallery.
“I’d say it’s about time to move on,” Hayes announced. “The sales here were better than expected, but there’s bigger stops to make.”
“You pulled in a good amount from those railroad men in Omaha, didn’t you?” Aldus asked.
“Yes, indeed. They’re always wanting better rifles. I hear Augustus and those men of his guard a mighty big sum of money that’s used to pay Union Pacific workers from here all the way out to California! Once they see how well those Winchesters work out, they’ll be back for more. Until then, I say we head back down into the Kansas and Missouri circuit.”
Aldus leaned in so he could make sure every inch of the little iron circle in front of him was coated in bright red. “I believe . . . I’ll be staying here for a spell.”
“All right, then. I can pay you your percentage of what we made here, which should give you a good start.”
Setting his brush down, Aldus straightened up and turned to look at Hayes. “That’s it? I didn’t expect tears, but . . .”
Hayes walked toward him wearing a wide grin. “I’ve seen you with Bethany. She’s a fine woman. I’ve also seen you with them boys. If you didn’t decide to stay after all the time and effort it took for you to get here, I would have cursed you for having rocks in your head.”
“Can’t argue with you there.”
“So, what’s the plan? Are you going to settle here for good? Build a house? Marry that sweet woman and live in hers?”
“I don’t know,” Aldus said earnestly. “All I’m certain of is that I’m supposed to be here. I can’t change what happened before, so I’ll take what I was given now and run with it as far as I can.”
“What will you do to earn a living?” Raising his bushy eyebrows, Hayes added, “You could always take up the firearms trade.”
“Edmund over at the Kolby Arms offered me a job there making certain none of the customers get out of line. The owners of the two biggest saloons here in town made me pretty good offers for the same kind of work. That should see me through for a while.”
“Thought you’d had enough of earning with your fists.”
Aldus shrugged. “It’s what I’m good at. Doesn’t have to be forever. You could always settle here as well, you know. Every town needs a blacksmith or two.”
“I’ll consider it,” Hayes said. “Mind if I check in on you whenever I’m in the area? Perhaps call on you for some help in a circuit that won’t take you far from home?”
“I insist on it.”
“Why don’t we have one last drink before we start breaking down the gallery? I assume you won’t leave before you help me with that at least.”
Aldus winced. “Of course, but will you be able to do that without me later on?”
“There’s always able-bodied men to hire for that sort of work. I did manage to function before you signed on, you know.”
“Right,” Aldus said as he looked toward Second Street. Bethany and the boys were standing there waving at him. Their smiles could be seen from a distance, and hers shone brighter than the setting sun.
“We don’t have to start on the gallery now,” Hayes said. “Go on and enjoy your evening.”
“Why don’t you join us for supper? Bethany’s not the best cook, but her food’s better than what they serve at the hotel.”
“I wouldn’t want to be an imposition.”
“Nonsense! Come on. The boys will get a kick out of seeing you do some of your pistol-spinning tricks.”
Hayes brightened immediately. “Well, I may be out of practice. Of course, who am I to deny such an eager audience?”
As Aldus strode toward them, Michael and James came right up and climbed all over him. Picking up Michael was almost as easy for Aldus as picking up his hat, although he did wince at the jab of pain from his bandaged midsection. He held on to the little boy while giving Bethany a lingering hug.
“What did you learn in school today, boys?” Aldus asked.
Michael was first to say, “
I’m learning how to read! Want me to show you?”
“I would. In fact, I’m sure you could teach me a lot on that subject.”
Ever since he’d sent his first letter to Bethany, Aldus had imagined plenty of ways for their reunion to turn out. This wasn’t exactly one of them.
It was far, far better.
Chapter 28
Kearney, Nebraska
The town of Kearney had seen better days. So had Wes Cavanaugh. Empty storefronts lined most of the main streets, scattered in among businesses that were struggling to stay afloat. While such a downturn didn’t do anything for local commerce, it gave Wes plenty of choices when he was searching for a rooftop overlooking the train station. He settled on the shell of a feed store as his post, and he crouched behind its warped old sign as Mose tried to look inconspicuous near the platform.
After nearly getting caught while scouting in Omaha, Wes had been prepared to take the Union Pacific payrolls down at his first opportunity. Unfortunately the armed guards became skittish after that night and closed ranks until the train steamed westward.
Wes had paid too much for his information and he’d be damned if he was going to let his biggest robbery slip through his fingers. So, instead of allowing the number 24 train to go about its way, he and Mose rode after it. They’d done enough scouting to pick up on patterns within the rotation of the guards and the habits of the men on board. If they could wait until the train made a stop and let enough of its men off to stretch their legs and make their rounds, Wes figured he and Mose could still blast their way on board and ride away with more than enough to make the venture worth their while.
Five of the ten men had stepped off the train, escorting two small strongboxes bound for parts unknown. Wes didn’t care where those boxes were headed. There were only five men left on the train, and they looked bored. Two of them wandered toward a saloon across the street from the station, giving Wes the chance he’d been waiting for.
Ralph Compton Straight Shooter Page 25
