“I wouldn’t know, Señor. I’ve never slept with her,” José said, his face still expressionless.
Kendrick laughed out loud. “You’re all right. You can come along.” He looked at the other two men. “Who are these men?”
“I’m Pete Jaco, Mr. Kendrick,” one of the men said.
“I’m Clem Dawkins.”
“You two men know me?”
“Yes, sir, we know you,” Jaco said. “Fact is, we come here to Blowout just hopin’ we’d be able to join up with you.”
Kendrick smiled. “Did you now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Why do you want to join up with me?” Kendrick repeated.
The two men looked at each other for a moment, then Jaco answered. “We figured we could make more money with the Fence Busters than we could on our own.”
Again, Kendrick laughed. “All right. That’s good enough. Peabody?”
“Yeah, boss?”
“Go round up five of our own men,” Kendrick said.
“Mr. Kendrick,” Jaco said after Peabody left. “What do you plan to do?”
“What do you mean, what do I plan to do?”
“The reason I asked is, when Peabody asked us if we’d like to come along, he said you was plannin’ on a job. I was just wonderin’ what job you was plannin’ on doin’.”
“Why? Are you saying that if it doesn’t meet with your approval, that you won’t come along?”
“No, sir, I ain’t sayin’ that at all. It’s just that, if you ain’t got nothin’ particular in mind, me ’n Dawkins might have us a suggestion for you.”
“Do you? And what suggestion would that be?”
“The Slash Bell.”
Kendrick frowned. “The Slash Bell? That’s Bellefontaine’s outfit, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Well, as it so happens, we have just recently paid Mr. Bellefontaine a visit, and I don’t like to return to the scene of any previous operation without a pressing reason to do so.”
“Yes, sir, but what did you get? Longhorns?”
“Herefords.”
“Herefords is good, but Black Angus is even better. Me ’n Dawkins happen to know that the Slash Bell just got five hunnert new Angus from some outfit up north,” Jaco said.
“Oh? And how did you come by that information?”
Jaco started to say that he had tried to rustle the herd, but he decided that since he’d failed, it would only hurt his chances, so he said nothing about the unsuccessful attempt. “I was at the railroad depot when they brought the cows in and loaded them into the pens.”
“Are they still at the pens?”
“No, sir. By now, they done all been took out to Bellefontaine’s spread.”
“Angus, huh?”
“Yes, sir, Black Angus, all purebred quality stock. I’ll bet you ain’t got none o’ them yet.”
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t. All right, Jaco,” Kendrick agreed, with a nod of his head. “Perhaps we shall revisit Mr. Bellefontaine, seeing as he made such a generous contribution to us the last time.” He laughed at his own joke. “That is, if I can ascertain that the information you have given me is correct.”
* * *
Kendrick put out the word out he needed to know whether or not Jaco was telling the truth about the transfer of cattle.
One of his riders approached him in the saloon a half hour later. “Yes, Bellefontaine did just get five hundred head of Angus.” Dooley said.
“How do you know that for a fact?”
“I was in Merrill Town, ’n I heard Heckemeyer talkin’ about it. He kept ’em in his pen overnight. They were brung to him by a feller named MacCallister.”
“MacCallister?” Jaco asked, reacting quickly to the name. “Would that be Duff MacCallister?”
“I don’t know. I never heard his first name mentioned,” Dooley said. “All I know is he brung the cows down from Wyoming. Oh, ’n he’s a—”
“Scotsman,” Jaco said, completing Dooley’s sentence.
“Yes. At least that’s what Heckemeyer said.”
“I’ll be damned,” Jaco said.
“Jaco, do you know this man, MacCallister?” Kendrick asked.
“Yeah. Well, no. That is, I ain’t never seen ’im. But I know who he is.”
“How is it that you know?”
“I’ve just heard of ’im, is all,” Jaco said. “I sure didn’t have no idea that he was down here, though.”
“Well, you heard Dooley. He’s down here to deliver some cattle.” Kendrick smiled. “Our cattle, as it will turn out.”
Peabody had rounded up the men who would be making the raid, and they were all mounted and gathered in the street in front of the Pair of Kings. He walked into the saloon. “We’re all ready to go, Boss.”
Kendrick nodded, then followed Peabody back outside.
* * *
“I wonder what they’re fixin’ to do,” Glitter said to her closest friend Penny. They were sitting at a table against the far wall.
Because so many of the Fence Busters were about to ride out, no one was left in the saloon. Quinn wasn’t a member of the Fence Busters, but fortunately, he wasn’t there, either.
“Probably goin’ out to cut some more fence.” Penny was also the girl Glitter had summoned to drink with her and the two young cowboys Quinn had killed.
“Do you think they do anything more than just cut fence?” Glitter asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve heard stories,” Glitter said. “Some people say that they don’t just cut fences, but they also rustle cattle.”
“Shhh,” Penny said, laying her finger across her lips. “Don’t talk like that, Glitter. Don’t even think like that. I don’t want to get Kendrick mad at me, and I don’t think you want him mad at you, either.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Whatever it is that they do, let them do it, ’n let’s stay out of it.”
“I agree.”
“Glitter, do you ever think about leaving?”
“You mean, leaving Blowout?”
“Yes. That, and leaving the line. Do you ever think about it?”
“Yes, but I’m afraid. I don’t know where I would go or what I would do.” Glitter smiled. “I didn’t exactly choose this life, my mama chose it. She brought me up in the business. I was only sixteen when she got kilt by a drunken cowboy, ’n because I didn’t have any other way of makin’ a livin’, well, I came on the line.”
“But you don’t really have to. You’ve got Mr. Tadlock.”
Glitter smiled. “Yes, I do.”
“What do you see in that old man, anyway?”
“He is very nice to me.”
“But he’s an old man.”
“You can be old and still be nice.”
Penny shuddered. “It’s just that I can’t see climbing into bed with an old man like Tadlock. I don’t think Weasel likes it, that you go out to visit him so often. I think Weasel is jealous.”
Glitter smiled. “Maybe it’s good for Weasel to be jealous.”
“If Weasel asked you to marry him, would you?” Penny asked.
“What makes you think Weasel would ever ask me?”
Penny ignored the question and asked another. “But if he did, would you marry him?”
“He’s not ever goin’ to ask, so there’s no need for me to answer that question.”
Penny laughed. “I think he would like to. And I think you would say yes, if he does.”
“You think so, do you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, you just keep thinking that.” Glitter looked over at the grandfather clock that stood against the wall near the piano. “Heavens, I need to go. I promised Mr. Tadlock I would visit him today.”
* * *
Ed Tadlock was seventy-eight years old and looked his age. His hair was snow-white, and he had a bushy, snow-white beard. He
liked to tell people that he had earned every white hair and every wrinkle during his long and often hard life. He had been with Sam Houston at San Jacinto, with Winfield Scott at Veracruz, and with John B. Hood at Franklin.
He smiled a greeting as Glitter drove up in the buckboard. “Hi, darlin’. I got a chicken in the pot. Thought I would make us some dumplin’s.”
“That sounds good, Mr. Tadlock,” Glitter said.
“Your change of clothes is laid out inside.”
Glitter nodded, then went inside to change from the revealing dress that was the apparel of her trade into a much more modest dress that she kept there for her visits. What nobody in town knew was that her visits to Tadlock were not of a sexual nature, nor had they ever been.
Tadlock paid her for her visits because, as he’d said, “I just appreciate the company of a nice young lady, and if she is also pretty, that’s even better.”
Over time, Glitter had come to look forward to the visits as much as Tadlock. He always prepared a meal for her, then they would sit on the porch or on the bank of the river, and he would tell her stories of his past.
It was the closest thing to a family she had ever experienced.
Chapter Twelve
Slash Bell Ranch
Mid-morning the day after the last of the Angus had been branded, Duff, Elmer, and Wang were ready to go into town, where Bellefontaine would write a bank draft to pay for the cattle and Duff would sign the bill of sale, transferring ownership. They had just saddled their horses when Sam Post came riding in at a gallop.
“Sam, what is it?” Bellefontaine asked.
“Fence Busters, Mr. Bellefontaine! They’re cuttin’ the fences out at the field where we put the Black Angus!”
“Damn! Who have we got out there?”
“Nobody right now. Most all our men are up north.”
“Gather up who you can!” Bellefontaine said. “I’m goin’ out there!” He started off at a gallop.
Without giving it a second thought, Duff, Elmer, and Wang followed.
They hadn’t gone far when they heard gunfire ahead of them. As they swept over a hill they saw several riders wearing blue kerchiefs herding off the cattle.
Duff saw one of the shooters chasing after a heifer trying to escape. He snaked his rifle and lifted it to his shoulder.
“He’s too far away,” Bellefontaine shouted. “You’ll never get him from here.”
Duff squeezed the trigger. A finger of fire spurted from the muzzle as the rifle roared, and the man pursuing the fleeing heifer was knocked from his saddle.
Another Fence Buster popped up nearby, and Wang started after him.
“Where’s he going?” Bellefontaine shouted. “Wang isn’t armed! He’ll get killed!”
“He’ll be all right,” Duff replied as he put the rifle away and started after the remaining riders.
The exchange of gunfire between the rustlers and Duff, Elmer, and Bellefontaine left two more rustlers dead. Five of the remaining outlaws gave up trying to herd the cattle and started shooting into the cattle. Some of the herd went down under the fire before the outlaws managed to get away.
While Wang chased the only Fence Buster rider left, Duff and the others went in pursuit of the fleeing cattle.
The outlaw was twisted around in his saddle, firing at Wang. When he saw that Wang wasn’t returning fire, he stopped and turned to face his pursuer. “Damn, you ain’t even got no gun, have you?” With an evil smile he lifted the pistol and took aim. “Good-bye, Chinaman.”
Wang lifted his arm from his side and whipped it down over his head. A small object whirled forth from his throw. Before the Fence Buster rider even realized he was in danger, one of the three blades of the throwing star stabbed into him, penetrating his heart.
He died with a look of surprise on his face.
Running at a full gallop, Bellefontaine, Duff, and Elmer managed to get to the head of the running herd and skillfully turned them. Under the supervision of the riders, the cattle soon tired of running and were brought under control. Less than half an hour after it had all started, the remaining cattle were pushed back through the cut wire and into the pen.
“Sam, get Tim and some of the boys out here to repair that fence,” Bellefontaine said.
“Yes, sir,” Post replied.
The brief battle had left six of the Angus lying dead out on the open plain. In addition to the dead cattle, four of the would-be rustlers were also dead.
“What I don’t understand is why they shot the cattle,” Duff said when they returned to the house.
“They steal cattle when they can,” Bellefontaine said. “And when they can’t steal them, they kill them.”
“Why would they kill them?”
“They’ll do anything they can to disrupt the cattlemen,” Bellefontaine said. “The more of us they can drive out of business, the more public land they can get their hands on.”
“Can’t the governor do anything about it?” Duff asked.
“I don’t know. He’s aware of the problem, but the Fence Busters claim the only thing they are doing is cutting fences on public land. We’re the ones that’s on shaky ground here,” Bellefontaine replied. “Remember, this isn’t our land we are fencing; it is public land. If anyone is violating the law, it might be us.”
“Aye, but the blaggards we were just chasing did more than cut a fence. ’Twas cattle they were stealing. And as you’ve not yet paid me, ’twas my cattle.”
“The cattle rustling is just an aside for them,” Bellefontaine said. “The New York and Texas Land Company is a legitimate organization, chartered in New York and in Texas. It would almost be political suicide for the governor to go up against them.”
“I just wonder if this here governor is the same John Ireland I used to know,” Elmer said.
“Would you like to find out?” Duff asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Austin is the capital of Texas, and it’s not very far from here. Why don’t we see if the governor would be for receiving us?”
“Oh, the governor is a very busy man,” Bellefontaine said. “I don’t think anyone could get in to see him without an appointment. And that would take several days, if not weeks.”
“If it is the same feller I know, he’ll see me,” Elmer said.
“You’re sure of that, Elmer?”
“Damn right I’m sure. If it is the Colonel Ireland that I know, he will see me. And we won’t have to wait no several days or weeks, neither.”
“Then I suggest that we go see him at the soonest.”
“Before you go to Austin, might I suggest that we call a meeting of the cattlemen’s association and discuss this?” Bellefontaine asked. “If you do get in to see the governor, and you’ve got the backing of the association, it might help your position.”
“Good idea,” Duff said. “All right. Call your meeting.”
Blowout
Kendrick had gone to the Slash Bell Ranch with nine other men. He returned to Blowout with five men and no cattle. Tying up in front of Pair of Kings, he went into the saloon, pushing aside a customer who was just coming out. “Weasel! Bring a bottle!”
He went straight to “his” table at the back of the saloon, expecting the others to follow.
He grabbed a chair and turned to them. “Who the hell were those men with Bellefontaine?” he asked angrily. “They aren’t his riders, are they?” He sat down, nodding to the others to do the same.
“I ain’t never seen any of ’em a-fore,” Beans said as he and the others grabbed chairs and sat around Kendrick’s table.
“MacCallister was one of ’em,” Dooley said. “He’s the feller that brung them Angus cows down from Wyoming. They was three of ’em actually, but MacCallister was the only name I heard. Don’t know who the other two was.”
“Elmer Gleason was one, and the Chinaman’s name is Wang,” Jaco said.
“How is it that you know the names of the other two?” Kendrick asked suspiciously.
“I’ve heard of ’em. MacCallister is sort of a—” Jaco stopped in mid-sentence.
“Sort of a what?” Kendrick asked.
“He’s some sort of a hero, or so people say. He was in the British Army ’n he won some medals fightin’ overseas. And he was the one that broke up the Kingdom Come Gang right here in Texas, some time back.”
“The Kingdom Come Gang? I’ve never heard of ’em.”
“That’s ’cause you ain’t from here,” Jaco said. “But they was somethin’ while they was operatin’. Only MacCallister ’n Gleason ’n the Chinaman broke up the gang, ’n MacCallister is the one that kilt the head of the gang.”
Kendrick frowned. “How do you know all of that?”
“Because the head of that gang was A. M. Jaco.”
“Jaco?”
“Yeah. He was my brother.”
Kendrick leaned back. “Is that a fact? So you’ve run across MacCallister before, have you?”
Jaco thought about the aborted attempt he and Dawkins had made to steal the Angus cattle before they even got to the Slash Bell, but decided against telling it. “I ain’t never run acrosst him a-fore this mornin’. I wasn’t a part of my brother’s gang. Iffen I had been, I’d more ’n likely be dead now, since ever’one that was in his gang was kilt.”
“This MacCallister . . . how good is he?”
“He’s the one that shot Dewey Hensen out of his saddle. And that shot had to come from at least four hunnert yards away.”
“Interesting,” Kendrick said. “Since he’s already delivered his cows, I doubt that he will stay here.”
“If he does, I want to be the one to kill ’im,” Jaco said.
“That’s a pretty tall order, isn’t it? You just told me how good he is. Are you sure this is a task you wish to undertake?”
“I didn’t say nothin’ ’bout goin’ up ag’in ’im. I said I wanted to kill ’im. A.M. ain’t the only one o’ my brothers he kilt. He also kilt my brother Deke.”
“Deke Jaco was also in this Kingdom Come Gang?”
“Nah, and his name warn’t Jaco. It was Pollard, Deekus Pollard. We had the same ma, but not the same pa. Deke tried to kill MacCallister before he left Wyoming. I got a telegram from one o’ Deke’s friends, tellin’ me about it. So now, I got me two reasons I want to kill ’im.”
Ten Guns from Texas Page 9
