A Gideon Johann Boxed Set Book 1 - 4 (A Gideon Johann Western 0)

by Duane Boehm

  “I have a hunch that we’re not dealing with seasoned outlaws. They don’t seem very concerned with covering a lot of ground,” Finnie said.

  “Well, let’s go find out,” Gideon replied.

  ∞

  Abby stayed with Sarah all morning and made lunch for everybody. After the meal, she noticed Sarah slip out the back door and followed her once she cleared the table. She found her crying on a bench out in the orchard.

  “Do you want to be alone?” Abby asked.

  “No, come sit beside me,” Sarah said and patted the bench.

  “I think Ethan is going to be fine. He’s a strong man,” Abby said to reassure her friend.

  “I know. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed with how hard life is out here. Last year it was Gideon getting shot, then Benjamin kidnapped, and now Ethan is shot. Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live somewhere more civilized? I love it here, but sometimes it’s just too much,” Sarah said.

  “I’ve never thought about living anywhere else. This is the only place that I’ve ever known, but you are right that it is a hard life at times. I’m sure that living back east or in Denver has its dangers too. Life is hard wherever you live, I think. Maybe that’s what it takes to make to the good times sweeter,” Abby said.

  Sarah let out a little laugh. “You and I should have some real sweet times ahead. I’m so happy about the baby for both of you. Who would have ever seen that coming a year ago?” Sarah asked.

  Abby giggled. “Not me. That first time that I saw Gideon here after he woke up, I could have added a few more bullet holes to him,” she said, thinking back to her and Gideon’s first encounter in eighteen years.

  “That’s one thing that I take some pride in. Once I got to know Gideon, I never gave up on him no matter what he said or did. I could always see the goodness wanting to break through,” Sarah said.

  “He thinks the world of you. You can keep him on his toes better than I can,” Abby said.

  “A man can take a little chewing on from a sister better than he can a wife, especially someone like Gideon. And speaking of men, I better go check on mine,” Sarah said.

  “I’m going to head home shortly,” Abby said.

  They walked back to the cabin and Abby told Ethan goodbye and that she would see him tomorrow.

  Doc said, “Not so fast there, young lady. I want to have a talk with you before you leave. Let’s head to Benjamin’s room.”

  After following the doctor to the room across the hall, Abby asked, “What is it, Doc?”

  “This is the first time that I’ve had the chance to see you since I learned that you are with child. I want to know how you feel?” Doc said.

  “Oh, I feel fine. I’m having more pains than I did with the other two, but nothing bad,” she said.

  “Having babies is one of those things that doesn’t necessarily get better with practice. I know that you don’t want to hear this, but you’re not in your twenties any longer and you need to make sure that you get plenty of rest. You don’t need to be riding a horse much longer either,” he said.

  “Doc, you sure know how to flatter a girl,” Abby chided. “First Gideon thought that I was too old to get pregnant and now you act as if I’m too old to deliver a baby. I feel fine and I will be careful. You must know how much I want this baby.”

  “We all want you to have the baby. It’s my job to make sure that it happens. Have you had any bleeding?” Doc said.

  “No, none. I’m about four months along, I think. I should have figured it out sooner, but I’ve never been real regular,” Abby said.

  “All right, but you make sure that you see me if anything changes,” the doctor said before they left the room.

  Abby said her goodbyes and left. After she departed, Doc took out his stethoscope to check Ethan’s heart and lungs once again. He worked methodically, asking Ethan to take as deep of breaths as he could as he moved the stethoscope around his chest.

  “Your lungs sound much better. Better than this morning. I think you’re making dandy progress. Keep this up and you’ll be up and around in no time,” Doc said as he carefully placed the instrument back into his case.

  “Thank you, Doc. I don’t think that I would be here without you,” Ethan said.

  “I’m just glad we got to you in time. You had me scared. I’m going to have Zack take me back to town and I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow,” the doctor said.

  The doctor walked stiffly out the door and could barely climb into the wagon with Zack. “Damn, it’s hell getting old,” he said.

  ∞

  Gideon and Finnie entered a stream so clear and blue that they could see trout swimming in it. They stopped mid–stream to let the horses drink. “It would be a sight more enjoyable to be fishing today,” Finnie said to break the monotony.

  “Yes, it would, if only people could behave themselves. Makes you wonder why people chose the path they take,” Gideon replied.

  “I’m afraid that is a conversation that is a little too deep for a simple mind like mine,” Finnie said.

  “Well, how about we talk about why you chose the path that you took then,” Gideon said.

  “Gideon, you’re as sly of a devil as I’ve ever seen, but don’t think that I didn’t see that coming. My momma didn’t raise no fool,” Finnie said.

  “So are you going to tell me or not?” Gideon asked.

  “I was doing some work for the Indian commissioner at the Southern Ute Reservation and I met this little Ute squaw. When the job played out, I decided to head to Animas City to make my fortune and I talked her into going with me. Everything went fine at first and then Little Bird started missing her people and wanted to go home. There was nothing for me at the reservation, so I let her go. I missed her a heap more than I was expecting and the bottle became my new mistress. I never told that girl that I loved her, but I did. I guess I never wanted to admit it. That’s about the long and short of it,” Finnie said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. You could’ve gone back with her,” Gideon said.

  “She needed to be with her people and there was no place for me back there. It just wasn’t meant to be. Enough about me. We have some men to track,” Finnie said and nudged his horse into walking.

  They pushed their horses as hard as they dared for the rest of the day before making camp that night. Gideon managed to shoot a couple of rabbits and they dined on them and hardtack. Finnie had his best day of staying away from the whiskey, only needing it once as they rode and again after supper. Both of them were tired from the hard day of riding and bedded down early. They reminisced about their days of riding together in the war before drifting off to sleep.

  Chapter 11

  Finnie arose before dawn. He had always been an early riser when sleeping outdoors. Throwing some wood onto the fire, he had the flame hot and the coffee on before Gideon sat up from his bed.

  “You’re up early,” Gideon said.

  “Don’t you remember? I was always the first to rise. Do you think we gained on them yesterday?” Finnie said.

  “I figure they had a three hour jump on us from the night that they shot Ethan. Yesterday, we didn’t get as early of a start as I would’ve liked. We lost a lot of time when I picked you up and we checked on Ethan, but we still covered a lot of territory. So I’m guessing that we’re two to four hours behind them depending on how long they rode yesterday. We can’t be far from New Mexico,” Gideon said.

  “The sooner we find them the better. I haven’t ridden this hard in years and I can feel it in every bone in my body. That cot of yours sleeps pretty good,” Finnie said.

  By the time the men finished a breakfast of hardtack and jerky, the sky to the east began to lighten. As they saddled the horses, Gideon said, “I’m not worried about checking for tracks very often. Unless they make a turn, they’re headed to Santa Fe.”

  Gideon and Finnie rode hard all morning, only checking for tracks about every hour. The men they pursued were staying on the mai
n trail headed towards Santa Fe. The vegetation grew sparse as the trail wound south through the mountains. Around noon, they came upon a small lake. A tepee sat beside it, billowing smoke and steam. Nearby, a saddle horse grazed.

  Gideon pulled Buck up and studied the horse and tepee. “Unless I’m badly mistaken, that there is Farting Jack Dolan,” he said.

  Chuckling, Finnie said, “Pray tell, who might that be?”

  “I was a deputy in northern Colorado and the sheriff would hire him to track for us. He’s an old mountain man, best tracker I’ve ever known, and he taught me the finer skills of tracking,” Gideon said.

  “I guess the name says the rest,” Finnie said.

  “Anybody home?” Gideon called out as they rode up to the tepee.

  “For Christ’s sake, I might as well live in the son of a bitching hell of a city the way people are showing up around here today. Don’t people know that anybody that lives in a tepee in the middle of the wilderness sure as hell don’t like company,” a voice swore from inside the tepee before a skinny man emerged, naked from head to toe and drenched in sweat. His pale skin could have passed him off for an albino except for the ruddy color of his hands and face. His hair and beard were steel–gray and hung wildly to his shoulders and chest.

  “Farting Jack, it’s been awhile,” Gideon said as he and Finnie climbed down from their horses.

  “Gideon. Well, I’ll be damned,” Farting Jack said and shook Gideon’s hand. He remained standing in all his naked glory as if it were the most normal thing to do in all the world.

  Gideon introduced Finnie before continuing the conversation. “How in the world did you end up clear down here? It’s a long ways from Boulder,” he said.

  “I got the trapping fever again and I heard that the beaver were still plentiful down here. It weren’t true though. I see that you have worked your way up to a sheriff,” Jack said before expelling an explosion of gas. “Whoa, that was a good one.”

  The two men were forced to retreat a couple of steps before continuing the conversation. “Yeah, I’m sheriff of Last Stand. That’s what brings me down here. Have you seen four men ride by here? They should’ve had a big piebald with them,” Gideon said.

  Jack studied the sun. “They came by here about two hours ago. Wanted to know how far it was to Santa Fe. Told them I didn’t have a clue.”

  “Did they seem to be in a hurry?” Gideon asked.

  “I don’t reckon so. Their horses weren’t lathered or winded and they were in a fine mood and took considerable pleasure in my sweat–bath,” Jack said.

  “They took considerable pleasure in shooting a friend of mine too. They nearly killed him and I take it a little personally. It’s good to see you again, Jack, but I have to go catch those men,” Gideon said.

  “They weren’t much of a mean looking bunch. Nothing compared to some of the men that we tracked down back in the day. You shouldn’t have much trouble with them. Good seeing you again, Gideon,” Jack said before returning to his tepee and ripping another thunderous fart as he bent over to go through the opening.

  As they climbed into the saddle, Finnie said, “I bet he kept your posse jumping on a still night around the campfire.”

  “He could scatter a crowd right smartly, that’s for sure. I bet we have us some outlaws tracked down before the sun has set if we move smartly,” Gideon said as he wheeled Buck around.

  They pushed on well into New Mexico. The land grew harsher the farther they rode until there was not much to see but rock and brush. Stopping at midafternoon, they rested the horses and dined on another meal of hardtack and jerky. Finnie had already taken two pulls from the bottle that day and needed another. All the riding wore him down and made him ill tempered.

  “You need to make that bottle last,” Gideon reminded him.

  “Well if you didn’t have me out here in the middle of nowhere, I wouldn’t be needing it so much now would I? This is a hell of a way to make a living,” Finnie complained.

  “This has nothing to do with my job. This is for Ethan. I’d do the same for you,” Gideon said.

  Finnie corked the bottled back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I know you would. I’ve gotten soft and I need this riding to harden me. It’s a hell of a thing to know that you’re not the man that you used to be.”

  “Just be thankful that it’s not too late. You’re going to get there. It just takes time,” Gideon said.

  “Do you really believe that? There are days when I have my doubts,” Finnie said.

  “I do. Now let’s ride. We’ll be getting into pines before long. I expect that we’ll catch them in there somewhere,” Gideon said.

  After riding a few more miles, the land greened up with good grass and thickets of pine. The sun hung low in the west as they came upon some horse dung with the shiny still not dried off it.

  Gideon reined his horse to a stop at a little creek running down from the mountains. “Let’s just hold up here and wait until they make camp. I don’t want to take a chance that they see us and start running. We’d have a hard time catching all of them if they scattered. After it gets dark, we’ll charge them just like we did in the old days. I was going to take them alive and hang the sons of bitches, but I don’t think there is a suitable tree in miles. The two of us should be no match for them.”

  “I hope that I can still aim a pistol. It’s been a long time,” Finnie said.

  “You’ll be fine. It’ll be hard to miss at pointblank. They won’t know what hit them,” Gideon said.

  “What if they surrender?” Finnie asked.

  “I’m not going to shoot somebody with their hands in the air, but I doubt that’ll be their first inclination. I hope not anyway,” Gideon said.

  Loosening the cinches on the saddles, Gideon and Finnie tied the horses at the water before walking under the pines and making pallets out of the pine needles. The sun had set enough that the temperature began to drop from the high of the day and made for good sleeping weather. Both men were dozing in a matter of minutes and slept until Gideon awoke at dusk.

  Rousing Finnie from his slumber, Gideon said, “Let’s go get done what we came to do.”

  Riding for more than an hour, night settled in and cloud cover made a game of peek–a–boo with the moon and stars. Gideon began to wonder if he had made a mistake in stopping. Serious doubts were starting to creep into Gideon’s mind as they rode on before Finnie spotted light ahead off to the right. Riding farther along the trail, they could see a roaring campfire through the pines and continued on until they reached the spot where the men had left the trail. The four men were camped in a clearing about thirty yards wide and fifty yards from where Gideon and Finnie sat on their horses watching them. The men were preoccupied with eating their meal and continually scooting farther away from the heat of the raging fire.

  “That’s them,” Gideon whispered. “I can see Pie plain as day in that string of horses. Let’s ease forward until we are about thirty yards out and then swoop in on them. I’ll take the two on the left and you take the ones on the right.”

  They drew their revolvers and cocked them. “I hope I’m ready for this,” Finnie said.

  “You will be. We’ve charged into battle enough that it all comes back. Let’s give that yell the Rebs used to do to us. It used to scare the shit out of me and I’m fearless,” Gideon joked.

  The crackling fire and the men’s conversation allowed Gideon and Finnie to ride forward undetected. Gideon gave Finnie a nod and they both spurred their horses and let out a howl that made for a poor imitation of the battle cry. The four men all jumped up from their seats, letting tin plates clatter to the ground. They stood momentarily frozen in place until one of them yelled, “Draw your damn guns and shoot or we’re all dead.”

  Gideon aimed Buck straight at the man farthest to his left. The outlaw fumbled to pull his pistol from his belt and became frantic as the horse raced in on him. Pulling hard on the reins, Gideon slowed the horse just as it crashed
into the man, sending him somersaulting backwards. The outlaw to Gideon’s right held his revolver with both hands and took aim as if he were targeting a walnut instead of a human body six feet away. He remained gazing down his barrel as Gideon shot him in the forehead. The first man had managed to get into a sitting position and attempted to extricate his pistol when Gideon’s bullet knocked him backwards.

  Finnie’s two men were standing beside each other with their pistols drawn. Realizing that they were about to be trampled, the one to Finnie’s left dove out of way, while the one on the right stepped to the side. Finnie was upon the man by the time he took aim at the outlaw and his barrel reached no more than a foot from his face as he fired. The shot sent a shower of blood and tissue into the air. Wheeling his horse hard to the left, Finnie saw the flash of fire from the outlaw’s gun and let out a yelp of pain before he and the outlaw exchanged two volleys at each other. Both of Finnie’s shots found the chest of the man and he fell over dead.

  The sounds of crackling fire and horse nickering replaced the gunfire noise. Bodies lie strewn about in grotesque positions. Finnie had his left hand under his coat, feeling around on his right side.

  “Did they get you?” Gideon asked.

  “I got a bullet hole through my coat, but I guess the lead just burned me. It stung like hell though. What about you?” Finnie said as he holstered his revolver.

  “I’m fine,” Gideon said.

  The man that had never managed to draw his gun, called out for help. The force of the collision with Buck had knocked him back into the shadows and Gideon walked towards him with his gun still drawn.

  “I can’t feel my arms or legs,” the wounded man managed to say as Finnie joined Gideon at the outlaw’s side.

  “Let’s carry him to the fire so we can see better,” Gideon said.

  The man screamed as they lifted him and again when they lay him on the ground. From the firelight, Gideon realized that the outlaw was no more than a boy of probably seventeen. The bullet had hit him dead center in the upper chest.