Hard Ride to Wichita

by Ralph Compton

  “Yeah,” he said in a meek tone. “I wasn’t shot or nothing.”

  “So those were gunshots?”

  “Of course they were gunshots!” the lady’s husband snapped. “What else could they be? What happened, son? Where’s Kyle and Virginia?”

  “They’re . . . inside,” Luke said.

  “Are they all right? Were they shot?”

  Luke knew the answers and meant to say them, but suddenly he couldn’t form the words. It was as if his brain was a machine that had just popped a spring and ground to a halt. Some of the other men who lived nearby were approaching the front door, and when Luke tried to stop them, he was held back and wrapped up in the neighbor lady’s arms.

  Luke had lived in the house next to her for as long as he’d been in Maconville, and just now he couldn’t recall her name. He recognized all the faces surrounding him, but only as familiar shapes from another life. One of those shapes was a star made of dented tin.

  “I heard there was a shooting here,” the sheriff said as he and two deputies approached the house. “What happened?”

  “I think the Crofts are hurt,” the neighbor lady said. “Except for Luke Croft here. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  The sheriff nodded and looked over to Luke. He was only an inch or so taller than the young man, but he looked down at him as if he were speaking to a child. “Anything we should know before going in there, son?”

  Absently, Luke shook his head.

  The lawmen drew their weapons. “Stay put and don’t worry,” the sheriff said. “Everything’s gonna be all right.”

  Chapter 6

  The narrow ribbon of water that wound its way through the weeds southwest of town was called Double Bend Creek. After a long string of summer nights spent catching tadpoles and their kin when he was too young to go to school, Red took to calling it Froggy Crick. He and Luke might have grown too old to draw much pleasure from scooping up tadpoles, but they still visited Froggy Crick whenever they could. Usually it was a place to escape from chores and the people intent on making the young men do them. Today, it offered much simpler pleasures.

  It was quiet.

  “Here,” Red said as he handed over a bottle that was less than a quarter full. “I swiped it from my old man.”

  Luke took the bottle from him and sniffed its contents. It wasn’t the first time he’d tasted whiskey in his seventeen years on this earth, but it was the first he’d drunk it down for reasons other than pure rebellion. The liquor cut through his body, washing away the horrible tastes that had collected in the back of his mouth. He took another pull from the bottle, which gave him a hint of warmth at the bottom of his chest. “Thanks,” he said while handing it back.

  Red took the bottle but didn’t drink. He closed his eyes and lifted his head to the inky black sky above him as if he were basking in the light from the half-moon. Crickets chirped in the distance and water from the creek rustled through some of the thick bunches of weeds. He sat with his back against a rock that he’d dragged up and set there years ago for that very purpose. “We’ve been here for a while, Luke. You ever gonna tell me what happened?”

  “I already told the sheriff and a bunch of the neighbors. I don’t wanna tell that story again.”

  “I don’t want to hear the same story,” Red told him. “I asked about what happened.”

  Luke smirked and shifted his weight upon the stump where he sat. His boots were pressed firmly against familiar ground, feeling as if the waters from his youth had finally washed them clean. “Some man came to talk to Kyle. Some fella he works with, I guess.”

  “Another salesman?”

  “Kyle wasn’t a salesman like he told everyone. I think he was an outlaw.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Luke shook his head. “Nope.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because the man who came looking for him was a killer. He asked for something and Kyle had it. A bag full of money. Ma knew about it too. She must’ve known about everything. Could be what they were always fighting about.”

  “So . . . you think Kyle stole that money?”

  Luke shrugged. “All I know for certain is that he was holding on to it for the man who came along to collect. I don’t think Kyle was ever any kind of salesman, though.”

  “I thought he only had that hunting rifle.” When Luke looked over to him expecting a point, Red shrugged. “It’s just that outlaws carry something other than hunting rifles, don’t they?”

  “He hid a lot from me. They both did. A stash of guns wouldn’t be too hard.”

  “Suppose not.” Red held the bottle to his mouth as if he was going to take a drink. Before he did, he asked, “How did you get out of there?”

  “I told everyone. I hid under a table until the shooting started.”

  “Sure, that’s what you told them,” Red said. “You’re telling me now. I know when you’re lying. You’re not very good at it.”

  Smirking, Luke said, “Since you’re the only one who can tell when I’m lying, I’d say I’m pretty good at it.”

  “Well, I can tell right now. There’s more to it.”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “Look, I’m not like the rest of them that flocked to that house so they could get a look for themselves on account of nothing worth seeing ever happens around here.” Using the bottle as a pointer, Red told him, “All the rest of them may just want something to talk about, but I ain’t all of them. You should know that!”

  Luke gazed around at the creek, the weeds, and the trees scattered for miles in front of him. “He meant to kill us.”

  “Who did? Kyle?”

  “No,” Luke said. “The stranger. Kyle called him Scott. He got mad when my ma went to fetch the money that was supposed to be hid and he told Kyle he made a big mistake. Kyle tried to tell him otherwise, but . . .” Luke shook his head. “In the end, after all the grief I gave him and all the bad things I said and thought about him, Kyle did his best to save me. To save my ma.”

  “He stood up to that stranger?”

  “Tried to. Only, he wasn’t armed. He got to the hunting rifle, but the stranger had two guns. That man fired like it wasn’t any kind of burden to shoot a woman in the back or cut a man down in cold blood. Funny thing is, I didn’t hide.”

  “There wouldn’t be no shame in it if you did,” Red told him.

  Luke shook his head. “I just stood there. I couldn’t do much of anything to help. Before the shooting started, and plenty of times before today, Kyle said I wasn’t much use to anyone. Today, when I was needed more than ever, he was right. I was useless.”

  “What were you supposed to do?” Red asked.

  “Shoot that stranger.”

  “With that Colt of yours?”

  “Yes. Once I got a hold of myself . . . when it was too late to do my ma or Kyle a lick of good . . . that’s exactly what I did.”

  Red not only tipped the bottle back for a drink, but he nearly held it there until all the whiskey had been poured down his throat. He handed the bottle over to Luke, who took it and finished it off.

  “You killed a man?” Red asked.

  “That’s right. And I was still too late to save either of them.”

  “Did you tell the sheriff?”

  Luke shook his head. “Why would I do that? So I could get hung?”

  “He wouldn’t have hung you. That stranger killed two people right in front of you! It was self-defense.”

  “Maybe so, but I didn’t want to tell him or anyone.” Glancing over to his friend, Luke added, “Until now.”

  “Yeah, well, I ain’t exactly honored. You have to tell the sheriff what really happened.”

  “Why?” Luke snapped as he jumped to his feet. “It’s over! It’s all over. They’re over! You think the sheriff needs to know so he
can see justice is done? I’m the one that handed out justice, but it still wasn’t enough. I could never kill that bastard enough to have any real justice!”

  Red looked up at him silently. When Luke had finished talking, he climbed to his feet and said, “Justice don’t have anything to do with it. We both know there ain’t no such thing. If there was, your ma wouldn’t have been knocked around by a piece of trash like Kyle and my little sister wouldn’t have died after being thrown from a horse that she cared for since it was born.”

  “That’s all just hardship,” Luke said.

  “Then I suppose I don’t know anything about justice. According to my daddy, there’s a lot I don’t know about.”

  “That’s about to change.”

  “How do you know?” Red asked.

  “Because I decided I’m leaving this town and striking out on my own.”

  Red couldn’t help laughing. The more he tried to stop himself, the more it took him over. Fortunately his laughter spread to his friend, who cracked the first genuine smile he’d worn since his world had been turned onto its ear. “Striking out on your own?” Red said. “Is that why you brought Missy along with you? So you could just ride off and not look back?”

  “Actually . . . yes.”

  Red looked over to the horse that was grazing nearby. He tried to laugh a bit more but found he no longer had it in him. “That’s crazy.”

  “Staying here would be crazy. I have to get away. Why would I want to stay after all that happened?”

  “Because there’s matters to settle. Your family’s house is here. Kyle had some business dealings with the dry goods store. Outlaw or no, he had something worked out with the owner of that place.”

  “The house will get sold,” Luke said. “Kyle’s business will get taken care of. There are plenty of people in town who can’t wait to divvy everything up, and I don’t want a part of it. I took what’s mine and that’s that.”

  “That’s that, huh? Then why does it look like you’re busting at the seams to tell me something else?”

  Luke walked over to his horse and motioned for Red to follow him. When both of them were standing close enough to pat the animal’s flank, Luke took the valise that had been hanging from his saddle horn. “You can’t tell anyone about this,” he said.

  “About what?”

  Opening the valise to show Red its contents, Luke said, “This.”

  Red gazed down at the money inside and his jaw dropped. Reaching into the bag, he dug his hand in to pull some money out. “Is this what that stranger came to collect?”

  Luke nodded. “He won’t need it anymore.”

  “And you could live for a while on it. Hell, if you play your cards right, you could stretch this much out for years!”

  “I guess that’s true.”

  Placing the money back in the bag, Red asked, “What do you mean you guess that’s true? One thing I knew about you from the first time I sat next to you in that schoolhouse was that you don’t guess about much of anything.”

  “When did you start scrutinizing every little thing I say or do?”

  “You’ve just walked through hell and lost everything you hold dear. No matter what families we’re from, you’re my brother in all but blood and it’s my job to make sure you make it through something like this as best I can.” Leaning in closer while tapping Luke’s forehead, he said, “I know you’re tore up after all of this, but I can tell there’s more going on in there. I can see the wheels turning.”

  “I got a lot to think about.”

  “I know that. I just want to make sure you’re not thinking of doing anything crazy.”

  Luke turned away and took a few steps in the opposite direction.

  “I’ll be damned,” Red groaned. “You are thinking of doing something crazy. And if you think it’s crazy, I’m really worried.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing.”

  Storming around to stand in front of Luke, Red planted his feet to block him from going any farther. When Luke attempted to walk around him, Red grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back. “You think you’re the only one that wants to get away from Maconville?” Red snarled. “You think you’re the only one who wants to do something other than what he’s expected to do by all the farmers and shopkeepers around here?”

  “No.”

  “You and me have an understanding. We’re fighters. Even back when we were nothin’ but kids, we were fighters. What you’re doing is runnin’ away.”

  “I’m not just running away.”

  “So tell me what’s got your wheels turning.”

  Luke stared into his friend’s eyes and prepared to lie to his face. When it came time to start talking, he just couldn’t do it. Instead he turned away from Red and pulled free of his grasp. He tried to think of other lies to tell him that were slightly smaller than what he’d originally planned and therefore might be easier to sell. He couldn’t say those either.

  All this time, Red stood his ground and waited.

  Finally Luke said, “When that stranger came to the house, he and Kyle spoke about a few things.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Mostly, they were trying to dance around what they really wanted to say. Probably on account of me and Ma standing right there.”

  “Whatever it was, there’s no reason to believe any of it,” Red told him. “You told me yourself that the stranger didn’t want any of his and Kyle’s business known.”

  “Yeah, but after a while, the stranger started saying plenty of things. I think . . .” Luke had to pause to steel himself. When he turned to face Red again, his eyes were cold as two pieces of stone. “I think he’d already made up his mind on what he was gonna do with us. In that stranger’s head, we were already dead. Me and Ma anyhow. There’s no reason to watch your tongue around dead folks.”

  Red nodded and immediately stopped himself so as not to inadvertently pour salt into the fresh wound.

  “They talked about someone moving to a place outside Wichita,” Luke continued. “Struck me as someone important. Name of Granger.”

  “Granger?” After thinking it over for a second, Red asked, “Granger who?”

  Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. At least . . . not yet.”

  Red studied his friend for a short while as his own wheels started to turn. Glancing back at the horse, which was loaded and ready to make a long ride, he looked at the valise, which was stuffed with more than enough cash to get Luke just about anywhere he wanted to go. His eyes dropped down to Luke’s waist, which was mostly obscured by the jacket he wore. Red grabbed the jacket and pulled it open to reveal the double-rig holster that had come into town strapped around Scott’s waist.

  “No!” Red snapped.

  “What do you mean, no?”

  “You heard me! No, you’re not going to Wichita!”

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” Luke said.

  “What would you do once you get there? Just walk around and start asking for any outlaws by the name of Granger?”

  Luke hooked his thumbs over the gun belt. “I’ll think of something.”

  “No, you won’t. There’s nothing you can think of that will make that a good idea.”

  “What would you have me do, Red? Just stand back and let everything keep rolling on as if nothing ever happened?”

  “I’ve known your mother for years! She always treated me like one of her own. It tears me up to know what happened to her! But it just happened.”

  “You weren’t there,” Luke said in a low tone that rumbled up from the bottom of his soul. “You barely even know what happened.”

  “Maybe not, but that stranger is the one who killed your ma and Kyle. He’s dead now and you killed him. Your ma wouldn’t want—”

  “She doesn’t want anything anymore,” Luke cut in. “She’s gone. I’m all
that’s left and I don’t intend to stay in this town to let the rest of my years slip away.”

  “Before you do anything, just give yourself some time to think it through.”

  Luke let out a tired laugh. “Something’s definitely not right if you’re the one telling me to be patient. You’re the most hotheaded person I ever met.”

  “Exactly! So if I’m saying this to you, it must be true.”

  Although Luke wasn’t completely appeased by that, he did seem to cool off a bit.

  “Give it a little time,” Red pleaded. “All this is still fresh. My head is still spinning from hearing about everything, so I can barely imagine what’s going on inside yours. Just rest up and come at it once the smoke has cleared.” Seeing that he was making some ground with his friend, Red added, “It’s not like you can take off to Wichita in the middle of the night anyway.”

  “I could use some sleep,” Luke admitted.

  “That’s right.”

  “But I don’t want to sleep in that house.”

  “Nobody would expect you to. Come on home with me. We’ll scrounge up something to eat and you can come up with something to say to my daddy when he smells the whiskey on our breath.”

  Luke’s tired grin returned. “I’m the one that’s been through hell, so I’ve got a good excuse. You’re the one that’ll be in trouble for drinking liquor.”

  “You got that right.”

  “I can sit and stew all I want, but that won’t change a thing. Fact is, I’ve got the rest of my life to miss my ma and I’m sure I’ll be doing plenty of that throughout the years. I can tell you right now I won’t ever come around to thinking I want to stay here and let the rest of my days trickle away.”

  “You could at least give it some time,” Red told him. “You’ve at least got to be here to see your mother put to rest.”

  Shaking his head, Luke replied, “It don’t matter if I’m here or not for that. I said everything I could to her when she was here. From now on, it don’t matter what I say because she won’t hear it. And if she does, she’ll be able to hear me no matter where I’m at. All that business about putting her in a box and watching as she’s . . .” His eyes clenched shut as if to fight away the images that his imagination was conjuring up. When he opened them again, he was even more somber than he’d been before. “What I have to do . . . it’ll take time. I can’t waste any of it.”