by Duane Boehm
“Do you think that I should go back there?” Gideon asked.
“No, stay here with us. You don’t want to go back there just yet. There’s no need to break up a party over a little thing like a baby coming into the world,” Ethan said wryly.
“Her water broke this morning and Abs made us keep it a secret. She didn’t think she would have the baby until tomorrow,” Joann said.
“She could have cancelled this. I guess having it tonight with all this company beats Joann, Winnie, and me here alone,” Gideon said.
“I’m still hungry and I’m going to have me some more pork. We could be here all night,” Ethan said as he flopped a large chunk of meat onto his plate.
“It’s just like a Johann to come charging into this world and upstaging poor old Zack on his big night. Zack if you run with this crowd, you had better get used to playing second fiddle,” Finnie said.
Mary elbowed Finnie in the ribs. “Don’t talk badly about a poor baby that isn’t even born yet.”
“I’m just funning Gideon. I’m a mite excited about the baby myself,” Finnie confessed.
Mary and Joann cleared off the tables after everyone had finished and began washing the dishes. The two women did not know each other all that well and began talking while they worked. They found that they both had a weakness for dresses and were soon discussing all the different styles that they loved.
Gideon needed to get his mind off worrying about Abby and the baby. He pulled a deck of cards out of a drawer. “Let’s play some euchre. It’ll occupy my mind.”
Gideon teamed with Finnie, and Ethan with Zack and the four began playing cards. Mary and Joann went into the front room and continued talking while Benjamin and Winnie passed the time playing checkers.
Sarah came out after about an hour. “Abby is doing fine. The baby still isn’t ready to make its entrance into the world, but Doc says that everything is going good,” she said before retreating to the bedroom.
The games and conversations continued on for another couple of hours before everyone heard a baby crying. Gideon jumped up from his seat, almost knocking over the chair.
“Should I go back there?” Gideon asked.
“Just wait for Sarah to come get you,” Ethan assured him.
Several minutes went by as Gideon stood nervously tapping his foot and rubbing his scar. Ethan and Finnie tried to keep him calm with little success.
Sarah finally came into the room. “Mr. Johann, you have a visitor. Come with me,” she said and gave the others a wink.
Abby was propped up in the bed holding the baby. “It’s a boy. Come meet your new son,” she said to Gideon.
Gideon had so many emotions coursing through him that he didn’t feel attached to his body. He bent over and peered at the baby. “Is he okay? Are you okay?” he asked.
“Doc says that he is healthy and I’m fine,” Abby answered.
Using his index finger, Gideon lightly brushed across the baby’s forehead. The baby opened its eyes for a moment and Gideon saw the same blue color as his own. “He’s got my blue eyes,” he said before kissing Abby.
“Yes, he does. You’ll never be able to deny that he and Joann are yours,” she said.
Doc sat in a chair by the bed and Gideon turned to him and started pumping the doctor’s hand. The hand shaking was so vigorous that Doc chuckled.
“Thank you so much, Doc. You’ve been a good friend to me my whole life. I owe you a lot,” Gideon said.
“Congratulations. That’s a fine little fellow you got there,” Doc said.
Gideon turned to Sarah, engulfing her in a hug, and kissing her cheek.
“Sis, you can’t fuss on me no more. I’ve made good on all that you ever thought I should,” Gideon said.
“Yes, you have. I knew I’d make something out of you,” Sarah teased.
“Can I go show the baby to everybody?” Gideon asked Abby.
“Certainly. He needs to meet his sisters,” Abby said.
“Sarah, will you pick him up and hand him to me. I’m afraid I’ll break his neck or something,” Gideon said.
Sarah picked the baby up and handed him to Gideon. At that moment, Gideon became overwhelmed with emotion and clenched his eyes shut, fighting off tears that would have embarrassed him. His mind flash backed to the time in his life when he didn’t care if he lived or died. Sometimes he had a hard time believing that life could be so good or that he could be so happy.
“Come with me, Sis,” he said to Sarah.
Gideon and Sarah walked into the room to where the others were waiting, all standing together.
“Everybody, I’d like you to meet Chance Beneth Johann,” he said and turned so that everyone could see the baby’s face. “I owe everything that I have to Ethan, Benjamin, and Sarah. This day would not be possible without them. If the baby had been a girl, we would have named her Sarah Hope. However, since it is a boy, we stuck Benjamin and Ethan together and came up with Beneth. I thank everyone here for being a part of our lives.”
Last Ride
A Gideon Johann Western Book 4
By
Duane Boehm
In memory of Grandpa Boehm for the love of music and the guitar.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About the Author
Chapter 1
Ethan Oakes walked into the jail in Last Stand, Colorado and found his longtime friend, Sheriff Gideon Johann, dusting the shelves in his office. Gideon looked up at him sheepishly, failing to conceal his embarrassment at getting caught in the act of cleaning.
The two men’s friendship went back to childhood with an eighteen–year interruption when Gideon disappeared after the war. Found wounded outside of Last Stand, Gideon lay near dead and a bitter man. With the help of old friends and rekindled love, his transformation in the last couple of years had been nothing short of miraculous. He had made the most of his second chance in life at finding happiness.
“If I had known that you were getting all domesticated, I would have loaned you one of Sarah’s aprons,” Ethan said.
“You’re a fine one to talk. Sarah says jump and you say how high. You’d best stick to ranching and preaching. Your jokes are a little stale,” Gideon said.
Grinning, Ethan took off his hat and eased his large frame into the chair facing the desk. “Why don’t you get Finnie to do that? What good is a deputy if you can’t make him do the dirty work?” he asked.
“I’d rather do it myself than listen to him. Do you know how annoying an Irish brogue can be when it’s whining?” Gideon said as he joined Ethan at the desk.
“You’ve got a point there. He is a feisty little man,” Ethan said.
“What brings you to town?” Gideon asked.
“Blackie is supposed to have that wagon wheel repaired that Zack smashed into a rock. That boy was a pretty good ranch hand until he married your daughter. I think he daydreams about what’s waiting for him at home these days. I will say though that marriage has put some giddy–up into his step,” Ethan said.
Zack had married Gideon’s daughter Joann in the spring. The sheriff had only learned that he and Abby had a child upon his return to Last Stand. After an awkward beginning, he and Joann had grown close until they now had a tr
ue father and daughter relationship.
“Ethan, the last thing in the world that I want to know about is Zack being anxious to get home to Joann. I’d just as soon not think about those things,” Gideon said and rubbed the one–inch vertical scar on his cheekbone made courtesy of a rebel sabre.
Ethan let out a laugh. “You’ll probably be a granddad before you know it.”
“What’s with you? You really are full of yourself today. I’m not ready to be a grandpa. I got my hands full with Chance. Since he began to walk, he about wears out Abby and me. I didn’t know that a ten–month–old could get into so many things. Does it get any easier?” Gideon said.
“Quit your complaining. You love it and you know it,” Ethan said.
“I didn’t say that I didn’t. I just never imagined that he would be so much work. He just goes and goes until he literally drops to the floor and falls asleep,” Gideon said.
Wanting to change the subject, Ethan grew serious and straightened his posture. “Gideon, I wanted to let you know about something that I saw yesterday. That bull that I was so proud of when I showed him off to you, well, he has started getting rambling fever bad. Zack and I have been chasing him all over the countryside. Yesterday, we found him clear over by Moccasin Cave. I saw some riders taking their horses into it. They didn’t see us. We were off in the brush, but they sure looked suspicious to me. I think that maybe there were five of them,”
Ethan’s news caused Gideon to mull the information over a moment before speaking. “That’s not really a place that you would make camp in unless you were caught in a rain storm. It surely doesn’t sound right. I got a dispatch the other day that said the Cooper Gang out of Missouri had been chased into Colorado. They went on a crime spree all over Kansas. Rumor has it that Weasel Willie Trucks rides with them. I wonder if it’s them and he led them here.”
Ethan and Gideon had gone to school with Weasel Trucks. The nickname came from his close–set eyes and pointy nose. He had always been a scroungy, dirty, young man that seemed to attract trouble. Small in stature and wiry, he stood fearless in a fight no matter the size of the opponent, and had often been on the receiving end of a beating.
“We always said that Weasel would steal anything that wasn’t fastened down and that Frank DeVille would swindle anybody out of their last dollar,” Ethan said.
“And we were right. Frank’s ways finally caught up with him and I expect that Weasel’s will do the same. Finnie and I will ride out there and check out things. That Cooper Gang is supposed to be some bad men. I hope we are wrong about our suspicions,” Gideon said.
“I need to get going, but I thought that you should know about it,” Ethan said as he arose from the chair.
Deputy Finnegan Ford walked into the jail. Short in stature, with shoulders as broad as Ethan’s, he stood a foot shorter than the rancher. A trained boxer, his sinewy body belied his good nature. In his heavy Irish accent, he said, “Top of the morning to you, Ethan.”
“Good morning, Finnie. Good to see you. I hope that I keep seeing you and Mary at church,” Ethan said.
Mary owned the Last Stand Last Chance Saloon. Twenty–eight years old, she was petite and pretty with black hair. Raised in an orphanage, her husband had been murdered after they moved to Last Stand. She had gone into the whoring business to make a living before inheriting the saloon. Finnie and she seemed to make an odd pair, especially considering that when Gideon dragged his old war buddy to town, Finnie was a down–and–out drunk. Given the choice between whiskey and Mary, Finnie had chosen Mary. Somehow they had managed to bury the misfortunes of their pasts to allow them to find happiness together. He had been sober a year and lived with her in the saloon though they had never gotten around to marriage.
“I think I’ve gotten Mary to quit worrying about what other people think of us coming. We’re not there for them anyway. I come mainly to marvel at you. It’s not often that somebody as big as you is not dumber than a box of rocks,” Finnie said with a chuckle.
“You dwarfs always have a mean streak in you. I think it comes from having to stand on your tiptoes so much,” Ethan said and grinned, proud of his comeback.
Gideon stood and grabbed his hat. “Okay, gentlemen, I can think of nothing that I’d rather do than listen to you two jaw at each other all day, but I have work to do.”
Chapter 2
Moccasin Cave sat northeast of Last Stand in some of the roughest, most barren land in the area. No homesteads or ranches were near the cave and the spot was seldom traveled. Old–timers claimed that the first time white settlers explored the cave, they found six pair of moccasins all lined up together. The mystery remained unresolved, but the name stuck. The walls remained decorated with crude figurines, and broken pieces of pottery littered the floor. Legend had it that an Indian ghost haunted the cavern. A spring trickled out of the cave wall and made a pool of fresh water before running deeper into the cave, making it an ideal place to hole up.
After lunch, Gideon and Finnie rode out of town towards the cave. The cloudless sky and relentless sun made for a warm August day. For most of the trip, the land they rode across was grassland dotted with hills and ridges and all of it still green from the summer rains. The mountains loomed all around in the background like guardians of all below them. They had a good distance to travel and alternated between putting the horses into a lope and a walk.
As they pulled the horses to a walk, Gideon asked, “Are you ever going to ask Mary to marry you?”
Finnie looked at Gideon in surprise. “You’re getting just a wee–bit personal there, aren’t you?” he asked.
Gideon rolled his eyes. “Oh, good God, is there anything we don’t know about each other? Answer the damn question.”
Finnie sat up in his saddle and gave Gideon a dirty look. “Mary and I are very happy. Why would the proprietor of a booming saloon want to marry a deputy? She probably earns more than me and you put together.”
“In other words, you’re afraid to ask her. You sound as bad as Zack did when he was afraid to court Joann because he didn’t think that he was worthy of her. Mary doesn’t give a damn about the money and you know it. She just wants to be happy and loved. Does her past make you skittish about marrying her?” Gideon said.
“I don’t care one bit that she was a whore. I was a drunk. Neither of us have pasts that are worth writing home about. I’m just afraid that she would say no and I don’t want to ruin what we have,” Finnie said.
“You and Zack really are alike. I’m surprised either one of you has ever been kissed. Both of you have risked your lives to come to my aid when I was in trouble and yet you have to be preached to when it comes to dealing with women,” Gideon said.
Knowing Gideon’s discomfort at being teased about the newlywed bliss of Zack and Joann, Finnie went for the jugular to shut him up. “I wouldn’t worry about Zack these days. The way he walks around with that goofy smile on his face, I think that he is getting all the loving that he can handle.”
The two men rode the rest of the trip in agitated silence. Reaching the spot where the brush and trees stopped, Gideon pulled a spyglass from his saddlebag before dismounting. The land between them and the cave lay flat and all rock, providing a clear view of the opening. About an eighth of a mile separated them, and with the naked eye they could see wisps of smoke drifting from the cave.
“Looks like they’re still here or that ghost that lives there is cooking a meal,” Finnie said.
Gideon chortled. “I don’t think that’s a ghost, but I dare say it is somebody that is up to no good.”
“True. I’ve never known a ghost to make a fire, but back in the old country where things were civilized centuries before a white man ever set foot over here, ghost were as thick as flies on cow dung,” Finnie said.
Giggling, Gideon slapped his leg. “Only you could work ghost and cow shit into the same sentence. You have a way with words, I’ll give you that. We’ll just sit here and watch what goes on.”
&nb
sp; The sun sank halfway behind the horizon and still no one had emerged from the cave. Finnie sat with his lap covered in a pile of shavings from whittling a batch of toothpicks while Gideon watched the cave and paced. Catching sight of some movement at the mouth of the cavern, he stopped in his tracks and raised the spyglass to study the situation.
“Well, I’ll be. It is Weasel. I’d recognize those close–set eyes and that upturned, pointy nose anywhere no matter how many years it’d been since I saw him. Looks like he’s taking the horses out to pasture for the night. I count five of them,” Gideon said.
“So what’s our plan?” Finnie asked as he stood and brushed off the shavings.
“He’s headed east. There’s some decent grass about a half mile that direction once you get past the rock and then some pines. We’ll ride over there and make sure that we know where he left the horses and then come back before light and be ready,” Gideon said.
“You mean I have to be back here before light? I’ll have to get up at three in the morning. These outlaws had better surrender peacefully for I’ll be in an ill mood. I’ll show them the wrath of the Irish. We should’ve made plans to camp the night,” Finnie groused.
“If we didn’t have women that’d be worrying about us, we’d rough it for the night. I’ve given Abby enough troubles to last a lifetime and I don’t plan to add to it,” Gideon said.
Back in their youth, Gideon and Abby had been sweethearts. She had wed another man in the years that Gideon had gone missing and found herself in an unhappy marriage. After Gideon returned, they realized they still had feelings for each other and eventually she divorced Marcus and married Gideon.
Finnie untied the horses and walked them over to Gideon.
“It is a burden to be as lovable as us two,” Finnie said as he mounted his horse.
Gideon and Finnie made a circle headed towards the east and a little north. They rode at a leisurely pace to allow Weasel plenty of time to return to the cave. Reaching the pines, they tied the horses and pulled their rifles from their scabbards. Gideon led the way as they traipsed through a couple hundred feet of pines until they reached a clearing where they found the horses staked on a line.
