by Jake Logan
Up ahead at a small rancho, Huggy collected money for the stolen cattle from a scruffy-looking gringo. The cattle had been driven into a small corral just beside the squatty little jacal where the man apparently lived. Two other nasty-looking white men lounged around a second corral a little farther to the back. In this one were horses. Huggy and his two partners grinned at the money they had made as Huggy stuffed it in his pocket.
“Hey,” said Stopes. “Some of that’s ours.”
“We’ll split it up later,” said Huggy. “Right now, let’s get going.”
“Huggy’s right,” said Barber. “We don’t want to waste any time around here.”
“Come back when you’ve got some more,” the dirty man said.
“You’ll be seeing us,” said Huggy as he mounted up. He turned his horse quickly and rode away fast with Barber and Stopes close behind him. They had not ridden far when Huggy took a surprise turn.
“Where you going?” said Stopes.
“Take a different trail back,” Huggy shouted. “In case anyone follered us.”
“Oh,” said Stopes.
“Good idea,” said Barber.
The sun was low in the sky by the time Slocum and the others reached the little rancho. The dirty man who had dealt with Huggy came walking toward them, his face twisted into a sneering question. The other two lurked behind, leaning on the edge of an old wagon. Slocum reached the man first. He hauled back on his reins and stopped just in front of the man.
“You want something?” the man asked.
“We trailed some stolen cattle down here,” said Slocum.
“I buy all the stock I have here,” the man said.
“I’ll bet you do,” said Speer, who had ridden up beside Slocum. Ritchie and Everett came up close behind. Everett craned his neck, looking into the corral.
“There’s our cattle right there,” he said.
“You sure?” Speer asked.
“Hell,” said Everett, “I can read the brand from here, and if I ain’t mistaken, that looks like Dave Mix’s horses back yonder.”
“Let’s take a closer look,” said Speer. He nudged his horse forward, but one of the men leaning on the wagon suddenly cranked a shell into the chamber of his rifle and held it up ready to fire.
“Stay back,” he said.
Speer hauled back on his reins. “Whoa. Hold up,” he said. “Mister, all I want is to take a closer look at them horses.”
“What for?” said the man standing in front of Slocum.
“I told you,” Slocum said. “We’re trailing stolen stock.”
“And I told you I paid for all this stuff. If it was stole north of the border, that don’t mean nothing down here.”
“Mister,” said Ritchie, “I don’t take well to my cows being stolen from me.”
“I don’t blame you. If I was you, I’d take it up with them that stole them.”
“What are their names?” Slocum asked.
“I’m a businessman name of Duffy. Maybe you heard of me? I got a reputation in the business. I don’t tell tales. That’s what brings me business.”
“I never heard of you,” said Ritchie.
“How’d a gringo like you get in business down here?” said Slocum.
“I bought this spread off a big ranchero,” said Duffy. “I kind of keep him supplied with good beef and good horses.”
Ritchie looked longingly at the cattle in the pen. Duffy was watching him. “I’ll let you go over there if you want to kiss them good-bye, mister,” Duffy said, “but that’s all you’re gonna get from here.”
“Why you—”
“Shut up, Ritchie,” said Slocum. “Boys, we’ve done all we can here. Let’s ride out.”
“We followed my cattle all the way down here, and I—”
“Come on,” said Slocum. “Let’s ride.”
“He’s being smart,” said Duffy. “I’d listen to him was I you.”
Ritchie whipped his horse around and started riding away. Everett and Speer followed. Slocum waited a beat, tipped his hat, and said, “Be seeing you, Duffy.” Then he turned his horse and followed the others. They had ridden away from the little rancho far enough that they could not be seen when Slocum called out to them.
“Hold up a minute,” he said.
They all stopped their horses. Ritchie gave Slocum a hard look. “What the hell is it now?” he asked.
“We didn’t have much of a chance back there,” Slocum said. “There was two of them behind a wagon with rifles ready. I say we change the odds around a bit.”
“What you got in mind, Slocum?” said Speer.
“I got in mind going home with the cattle and the horses.”
Slocum and the others left their horses back out of sight and approached the little jacal on foot. Each man was carrying a rifle. Each had his chamber loaded and was ready for a fight. When they got close to the jacal, they could not see any of the three men. Smoke was rising from the small chimney. They were all apparently inside, possibly preparing their evening meal. It was hot outside. There was no other reason for a fire. Slocum directed the men to spread out so that they had the house covered from three sides. They moved in more closely. Slocum raised his Winchester to his shoulder and took careful aim. He squeezed the trigger and easily knocked the flimsy metal chimney off the roof. The jacal was filling with smoke. Soon, it could be seen coming out under the door and out the windows. He could hear the men hacking and coughing inside. He saw a rifle being poked out a window. It fired, but the shot was wild. There was no way the man could have known what he was shooting at.
The front door flew open, and the three men came running out, rifles in their hands, firing as they ran. Slocum and the others fired back. Two of the men dropped in their tracks and did not move. The third made it behind the wagon. He fired a couple of wild shots. Four rifles barked, shooting back at the man, splintering the sides of the old wagon.
“Hold your fire,” Slocum called out suddenly. There were a couple more shots, and then there was silence. There was a long silence. At last, the man behind the wagon, out of patience, stood up to look around for someone to shoot at. His rifle was up in his shoulder, but he could not find a target. A shot sounded from somewhere. Slocum did not know who fired it. He didn’t really care. He saw the man stagger backward, twitch, and fall.
“Let’s go get the stock,” Slocum called out. “But move in careful. Someone in there might not be dead.”
There was no need for the warning. Duffy and the other two men were dead as desert rocks. Everett went back for the horses, and in a short while, Slocum and the other three men were driving Ritchie’s cattle and Mix’s horses back across the border.
Back at Mix’s ranch, Charley Hill brought Preacher Harp into the ranch house. Helen Lester greeted him with a big smile. “I’m so glad you could come out, Reverend,” she said. “I know we didn’t give you much warning.”
“It’s all in a day’s work in the service of the Lord,” Harp said. “Where is the groom?”
“He’ll be out in a minute,” Helen said.
The door to the bedroom opened and Dave Mix came out, held up by a cowboy on each arm. He walked gingerly, wincing in pain with each step. Harp looked as if he were hurting along with Mix.
“I ain’t never seen a groom at the altar in this kind a shape before,” he said.
“Dave had an accident recently,” said Helen, “but we wanted to get married, and we saw no reason to put it off. I need to be with him now especially, to take care of him.”
“That’s a wonderful and godly attitude for you to take, sister,” said Harp. “Now you fellows hold him up in front of that chair so that he can sit down soon as it’s time. We don’t want to keep him on his feet for too long.”
“Thank you, Reverend,” said Helen.
The cowboys moved Mix to just in front of an overstuffed chair, and Helen moved to take her place beside him. Harp stepped just in front of them and opened his book to read.
; “Dearly beloved,” he said, his voice stentorian, “we are gethered up here to join this here man and woman up together in holy matrimony, which is a fine kind of a state to be in. Uh, kin you hold her hand, son?”
Mix pulled his arm loose from the one cowhand and took Helen’s hand in his. He only wobbled a little bit.
Slocum and the others made it back across the border and relaxed a little bit. Speer pulled out his badge and pinned it back on.
“We gonna make it back in the dark?” he asked.
“I think we can make it without having to bed down,” Ritchie said.
“One thing’s for sure,” said Slocum.
“What’s that?” asked Speer.
“If those ole boys steal any more animals, they’re going to have to look for another place to sell them.”
7
The outlaw gang made it safely back to their shack in the hills outside of Hangdog. They rejoiced in the shack while Huggy counted their money and divided it up three ways. Huggy stuffed his share in his pockets. Barber held his out in front of his eyes staring at it. Stopes allowed his to drop to the table and scatter. Then he gathered it all up and let it scatter again.
“Boys,” said Huggy, “let’s go into town and have ourselves a steak dinner and then a few drinks.”
“Is that smart?” said Stopes. “After what we just done?”
“That sheriff’s liable to be after us,” said Barber.
“Hell, he already knows where to find us, don’t he?”
“Yeah,” said Barber. “I was thinking about that too. Maybe we’d ought to move.”
“Where’d we move to? Huh? Where?”
“Well, I—”
“I’m telling you, the sheriff ain’t got a damn thing on us. Stopes told him we was up here prospecting, and that’s all he knows. The only witness to what we done is dead. So what have we got to worry about? Nothing. Not a damn thing. I don’t care if you boys come with me or not. I’m going to town.”
“A steak would taste good,” said Barber. He glanced at Stopes. “What do you say?”
Stopes thought a moment. He rubbed his wounded arm. “Let’s go,” he said.
Slocum, Speer, Ritchie, and Everett made it back to Ritchie’s ranch, where they delivered the cattle. Then Slocum and Speer rode to Mix’s place with the horses. Charley Hill met them there. He rode up quickly. “You got them,” he called out. “Where’d you find them?”
“We found them across the border,” said Slocum. He looked at Speer. “Me and Ritchie and Everett found them. Speer waited for us on this side. Your horses and Ritchie’s cattle. I don’t believe Ritchie’s behind all this trouble you been having. Whoever stole these horses also stole his cattle. They sold them at the same place.”
“You didn’t catch the rustlers then?” said Hill.
“Nope.”
“They got away,” said Speer.
“What about the man who bought the critters? Would he tell who sold them?”
“Wouldn’t say a word,” said Speer. Then realizing that he had just given himself away, he added quickly, “That’s what Slocum said.”
“Any chance of making him talk?” Hill asked.
“Not anymore,” said Slocum. “Him and his three pards are deader’n hell.”
“You killed them?”
“They didn’t want to give up the cattle and horses they’d just bought. I didn’t see that we had much choice.”
“I’ll be damned,” said Hill. “So it ain’t Ritchie.”
“I’d place a bet on it,” said Slocum. “How’s Davey doing?”
“He’s coming along. Stood up and got hitched yesterday.”
“He did?” said Slocum. “Well, I’ll be damned. You reckon we can bust in on him and see how he’s doing?”
“I don’t see no reason against it. I can take care of these horses now if you want to ride on over to the house.”
“Thanks,” said Slocum. “We’ll do that.”
Helen opened the door after Slocum knocked. “Oh,” she said, surprised. “Hello, Slocum, Sheriff. Won’t you come in?”
Slocum and Speer removed their hats and stepped inside.
“I guess it’s Mrs. Mix now,” said Slocum.
She smiled. “That’s right,” she said. “I suppose you came to see Dave? I believe he’s awake and sitting up. Follow me.”
She crossed the room and stood in the bedroom doorway. “Dave, you have visitors,” she said. Then she stepped out of the way to allow the two men to enter.
“Slocum,” said Mix, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Thaddeus. Come on in. What the hell have you two been up to?”
“We’ve got some news for you, Davey,” Slocum said.
“Is it good news?”
“Well, I think it is.”
“Let me have it then.”
“I kind of wanted to ask you how you’re feeling first,” Slocum said.
“Aw, I’m doing all right. I’ll be up and out of this bed in another day or two. What’s the news?”
“We heard there was a wedding here,” said Speer.
“Oh, yeah,” said Mix. “Me and Helen got ourselves hitched up.”
“That was kind of sudden, wasn’t it?” said Slocum.
“Naw. We’d been planning it all along. We just decided to go on ahead and do it. That’s all. Now what’s the news?”
Slocum wrinkled his brow at Mix’s response, but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he said, “You had some horses stole. Did anyone tell you about it?”
“No,” said Mix, sitting up straighter, an angry look spreading over his face. “Why the hell—”
“Hold on,” Slocum said. “We thought it best not to worry you with it. Not till we got them back.”
“Did you?”
“We just brought them in.”
“Who done it? Ritchie?”
“Whoever done it stole some of Ritchie’s cattle at about the same time,” Slocum said. “We found them all together down across the border. They’d all been sold to the same buyer. He wouldn’t talk, and he wouldn’t give up the animals either. Not till we killed him and his pards.”
“So you still don’t know who’s responsible?”
“No,” Slocum said. “But it’s pretty damn sure that it ain’t Ritchie.”
“Goddamn,” said Mix. “I really thought it was him. I sure did.”
“I told you all along you was jumping the gun,” said Speer.
“Yeah,” said Mix. “I guess you did. I guess I might just owe Ritchie an apology.”
“You want us to send him out to see you?” Speer asked.
“Yeah,” said Mix. “Not just now, though. Give me a couple of days. Tell him I ain’t quite up to it just now. Okay?”
“Okay,” Speer said.
“Not Ritchie,” said Mix. “I wonder who the hell it is.”
“We’ve got a pretty good idea,” said the sheriff. “We just ain’t got proof. At least not yet. We’re watching them, though.”
“Well?” said Mix. “Who is it?”
“Three scruffy-looking bastards staying at one of them abandoned shacks up on the hill with the old abandoned mines. Claim they’re prospecting.”
“That don’t make sense,” said Mix.
“That’s what I told them. They said they know something I don’t know. They could just be three fools chasing after a rainbow. But I’m suspicious.”
“Keep me informed, will you?” said Mix.
“You bet.”
Huggy and his partners rode into Hangdog and tied their horses in front of Brenda’s Place. There was a small crowd already eating. They found one of the few tables left and sat down. Most of Brenda’s customers looked at them with curiosity. Not that many strangers came through Hangdog, and these three were especially curious. Ragged and dirty, they had the look of wolfers, or just tramps. They did not look like the kind of people to come into a respectable restaurant and order a meal. Brenda came over to their table. “What can I do f
or you?” she asked.
“We come in to eat,” Stopes said.
“Well, that’s what I’m here for,” Brenda said.
“Steaks,” said Huggy. “Three big juicy steaks.”
“Taters and bread and gravy and beans,” said Barber.
“You want three steaks with potatoes, gravy, and beans on the side? Is that right?”
“And bread,” said Barber.
“Bread comes with it,” said Brenda. “Something to drink?”
“You got whiskey?”
“No. I’m sorry. I’m not allowed to sell whiskey in here. You’ll have to go over to one of the saloons for that.”
“Bring us some coffee,” said Huggy. “That’ll do.”
Outside, Slocum and Speer were riding into town. “You hungry, Speer?” Slocum asked.
“We ain’t et all day,” said Speer. “Course I’m hungry.”
“Brenda’s?”
“Sure.”
They dismounted and tied their horses in front of Brenda’s Place. “Looks busy,” said Speer.
“Maybe she’ll get rich,” said Slocum.
“By God,” said Speer, “I hope she does.”
They stepped inside and immediately, they both spotted the phony prospectors. Speer started to make a move, but Slocum stopped him. “Let’s just eat,” he said. They sat down and ordered their meal. Soon, they were drinking coffee. Both of them were watching the three men. They watched when Brenda delivered their steaks and refilled their cups, and they watched when the three men dug into their food like they had never eaten out in public before. Grease ran down Huggy’s chin, and he wiped it off with his grimy sleeve. In another minute, Slocum’s and Speer’s meals were served to them. They ate, but they kept watching the three men. Huggy noticed Speer’s badge.
“Don’t twist your necks, boys,” he said in a low voice, “but the sheriff’s over yonder looking at us.”
“I told you—”
“Shut up, Stopes,” said Huggy. “There ain’t a damn thing he can do.”
“Don’t let it spoil your eats,” said Barber. “He ain’t even spoke to us. He’s just in here eating, same as us.”
