by Jake Logan
“I’ll be there.” She nodded to the four men, who had stood up for her, and she winked at Slocum. “Have a nice afternoon,” she said to them and left on the run.
“Interesting young lady,” Blake said.
“Some of my best help,” Slocum said. “I better get on the way myself. I’ll see you at the slaughter pens.”
“I appreciate your cooperation,” Blake said. “Unfortunate for both of us that Rensler’s greed turned so violent. We are sorry about your losses and the men killed. As I said, it was not any plan of the company’s, but his own ideas. We were paying him enough he had no need to steal.”
“I understand.” Slocum shook hands with the man again, and then with the other three. “I hope we have a good business relationship for a long time.”
“So do we,” the younger man said, with a weary shake of his head.
They all laughed.
Outdoors, Katy had brought around the two horses that had been saddled for the day in case they were needed. Slocum gave her a boost aboard and slapped her pony on the rump as she sped off.
He checked the cinch on his, nodded to Hoosie and Buddy, and swung into the seat. “You two are in charge.”
“We can handle it.” Hoosie said, beaming at him.
He watched his tomboy Katy headed northeast in a hard run. He waved at the railroad men ready to leave, and then he rode off to get to the telegraph office. He hoped that Austin was in town working so Slocum could get a reply as soon as possible. His boss’d never miss fifty head, but despite Slocum’s idea that it was an extra fat deal, he wanted a nod from the man.
It was supper time when he rode into Vinita and dismounted at the wire office. Inside, the man under the celluloid visor looked up. “Yes sir?”
“I need to telegram my boss in San Antonio.”
“I can do that for you.”
Slocum picked up the lead pencil.
JAKE AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO STOCKYARDS, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.
THE KANSAS CITY IRON AND STEEL BUILDING A RAIL LINE ACROSS THE NORTHERN INDIAN TERRITORY WANTS US TO SUPPLY BEEF TO THEM LIVE AT SIXTEEN CENTS A POUND. I SAID YES. THEY MAY SOON USE MORE THAN THE HEAD I HAVE IN INVENTORY HERE. I WILL WIRE MY NEEDS IF YOU APPROVE. SLOCUM
“Do you expect an answer?” the clerk asked.
“Yes. If I’m not here, I’ll be at the King’s Best Hotel. Get me up if you need to.”
“We can do that,” he promised, asking for sixty cents for the cost of the wire.
Slocum decided the process would require at least twelve hours if Austin was in town. He waved to the telegraph man and left the office to put his horse up at the livery. The street was crowded with farm wagons, bicycles, horseback riders, and several men in top hats. Other heads bore unshaped cowboy hats with eagle feathers trailing behind their owners like wives who were wrapped in blankets.
He found Hank, the liveryman, who asked how the new cowboys liked their job. The man took his reins.
“Fine, I guess. I’ve been too busy to ask.” Slocum shook his head in disbelief over that situation.
At that instant, he spotted the muzzle of a rifle at the side of the harness and saddle shop that was pointed in his direction. “Get down.”
He dove for cover, and the muzzle belched gun smoke. On his belly with his gun drawn, Slocum thumbed off two shots in the direction of the rifle he’d seen. Both shots chipped wood off the corner of the building.
“You all right?” Slocum asked Hank as he struggled to his feet.
“He never hit me.”
The man who owned the harness shop ran outside. “Who in the hell’s shooting at my place?”
“Get back inside, Buster,” Hank shouted at him. “There’s a crazy person over there shooting at us.”
He obeyed as Slocum sprinted to the spot where the unseen sniper had been, six-gun in his fist. But the sound of horses tearing off from behind the harness shop told him he should have gone mounted. The rider—or riders; he thought there was more than one—had rounded the corner, and they were already out of sight.
Behind the building, Slocum stopped a man. “You know them riders?”
The man, who was unloading some rolled-up leather hides for the shop, shook his head. “Never seen them two before. They damn sure lit out after the shots were fired.”
“What did their hats look like?” Slocum holstered his gun. That might be a thing he could identify.
The man stopped and frowned. “One guy wore one that was torn in front like a dog had chewed on it.”
Slocum nodded as Hank and the local law came running down the space between the shop and the building next door.
“Mister, you can’t shoot your gun off in town.”
Slocum shrugged. “Tell that to the ones who got away. They started it.”
Hank tried to intercede. “There was a rifleman shooting at us.”
The lawman shook his head wildly. “Don’t matter. There ain’t to be no shooting in the city limits.”
Slocum looked up at his own hat brim for help. “Whoever it was, was shooting at us.”
“I don’t give a damn. The laws says—”
Hank shouted, “Emitt, Emitt, talk sensible!”
“Godamnit, you can’t fire a firearm in the city limits. That’s the law.”
“Go arrest ’em,” Slocum said, still wondering who’d taken the shot at him. He had enough enemies to fill a book with names. Starting with Rensler and his crew, whoever was left of them, plus the Hudson brothers if they were still in the country and had gotten wind of Slocum’s pursuit. Maybe someone else affected by the loss of the beef contract wanted revenge. No telling, but he’d be a damn sight more aware from there on.
He apologized to Emitt to soothe the man. Then he went back across the street with Hank.
“I never saw their faces,” the liveryman said. “Lucky he missed us and your horse.”
Slocum shook his head and chuckled. “All three of us are lucky we aren’t in jail together with my horse charged as an accessory.”
“Aw, Emitt means well. He just gets all fired up when folks go to wild shooting. I think the city council warned him if there was any more of it they’d fire him.”
“Thanks. I may have to stay here for a few days to clear up my business. Grain my horse. I might have some hard riding to do.”
“We can handle it.”
“Meanwhile, I’m going to stay at the King’s Best Hotel, and I expect Katy to join me and put her horse up here too.”
“No problem. Not to be smart, but she sure is a looker.” He shook his head as if impressed.
Slocum agreed and headed for a meal. He hoped, striding the boardwalk, that Austin would answer him in a hurry. He doubted that the man would be angry over the proposed contract—by Slocum’s calculations it could be a very profitable deal for him.
Inside the café, he checked the wall clock. Six-thirty. He took an empty table with a nod from the gal waiting on other customers. “Be right with you, sir.”
“Fine.” Seated, he could wonder about Katy and how successful she had been finding Darby. By this time she should be on her way to town or close. She wouldn’t waste any time getting here, especially with a nice bed at the hotel waiting for the two of them.
He was finishing his meal when a red-faced boy wearing one-strap overalls burst into the room.
“Th-they said you wasn’t checked in, Mr. Slocum.” He handed Slocum a telegram and proudly hung on to the one strap with both hands waiting for his word.
SLOCUM, SOUNDS GREAT. MAKE THE DEAL. SEND ME A LETTER ON CONDITIONS. JAKE
“Want to send a reply?”
“I will write one out for you to send.”
On a used sheet from his pocket, he wrote out his reply in pencil.
SHIP FIRST 50 HEAD TOMORROW. PAY IN A WEEK DEPOSITED IN THE BANK HERE. LETTER TO FOLLOW. JS
“Here’s the money for the wire,” he said, placing the two quarters for the wire. “The extra quarter is for you.”
“A
whole quarter? Wow.” He stared at silver coins in his palm. “You got any more wires coming? I’d sure bring them fast.”
Slocum grinned and shook his head. “Good.”
The boy tore off, and Slocum went back to eating his supper. Going out the door, the boy about swept Katy away. Pleased to see her, Slocum stood up and removed his hat to wave her over.
“Who was that?” she asked.
He motioned for her to take a seat and handed her the paper. She looked up from reading it. “Austin already likes our deal. Boy, wires on the line go fast.”
“I’d say so. And he’s in San Antonio?” she asked, looking amazed as he sat her down.
“Yes, wonderful invention.”
“Faster than lightning.” She shook her head. “Oh, Darby said he could deliver the cattle. He was excited. Said that should make work for the entire crew for a long while.”
He agreed, then ordered her a meal, and the waitress brought it right back.
“It will make work for them boys. Oh, yes, and someone shot at me from cover this afternoon right here in town.”
“Oh, my God. I’m glad he missed.”
“So am I. What’cha looking for?” He couldn’t figure out why she was acting so nervous about looking all around.
“I want to get out of here.”
“You haven’t eaten half of your meal.”
She shook her head to dismiss his concern. “I’ll tell you later. I’m not hungry.”
He left the money and a tip on the table and hurried after her as she headed for the hotel. At the front desk, he told the night clerk to give her the key to the room and for her to go on up to room—
“Twenty-seven. Turn right at the top of the stairs.”
“I can find it. See you up there.” She rushed up to the room and he filled out the registry: Mr. and Mrs. John Howard.
Slocum thanked the young man and went after her. What was wrong with her? He turned the knob and opened the door, and she was lying naked on her back atop the bed.
“Get undressed,” she said, holding the back of her hand to her forehead. “I been thinking about screwing you all day long and I am completely obsessed with the idea. I itch so bad inside, I think I’ll scream.”
When he was undressed, he crossed the room to get inside her outstretched arms. “Oh, save me. . . .”
He’d known other women to be real horny before, but she beat them all. He got on his knees on the bed and aided his oncoming erection a little with his hand. As soon as he was stiff enough to enter her, he waded across the bed to get between her slender parted legs and hoisted his erection inside her wet gates. Ready enough for his entry, she threw her head back and cried out. “Oh, thank you, God. That feels so damn wonderful.”
She moaned and groaned. Cried out loud as he increased the tempo. With each stroke, she humped her skinny ass at him time and time again. Then the muscular spasms inside her began to wrench on his tender, thin-skinned hard-on. He felt the tight knob on the end of his shaft begin to tingle and an unseen hand crush his nuts. In an instant, he came inside her with the fury of a rifle shot and it cut off her screaming. But he knew it wasn’t enough. Never enough.
Sprawled on her back, she moaned softly. “That was better than I ever dreamed it would be. Oh, if anything ever happened to you, I think they would have to put me in the crazy house, I’d be so damn horny. We once had a billy goat that went so mad for sex, he bred five nannies in a row, and two of them weren’t even in heat. Didn’t matter to him how much they bleated and pleaded for him not to, he screwed each one of them till creamy cum ran out of them like blood. Man, he was horny.”
He pulled her knees apart and started to get on her again. “You comparing me to a goat?”
“No, you’re better than that.” Then she hunched up her small ass to accept his shaft. “Lots better.” And they were reunited—again.
After the third time, she collapsed and fell asleep instantly. He curled around her and inserted his dick inside her—that would do her for a while.
He recalled one time being caught alone in a heavy rain in Mississippi during the war and finding a large unburned house. Grateful for the shelter, he knew the message he bore could wait and decided to sit out the storm in the dry interior. Seated on the hardwood floor, because all the furniture had been ransacked and stolen, he unbuttoned his canvas long coat and heard a noise.
A woman was coming down the broad stairs in a lacy nightgown. She called out, “Albert? That you?”
“No, ma’am—”
She never stopped descending the steps. “Oh, Albert, you’re home at last.”
When she reached the bottom flight, she rushed over and hugged Slocum. “Oh, where have you been for so long, my darling?”
She was delirious. He damn sure wasn’t Albert. But what the hell, why not, so he kissed her. Made no difference to her. She had long, tubelike breasts and flowing brown hair. He guessed her to be in her midtwenties. Nothing to do but enjoy his good luck. He kissed her again. This time he pulled the pink ribbon bow that kept the gown up and the garment dissolved downward. He stepped over to hold her smooth, bare body to him and kissed her, tongue and all.
“Is there a bed left?” he whispered and swept her up in his arms.
“One is all,” she said dreamily.
He noticed in a glimpse that she had some stretch marks on her belly. He wondered where her children were at. The stairs weren’t difficult to go up, carrying her in his arms. He found the high bed like an unscathed island in the midst of the dusty hardwood floor in the bedroom, with some gauzy curtains swaying from the wind and the rain outside.
He laid her on the bed and began to undress. Like an upset person, she rolled from side to side on top of the sheet. Naked, he joined her in the bed and kissed her while he probed with his finger for her clit until he could pinch the small erection between his fingers.
“I’m ready,” she slowly whispered. And he climbed aboard.
As he struggled to enter her, she said, sounding drunk, “You can’t get your knee in me, Albert.”
“It’s not my knee, dear.” He spoke softly into her ear.
“Oh, it sure feels like it. Remember, don’t go too deep, not past my ring, my love.”
“Yes—”
His hard probe finally slid past her ring and her fingernails were clawing his back like she’d never experienced anything like it—such deep penetration. But she was so swept up in their performance she must have never noticed his depth as she moaned in pleasure. Her face got lost in her brushed brown hair.
“I never let a man go that deep inside me in my life, not even you, Albert. But I thought I was having a baby again. Oh, had I known—my, my.”
When at last he came and after his dick slipped out of her, she rose up on her elbows and blinked at him, shaking the hair out of her shocked face. “You aren’t Albert, are you?”
“Never said I was.”
“Wait, don’t leave me. He won’t be home till supper time.”
She dropped on her back and held out her arms for him to come down on top of her again. “Forget I ever called you that. Can we do it again? I mean, can you go that deep inside me again?
“Oh, I sound like such a slut, but I haven’t had sex like that since I did it with a black person when I was a teen. He was special. If he’d been white, I’d’ve married him. But even he never went that deep. I hated being pregnant. So uncomfortable, and that big belly of mine, why, Albert could only go in an inch deep when I was that bloated. He’s very short down there. That was why I married him. I had no plans to be pregnant all the time. But you don’t want to talk about that, do you?”
He hoisted his hardening hose back inside her gates. “Where are your children?”
“Under tombstones. They both had the fever and died quickly. I think I’ll have one more by you so I have some company. That damn Albert may not come back. War and all. Ooooh, that feels wonderful.”
He spent twenty-four hours with her and co
uldn’t even recall her name. “The lady in the big house with no furniture” was how he recalled her. He wondered if she ever had another baby and where she was at. Cuddled around his hatchet-assed companion, he smiled to himself. Katy was something else. Then he went over the things he needed to handle.
Cattle delivery would be in twenty-four hours. They’d better go up there to the weighing-in next and watch that operation. Austin would be dying to hear the results of the first sale. Slocum would wire him as soon as he knew the outcome. And then he’d write Austin a letter; there was a small stationary store in Vinita. He’d seen the sign on Main Street as he was riding in there. Then he drifted off to sleep.
In the morning they had another round of thumping each other before sunup, and then they each took a spit bath with the bowl and pitcher on the dresser before pulling on their clothes. They were in the café eating breakfast when the sun began to purple the eastern horizon. The hot coffee tasted heavenly, and Katy winked at Slocum over the cup’s rim.
“You never told me where you live,” she said.
“Wherever I sleep.”
She shrugged her narrow shoulders and turned her attention back to her plate. “I guess that suits you?”
“Are you asking me if I want to settle down and live on a farm?”
“Well—” She looked at him for a long second. “I simply wondered if you ever would do that.”
He shook his head. “I’ve got too big a sugar foot to ever do that.”
“Yeah, you sleep wherever you lie down. If you don’t have something to cover first.” Then she blushed. “Like me.”
He laughed and asked the passing waitress what time the stationary store opened. The gal, a woman in her forties and kinda soggily made, stopped and smiled at both of them. “Oh, I guess eight o’clock or so. You need some paper and an envelope, I can find you some and a pencil. Wait till I get some more coffee poured and I’ll get it for you.”
“No rush.” He thanked her and she went on.
“Who’re you going to write to?” Katy asked.
“Austin. Explain the deal so he knows all about it.”
