by Alan David
‘I’ve got a job, Buck, and it suits me.’
‘Yeah, they say there’s no lawman as tough as the crook turned honest. I’ll bet you’ll show Pommel a thing or two. I’d like to watch as your efforts shock the townsfolk into getting some spine. Before we know what’s going on you’ll have the whole county up in arms, breathing down our necks. I’ve seen you work, Lobo. You’re a damned smart operator.’
‘And that wouldn’t suit Ridge, would it?’ Lobo grinned. ‘You’ve changed, Buck. You’ve got in with some pretty low killers. As I remember it, you used to live according to a code. That’s gone now, hasn’t it?’
‘Times have changed, Lobo. You’ve found that so.’
‘I have. But cold-blooded killing will never change, and there’s been a lot of that around here. You know what I think about that. Yesterday I came across one of your riders; feller by the name o’ Rawlins, shooting at a woman, Stella Stadden. He tried to gun me down. I had to kill him. What’s the matter with Ridge? Riding here I thought, Ridge had got more range now than one man ought to have. What’s he riding folk like the Staddens for?’
‘He’s like everyone else,’ Page answered. ‘He doesn’t like losing anything he’s got. People have been trying to steal parts of Ridge range. You know there is only one way to stop that sort of thing. Ridge is doing it. If he didn’t make an example of one or two people we’d have nesters coming right into this house and squatting. Anyway, I’m just a hired gun around here. Come on and talk with Ridge. He had worked out a deal with you, but that star on your vest puts a different aspect on the matter.’
‘I hear you’re bossing Ridge’s gunmen.’
‘Not really. I’m the fastest gun on the payroll, so the others look to me as their leader. I did organise them in a little war we had. But my job is taking care of Virginia Ridge.’
‘Ridge sets great store by his daughter?’
‘He sure does. Nothing else matters. Come on. The big man is in here.’
Page opened a door and led Lobo into a large study. A wall lined with books caught Lobo’s eye, and he immediately realised that Ridge was different from the other land-grabbing, murdering ranchers he had come across. His attention was attracted to the grossly fat man sitting behind a large leather-topped desk. Lobo stood and stared at Reuben Ridge. The rancher was huge, big boned as well as fleshy. His moon face was wrinkled and lined, baggy with little rolls of fat. His massive neck bulged over his collar, and to Lobo it looked as if Ridge was choking to death. The rancher’s face was bloated and mottled, purple, red, and pasty white around the mouth. There was something peculiar about Ridge’s cow face, and it was several seconds before Lobo spotted it. Ridge had no eyebrows or eyelashes, and the light coloured hair on his wide skull was sparse and patchy.
‘This is Lobo Johnson,’ Page said.
‘He’s wearing a badge.’ Ridge spoke in a deep voice that growled and rumbled in his barrel chest. ‘I thought you said he was an outlaw.’
‘Ask him yourself.’ Page smiled and spread his hands.
‘You’re the feller who’s been killing off my riders, ain’t you?’ rapped Ridge’s aggravating voice. ‘Your coming here like this has saved me a lot of trouble. I was going to send some men after you tomorrow.’
‘And lose them,’ murmured Page.
‘A man’s got to protect himself,’ Lobo said. ‘I like my skin so much I’ll kill to keep it whole. You should do something about your riders, Ridge. They range like a pack of wolves, and cause as much trouble.’
‘I want a good man to boss them now Page has got himself a full-time job with my daughter. Do you think you could handle it? You must be mighty fast with a gun, knocking off my men like you did.’
‘You’re a mite too late with the offer,’ Lobo said. ‘I got a deputy’s job this morning, and that’s why I’m here. This is a court order signed by the judge. You’ve got to be in Pommel tomorrow morning for an inquest on your men, also to attend an enquiry into the deaths of Stadden and his son.’
Ridge’s gimlet eyes bored into Lobo. He looked up at Page.
‘You didn’t tell me the boys killed Stadden and his son.’
‘There’s no need to worry you with every little detail,’ Page replied carefully.
‘But I said no gunplay.’ Ridge turned to Lobo. ‘I fired those riders yesterday for disobeying orders. They were for killing a few of these nesters I’m troubled with. I figure they must have attacked the Stadden place out of spite so the blame would be laid against me. I don’t want needless bloodshed. Did you kill all my riders who went to Stadden’s?’
‘Not all. One of them got a broken arm and leg. A deputy went out last night and fetched him into town. He’s in jail now, and he’ll hang for his part in the killings.’
‘Yeah.’ Ridge rubbed a podgy hand across his moist face. The hot weather must play hell with him, Lobo thought. The immense rancher was sweating profusely. ‘So you’re not going to take this job with me, eh? That means you’re against me.’
‘Give me time to think it over,’ Lobo said.
‘Oh no. A man fast like you are with a gun doesn’t need time to make up his mind on other matters. I’ve heard about you, Johnson. You’ve got a bee in your bonnet about shooting killers, even though you are an outlaw yourself. You’d make a dangerous enemy. That means I’ve got to make you a friend or kill you.’
‘Both those courses would prove difficult,’ Lobo said quickly. ‘I choose my own friends, and I aim to stay alive. You may try to kill me, but you won’t make that move now because most of Pommel know I headed out here today, and if I don’t ride back tonight you’ll have a hundred guns out here at dawn. It’s a funny thing how a bunch of folks won’t act because they haven’t got a leader. But let someone give them an example and then there’s no holding them. I gave them an example yesterday, and this morning there were men on the streets talking of lynching you. You’ve had this range hogtied for years, Ridge, but you can see the change now. You’re smart enough for that.’
‘I don’t care about changes,’ Ridge growled. ‘No one is going to take any of my range from me; not one blade of grass. I’ll kill if I have to.’
‘Well I’ve got to be on my way now,’ Lobo said. ‘I’ve done what I came to do. You’ve been served with notice to appear before the court tomorrow. If you don’t turn up I’ll be back with a posse to fetch you in. That’s the law.’
Ridge was about to comment when the door of the study was opened and the girl Lobo had seen ascending the stairs when he had been standing on the porch, came in. She had changed out of her dress and donned riding gear; a black divided skirt and a well thonged leather jacket. A small black stetson with loose chin strap was perched upon a host of chestnut curls. Lobo stared at the girl. Virginia Ridge, he guessed, and could not take his eyes from her lovely face. She was as brown as an Indian. Her teeth sparkled in her sun darkened features. Her eyes were large and green, fringed by the longest lashes Lobo had ever seen. She paused in the doorway and returned his stare.
‘Lobo Johnson!’ she ejaculated. ‘In the flesh. Lobo Johnson on Big R range.’
‘How do you know me?’ Lobo was astounded. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting you before. If I had I wouldn’t have forgotten you.’ He glanced at Buck Page.
‘I’m Ginny Ridge.’ Her laugh tinkled. ‘Don’t look at Buck as if he’s to blame, although I’ve made him tell all he knows about you.’
‘Which isn’t much,’ Page interposed.
‘Well, what gives?’ Lobo demanded.
‘Three years ago I picked up a Wanted dodger with your picture on it.’ The girl laughed. ‘I fell in love with that picture. I was fourteen then. I guess I know better now. But I’ll never forget your face.’
‘It’s nice to know those pictures weren’t entirely wasted then.’ Lobo grinned at Page. ‘How much are they offering for me now?’
‘The last poster I saw said fifteen hundred dollars.’
‘And I’ve bee
n riding in this direction hoping to find some spot to settle where I ain’t known. I’m too optimistic, that’s for sure.’
‘Are you riding back to Pommel tonight, Mister Johnson?’
‘I am. Your father has been trying to get me to stay. But I’ve got to be moving.’
‘Then perhaps you’ll be good enough to escort me in. I’ve got some buying to do tomorrow.’
‘You know I don’t let you ride anywhere without Page,’ bellowed Ridge. ‘Buck will take you in and bring you back.’
‘I shall be perfectly safe in Mister Johnson’s company, Father,’ she said coldly. ‘There’s no danger to me in this country. I’m sure the folk around here won’t hold me responsible for what you do.’
‘What about the shot someone took at you the other week?’ Ridge was furious. ‘I pay Page a lot of money to take care of you. He’s my best gunman.’
‘Then he ought to be ashamed of himself for taking money for nothing. That shot at me was nothing more than a hunter’s bullet. If you want he can ride into Pommel tomorrow and bring me back here. But for once I want to go out alone. You’ll look out for me in town, won’t you, Mister Johnson?’
‘I’ll be glad to, Miss Ridge,’ he said gravely. ‘I’ll allow that you won’t be in any danger in these parts. Only enemies of Reuben Ridge walk in danger in this country, and you’re no enemy.’
‘I’m likely to be just that,’ Ginny said, flashing her eyes, ‘if I get much more wet-nursing by a gunman.’
‘All right, have it your way.’ Ridge sighed. ‘You’d better take good care of her, Johnson. I’ll be in town tomorrow to see the judge. Be ready to come back when I leave, Ginny. Page, go tell the men detailed for that little job to forget it until some other time.’
‘And don’t decide to ride out to Pommel tonight,’ snapped Ginny. ‘I want some time away from you.’
‘I might just ride into town tonight for some pleasure,’ Page said coldly in his quiet voice.
‘If you do,’ said Lobo, ‘come and look me up and I’ll buy you a beer. We could talk over old times.’
‘I’ll certainly come and look you up,’ Page said tightly as he walked to the door.
‘Well,’ said Ridge, when Page had gone. ‘I want to see you as soon as I ride into town tomorrow, Lobo, before I go to see the judge. Think about that job with me. It would be to your advantage. A man of your prow ought to be making more than a deputy sheriff’s pay.’
‘I’m known as Ben Johnson in Pommel,’ Lobo said, ‘for obvious reasons.’
‘I’ll be along about noon,’ Ridge said. ‘Come and see me at the hotel.’
‘I might do that,’ Lobo said. ‘Now I must be leaving. Are you ready to ride, Miss Ridge?’
The girl walked out of the house in front of Lobo. Lobo’s hands touched his gunbutts as he stepped off the porch. A dozen of Ridge’s gunmen were standing around near where Lobo’s horse was hitched. His prisoner, and the man’s horse, was gone. Lobo’s lips tightened. Perhaps this was how Page was feeling him out. Lobo turned to the gunman who stood talking a dozen feet away with two others.
‘Buck, the man who was standing here when I entered the house is under arrest. I’m taking him back to Pommel. Tell him to get his horse and come with me. You know I don’t play games. If I have to go after him there’ll be gunplay. I want to get back to Pommel. Where is he?’
‘He’ll be back in a minute, Lobo.’ There was hidden steel in Page’s tones. ‘He’s gone to get some grub. I told him to take ten minutes.’
‘Okay.’ Lobo turned to his mount and swung into his saddle. He unhitched the animal and turned its head towards the spot where Ginny Ridge was already sitting a big, hammer-headed bay. He rode close to the girl. ‘Hey,’ he called. ‘That’s some piece of horseflesh. I’d say he is a handful sometimes. You been riding him long?’
‘Long enough for him to know who is the boss,’ she replied, laughing. Her voice was deliberately loud enough for all the watching gunmen to hear. ‘Horses are like men, Mister Johnson. They can be handled if you know how.’ She swung her mount. ‘Buck,’ she called. ‘Tell the prisoner, whoever he is, to ride into Pommel and surrender himself. I’ll pay his fine tomorrow.’
‘Come on, Mister Johnson,’ the girl called. ‘We’ll ride alone. I want you to tell me if some of the stories I’ve heard about you are really true.’
Lobo gigged his mount as the girl set her heels into the flanks of her big bay and took off along the trail in a cloud of dust. He turned in the saddle and lifted a hand to Page, then fed steel to his own animal, riding hard to come up with the girl. He turned his head once and saw that the gunmen still stood in a group, and several of them seemed to be arguing fiercely.
Three miles flashed under their fleeting hooves before Lobo managed to draw level with the speeding girl. Her stetson had blown back from her head and hung down her back suspended by the chin strap hugging her slender neck. Lobo studied her closely, watching her luxurious chestnut curls streaming in the breeze. Her brown cheeks were heightened by twin spots of red, and her eyes flashed with the exhilaration of the run.
‘Now perhaps you’ll tell me what was going on back there,’ he said.
‘So you noticed.’ She laughed.
‘I don’t recall anything funny,’ he retorted soberly.
‘I despise Buck Page. He follows me everywhere I go. I don’t like him,’ the girl said.
‘He’s only following your father’s orders.’
‘My father didn’t tell him to propose marriage to me.’ The girl tossed her head. ‘I know what Buck Page is after. He wants the Big R for himself. I’m sure Page has been aggravating my father to attack these neighbours of ours.’
‘That’s a mighty grave accusation. Your father must have had proof before going to war.’
‘That would be easy to arrange, wouldn’t it?’ She reined in, and Lobo pulled up his mount. ‘I heard Page talking to my father about you. He knew you from the description one of our riders gave when he told us about the men you killed yesterday. He told my father all about you; how you hated killers, and would help the law to dispose of them, even though you are an outlaw yourself. My father said he would try and buy your services, but Page said he couldn’t at any price. I heard him convince my father that you should be killed when you rode out of the yard. That’s why I asked you to take me into Pommel. It was the only way you could leave Ridge range alive.’
‘It takes some believing,’ he said.
‘Then ride back to the house now without me and see what happens,’ she snapped. ‘I’ve just saved your life.’
They rode on again. Lobo slumped his tall figure in the creaking saddle and hooked his left leg around his saddlehorn.
‘Now why should Page upset himself about me?’ he mused aloud.
‘That’s easy. He’s afraid of you. It sticks out a mile. Page is my father’s top gunman. After you’d killed our riders it was obvious that the next thing Reuben would do would be to order his best gunman to kill you.’
‘I can’t stomach that,’ Lobo said, shaking his head. ‘Buck Page, the man I knew, wasn’t afraid of anyone.’
‘That was ten years ago,’ Ginny Ridge prompted. ‘I have spent a lot of time with Buck Page. He’s told me a lot. I know he is causing all this trouble. Folks blame my father, but I know it’s Page at the back of it.’
‘You’re asking me to believe that Buck Page is the big wheel and not your father?’ He looked into the girl’s soft eyes. ‘Maybe you’re playing some deep game of your own.’
‘I love my father. He’s always given me everything I’ve wanted. He was a good, kind man to everyone on this range. The smaller ranchers used to come to him for help, and they never went away empty handed. Buck Page changed all that. My father is a man of strong passions. Page rigged it so it seemed that Art Fuller had asked the Big R for help, then robbed us of stock. Fuller was a proud man. He found it difficult to humble himself sufficiently to come here in the first place. Page arranged for
Fuller to learn that my father was supposed to have said that he owned men and range if he helped to maintain them. That’s what started the war, and Fuller is dead now and my father is a very bitter man because he thinks that Fuller tried to bite the hand that helped him.’
‘How do I know you’re not just just stringing me along?’ he asked. ‘If your father is under Page’s influence and isn’t responsible for all that’s happened, then I’d like to try and straighten matters. But to get to the bottom of it I’ve got to trust someone. All my life I’ve made a practice of distrusting everyone. I know there just ain’t any such thing as a friend. Leastways, that’s been my experience. But I’ve got to trust someone. I promised Stella Stadden I’d help her, and that’s what I’m going to do. Now there are three people who can help to lay the cards straight; you, your father and Buck Page. Of the three I’d rather pin my faith on you. So if you want to help your father, granting that you’ve told me the truth, then we’ll have to work together.’
‘I’d like that,’ Ginny Ridge said. ‘Tell me, are you attracted to Stella Stadden?’
‘I’ll tell you one thing,’ Lobo promised. ‘I’ll kill whoever is responsible for all the trouble round here. That means your father or Buck Page or both.’
‘Stella isn’t as pretty as me.’ Ginny fluttered her long lashes. ‘I’ve been in love with your picture for years. You’re even nicer than that picture, Lobo. Do you think you could love me?’
‘It wouldn’t be a hard job,’ Lobo said, grinning. ‘There’s a lot of range inside Big R fences.’
‘That’s all Buck Page wants me for,’ she flashed. ‘But I want a man who is more interested in me.’
‘You’ve got the same strong passions as your father,’ Lobo said. ‘I shouldn’t want to fall foul of either of you unless I was looking for a fight.’
Chapter Six
THE SUN PASSED beyond the western ridges two hours before Lobo and Virginia Ridge rode into Pommel. The heat of the day had dissipated then, and a cool breeze was blowing in from the range. Lobo sat slumped in his saddle. He was tired and uncomfortable. For the last ten miles he had ridden with his ears closed to the continuous chatter of his lovely companion. Her voice was just a meaningless drone in his ears. As they rode along Main Street she leaned towards him and poked a finger into his ribs.
