by Duane Boehm
“His heart and lungs sound great. He has good color too,” Doc said.
The doctor examined the baby’s mouth and ears. “He’s fit as a fiddle and such a good boy. He never even made a face,” he announced.
“Is that it?” Mary asked.
“Well, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he said.
“Oh,” Mary said, concerned with the tone of the doctor’s voice.
“Kate mentioned that she thought that I should bring in a young doctor and start cutting back on my work. I’ve been thinking about it and I kind of like the idea. I tell you, Mary, those grandkids have changed me. I want more time with them before I’m too old to enjoy them. I wanted to get your opinion on the matter,” Doc said.
Mary pulled her head back and looked at the doctor in surprise. “Why are you asking me?” she inquired.
“Because I value your opinion. I might ask Sarah or Abby too, but I wanted yours for sure,” he said.
“Well, if you can afford to bring in somebody else, I’d say do it. You’ve earned the right to slow down,” Mary said as she wrapped Sam back in his blanket.
“You know me. I’ve still got the first dollar I ever made in Last Stand,” Doc joked.
Chuckling, Mary said, “I don’t doubt that. You’ve never wasted a dime in the Last Chance.”
“You know, since I’ve been around John and his family, I wonder if I’ve wasted my whole life by never marrying and having more children,” he said.
“Doc, if it weren’t for you, Gideon, Ethan, Zack, and I would all be dead. Believe me, we don’t think that counts as a wasted life,” Mary said.
“I suppose you’re right. I think I just might start looking to find somebody to bring into the practice,” Doc said.
“Well, just remember one thing if you hire somebody – Mary Ford gets to see her favorite doctor when she needs one,” she said and leaned over and kissed Doc on the cheek.
Chapter 26
Riding towards Ethan’s place after work, Gideon let himself melt into the saddle. He felt his best since Tess had died. For that one day, he refused to allow himself to dwell on his granddaughter or Joann. He just wanted to pretend that everything seemed fine in his little world. The belief that the rustling would soon be coming to an end made the ride feel as if one of those mountains in his view had just slipped off his shoulders.
With the doors to the barn open at each end to aid airflow, Gideon spied Ethan and Benjamin working in its hallway as he rode into the yard. They hustled from stall to stall getting the horses fed before Sarah called them to supper.
“You boys must be starving. I’ve never known either one of you to work at such a fevered pitch,” Gideon called out.
The father and son ignored Gideon until they completed their tasks and walked out into the yard.
“Ranching isn’t like sheriffing. We can’t put off feeding horses until tomorrow like you can catching rustlers,” Ethan chided.
Gideon pulled his head back in surprise and blinked. “Wow, you’re playing rough today,” he said as he climbed down from Buck.
“Yeah, that was. It hasn’t been a great day. Kurt showed up late and was about useless. First time on both counts,” Ethan said.
“We need to talk,” Gideon said and made eyes towards Benjamin.
Sarah walked out onto the porch to call her family to supper. “Gideon, I didn’t know that you were here. I went to visit Joann today,” she said.
“How is she doing?” Gideon asked.
“Not so good. Zack has his hands full and I don’t have any answers. I know how I felt with my miscarriages and losing Tess is certainly worse, but the thing that concerns me is that she’s not even functioning. She needs to get up and do some chores to get her mind off things once in a while to start to heal,” Sarah said.
“I agree. I’m going to give her a little more time before I try talking with her. I don’t think Zack can get her up and moving,” Gideon said.
“What brings you here?” Sarah asked.
“Benjamin, go in and wash up. Your momma and I will be in shortly,” Ethan said.
Gideon waited until Benjamin disappeared into the cabin. “I believe Kurt was involved in the murder of Colin Young and probably Reese Calhoun. Finnie and I are going to keep an eye on him to try to catch him rustling again. I need to catch him in the act. Anyways, I don’t think you’re in any danger, but that you should know all the same. Working for you provides him cover for his thievery,” he said.
Sarah folded her arms and raised her chin. “That’s terrible. I don’t cherish the idea of having a murderer working for us. I thought I could make something out of him and would have never guessed in a million years that he was capable of anything evil,” she said.
“Was he rustling last night?” Ethan asked.
“No, he got drunk in the Last Chance and pulled out Colin’s ring. I don’t have any proof of the rustling. Just putting two and two together,” Gideon said.
“I can’t pick a ranch hand to save my life. Zack’s the only decent one I’ve ever hired and he fell into my lap,” Ethan said dejectedly.
“Aren’t you going to gloat that you were right and I was wrong about Kurt?” Sarah asked Ethan.
Smiling, Ethan said, “Hearing you say that you were wrong is reward enough.”
“If it’s any consolation, there are days that I think that I was wrong about lots of things,” Sarah said, giving Ethan the evil eye.
“I’d love to stick around and listen to you two jaw at each other, but I got to get home and eat before I go back out. Just keep an eye on him,” Gideon said.
“Are you sure we’re safe?” Sarah asked.
“I think so. Ethan keeps too close of an eye on his herd to steal his cattle and Kurt has no reason to harm you,” Gideon answered.
“Gideon, be careful and make sure you go see Joann,” Sarah said.
“Don’t you worry, I will,” Gideon said as he mounted the horse.
After riding home and telling Abby of his plans, Gideon found dinner to be an unhappy affair. Abby made no attempt to hide her disappointment that Gideon would be gone every other night for God knew how long and reminded him about how often he’d been absent from his family lately. Concerns over Joann were also taking a toll on his wife. She did give him a kiss and squeezed his ass on the way out the door. As he climbed onto his horse, he wondered if her actions were out of desire for him or just a reminder of what he could be missing out on.
From the porch, Abby smiled wickedly and said, “That’ll give you something to think about while you pass the time sitting in the woods. Otherwise, you just might forget what waits in your bed.”
“I just might make you do without,” Gideon said and winked.
Abby giggled and slapped her thighs. “Be careful my delusional husband,” she said.
Gideon rode towards the house that Ethan provided for Kurt Tanner to live in. The cabin sat in a small valley, surrounded by pine covered hills. The knoll to the north gave Gideon a good view of the house without fear of being spotted or heard. Maneuvering his horse through the trees, he tied Buck up and fetched his spyglass from the saddlebag. After searching out a spot with plenty of pine needles for a cushion, he sat down to view the house. Dusk had begun to settle over the land, but enough light remained for Gideon to see Kurt standing in the yard splitting some kindling. The young man gathered up an arm full of the wood and walked into the cabin. A short time later, smoke drifted into the air from the cooking stovepipe.
While passing the time swatting at mosquitoes, the thought occurred to Gideon that Kurt often visited the Last Chance in the evening. Following the young man to town would be necessary to know for sure of his destination. The potential also existed for Kurt to meet his accomplices at the saloon and leave from there to rustle cattle. The more Gideon thought about his plan to capture the rustlers the more his spirit sagged. He feared an arrest could be a good while in coming and involve many a night with little sleep.
For the next week, Gideon and Finnie took turns watching Kurt. Both men had followed him to the Last Chance on one occasion, having to hide their horses on a side street. Finnie had been able to take his normal spot in the saloon until the suspect departed, but Gideon, fearing raising suspicion, had sat in the back room and waited for Finnie to come tell him that Kurt was leaving. Each time, Kurt returned straight to his cabin.
Both Gideon and Finnie were getting irritable and bug bitten. Lack of sleep had led to taking naps on the cot in the jail. Abby and Mary were not pleased with the arrangement either and both voiced their displeasure.
Leaving the jail early, Gideon rode home and made a point to play with Winnie and Chance before supper. They played hide–and–seek for a half–hour even though Chance still hadn’t quite mastered the concept of staying hidden. Abby managed to take time out from the cooking to come outside to help her son. The family ended the games with a race back to the cabin that Winnie won.
At the dinner table, Abby asked, “How much longer do you think this is going to go on?”
Gideon shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but I would hope it comes to an end soon. No cattle have been rustled in a while. I would think they’d about be due to strike,” he said.
“Mary and I have decided that if this nonsense doesn’t end shortly that we’re going to move in together and let you two have each other,” Abby said.
“Are you going to leave Gideon like you did Daddy?” Winnie asked.
Abby observed the furrowed brow and pinched mouth on her daughter’s face, and realized that she should have known better to say such a thing. “No. No. No. I was only teasing. Gideon is stuck with me for life. Quit your worrying,” she said.
Winnie seemed placated and resumed eating her meal without further questions.
After the meal, Gideon departed to his usual spot to watch the cabin. As he sat down on the ground, he shifted his weight from one ass cheek to the other trying to get comfortable. He was still squirming when two men rode up to the cabin. Putting the spyglass up to his eye, Gideon had just enough daylight left to recognize Danny and Lacey, the two ranch hands that freelanced their services. A smile came across Gideon’s face knowing that Mary had already informed him of her suspicion that those two would be in on the rustling. Kurt walked out to greet the men before they all retreated into the cabin. Night settled in and as the full moon climbed high enough into the sky to make good light, the three men emerged from the house. They saddled up and headed south.
The light of the moon would make following them easy, but also make getting discovered a problem. Gideon followed at a distance where he only occasional caught sight of the men, tracking more by instinct that anything else. The men continued south and didn’t veer to the west towards Last Stand, ruling out a trip to the Last Chance. The men continued on another few miles as Gideon tried to keep his bearings on where they might be. He believed they were on Hollander Fields’ spread, but he couldn’t say for sure. Stopping atop a hill with a good view of the valley below him, Gideon watched as the three men came upon a herd of cattle and began driving them east. Judging the size of the herd in the dark proved hard to do, but Gideon guessed that there were well over a hundred head and he begrudgingly admired the men’s deftness at working cattle. The men certainly weren’t amateurs. Gideon spun his horse around and headed to town.
Finnie had given Gideon a key for just this occasion and the sheriff cursed as he fumbled in the dark to find the keyhole to the back door. After finally striking a match, he let himself into the back room and promptly walked into a chair, cursing under his breath some more. Using matches, he made his way up the backstairs and into the hall. He let a match burn down too far, scorching his fingers and cussing as he dropped it on the floor. Striking another, he made his way to Finnie and Mary’s bedroom and knocked lightly. Light appeared from under the door before Finnie opened it. He stood yawning, dressed in a nightshirt and holding an oil lamp.
Gideon chuckled. “Good God, you look like a leprechaun hibernating for the winter,” he said.
“What in darnation do you want?” Finnie growled.
“We got them. Let’s go,” Gideon said.
“You ruined a lovely dream of Ireland,” Finnie said as he turned back into the bedroom. He emerged a few minutes later clothed and ready to go.
“Mary informed me that we better get them or there’s going to be a couple of dead lawmen tomorrow morning,” Finnie said as he led the way down the stairs using the oil lamp.
“Our wives seem to be getting crotchety in their old age,” Gideon remarked.
“They hear you talk about old age and you’re going to have a lot worse than crotchety to deal with,” Finnie said as they walked to the livery stable.
Blackie didn’t take being awakened any better than Finnie had. He lit a lamp and stood by idly as Finnie retrieved his horse and saddled the animal.
“Remind me again why I pay you,” Finnie said to the blacksmith.
“You pay me to feed and board your horse. Retrieving and saddling are just a courtesy and I don’t feel very courteous at the moment,” Blackie said testily before disappearing into his room.
Seeing no need to track the rustlers from the spot the cattle were stolen, Gideon and Finnie took the road out of town going east. They rode for an hour in silence.
“I suppose we ought to head south off the road. We should be getting close to them I would think,” Gideon said.
“What’s the plan?” Finnie asked.
“I hope we can do this without any gunfire. No need to cause a stampede and let some of the men get away. There should be enough dust and noise that we can ride up on the rear man. I’m going to knock him silly. You can be ready to shoot him if things don’t go as planned,” Gideon said.
“You’re liable to bend the barrel on some of these hardheads we deal with. You use your gun more for a club than shooting these days,” Finnie remarked.
“I wish that were true. I just don’t want to let them get away or us shot,” Gideon said as they turned their horses off the road towards the south.
They rode about a quarter of a mile until they spotted the tracks of the herd in the bright moonlight. Following the herd, they turned back east. A half–hour later, they could taste the dust and hear an occasional bellow from a cow. The dust started making it hard to breathe and forced them to pull their kerchiefs over their noses. The silhouette of the rear man came into their view. Finnie drew his revolver and Gideon pulled his Winchester from its scabbard. The sheriff approached from the rustler’s left rear and the deputy from the right. Gideon grasped the barrel like a club and coiled the rifle over his shoulder. The rustler heard the horse hoofs at the last moment, turning to see the rifle crash into his head. He collapsed onto the horse’s neck as Finnie grabbed the rustler’s mount by the bridle. Gideon pushed the unconscious man out of the saddle, sending the rustler to the ground with a thump. Looking all around, neither of the other two outlaws could be spotted with the dust and distance in between them and the lawmen.
“One down. Let’s go to the right,” Gideon whispered.
Gideon and Finnie began maneuvering around to the side of the herd. By the time they made it around, the cattle were beginning to loiter about from the lack of a push from the rear. Through the dust, they could see the rustler. He had his horse turned sideways looking out over the herd. The rustler spotted the lawmen at about the same time as they saw him. Gideon spurred Buck hard, heading straight at the outlaw. Futilely fumbling for his gun, the rustler watched helplessly as Buck crashed into his leg and the ribs of his mount. The horse’s feet lifted off the ground and the animal rolled in midair, its hoofs slashing wildly towards the sky. Rider and horse crashed violently to
the ground. Neither made an attempt to get up off the ground. The man’s body lay partially under the horse, contorted in a pose that suggested survival an impossibility. A couple of reflexive kicks flailed from the horse’s rear legs before the animal grew as still as its rider.
“Danny? Lacey? What the hell is going on?” Kurt bellowed from across the herd.
Motioning with hands for Finnie to continue riding the herd’s right side, Gideon put Buck into a lope in hopes of getting behind the herd and getting the cattle moving before Kurt realized what had happened. As Gideon reached the rear, he saw Kurt sitting on his horse staring down at the still unconscious man on the ground. Kurt saw the sheriff and spun his horse around, galloping north towards the road. Gideon spurred Buck into pursuit. The rustler made no attempt to fire upon Gideon, seemingly content to try to outrun the sheriff. Having no desire to shoot Kurt in the back without provocation, Gideon nonetheless did not intend to let the outlaw escape. Gideon despised shooting a horse out from under a rider, but the rustling had gone on long enough and would end that night if he had his way. He brought his Winchester up to his shoulder and with the light of the moon, he drew a bead on the animal’s rear. Exhaling lightly as he squeezed the trigger, the roar of the rifle broke the silence of the night. The horse’s rear buckled under and the animal dropped onto its front elbows. Kurt Tanner catapulted through the air as if shot from a cannon. Gideon raced towards the prone outlaw, using only his one hand to point the Winchester at Kurt.
“Don’t go for your gun or you’re a dead man,” Gideon yelled.
Kurt rolled onto his back, trying to suck in air to replace the wind knocked out of him. Gideon noticed the outlaw’s right arm bent in a grotesque angle that eliminated any chance of the outlaw reaching for his revolver. Jumping off his horse, Gideon moved towards Kurt and snatched his pistol. The outlaw’s eyes were watery and rolled up in his head and he struggled to breathe. Gideon grabbed him by his gun belt and lifted his stomach in an attempt to help the outlaw get air back into his lungs.
