by Jake Logan
“I can’t think of a damn thing,” Joiner said. “Not without tipping our hand. And not that I could pull off by myself. If you was in shape—”
“But I ain’t,” Slocum said. “And when I am, we need to be ready to move.”
“Wait a minute,” Joiner said. “I’ve got an idea. There’s a storage shed out on my ranch. I think that it’s probably loaded with stuff. Last time I was up on the hill watching the place, I noticed quite a few cows milling around. I bet Harman will be moving them out before long. When he does, there won’t be so many hands around the place. Maybe I could bust into that shed then.”
Slocum thought about it for a moment. “Okay,” he said. “Get back up on that hill and watch then. But be careful.”
4
It was almost sundown when Joiner left to take up his watch on top of the hill. Slocum, alone again with Myrtle, sure did wish that he had his full strength back. Short of that, he longed for a good drink and a good cigar. Well, hell, he’d just have to settle for what was available. “Could we have a little coffee, Myrtle?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll get it started.”
He watched her tight ass swing its way into the kitchen, and he cursed himself for having gotten shot. Another couple of days, he told himself, and I’ll be all right. Then I’ll do her good and proper. He heard the sound of an approaching horse just then. One horse coming at a leisurely pace. He didn’t think that Joiner would be coming back so soon. He hadn’t even had time to get to the top of the hill. He hurried into the bedroom for his Colt. Just as he came back out, there was a knock at the door, and Myrtle came out of the kitchen. She gave him a look, and he nodded. From where he stood, he wouldn’t be seen by the visitor when she opened the door.
Myrtle moved to the door and pulled it open. Slocum could see the worried expression on her face fade, to be replaced by one of a pleasant surprise. “Julia,” she said. “Come on in.” Slocum lowered his Colt. Julia stepped into the house, and the two women embraced. “Where’s Charlie?” Julia asked.
“Gone to work,” Slocum said, stepping forward. Julia gave him a surprised look.
“This is John Slocum,” Myrtle said.
“Hello, John,” Julia said. “Myrtle told me all about you when she came to town. I want to thank you for helping Charlie.”
“Hell,” Slocum said, “I ain’t done nothing yet other than to just get shot.”
“I’d better check the coffee,” Myrtle said. “You want a cup, Julia?”
“Sure,” Julia said. She turned toward Slocum as Myrtle left the room. “You said that Charlie went to work?”
“Well, yeah,” Slocum said. “He went out to watch over his ranch. He thinks that Harman’ll be moving some rustled beef there pretty soon, and we want to know when that happens.”
“Oh,” said Julia. She looked disappointed. “I came out here to see him, but I guess I’ll have to wait.”
“Don’t blame him,” Slocum said. “It was me insisted he go. I’d have done it myself, but I ain’t yet quite fit. Besides, I don’t know the lay of the land. We’ve set ourselves a big job to do, and there’s just some things that can’t wait.”
“I understand,” Julia said. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was complaining.”
Myrtle brought three cups of coffee out of the kitchen and put them on the table. “Come on and sit down,” she said. “Both of you.”
Slocum could scarcely believe that he was alone with two beautiful women, and all they were doing was sitting politely and sipping coffee. He told himself that first thing in the morning, he was going out. He would limber up his arm and shoulder, and he would saddle his horse and ride. He was tired of sitting around waiting to get better. He was going to cause it to happen. He would make himself get better.
From his station on top of the hill overlooking his lost ranch, Charlie Joiner suddenly sat up. He watched as ten cowboys saddled their horses and mounted up. He watched them ride out toward the herd on the south pasture. He knew that they were going to move the stolen cattle down into Mexico. There could be no other reason for so many cowboys to be riding out at that time of night. He watched until they were almost out of sight, and then he mounted his own horse. He turned to head back to Myrtle’s house and tell Slocum what was going on, but he had a sudden change of mind. There were only two men left down at the ranch house. He sat still and studied the scene below a bit longer. One man paced the floor of the big ranch house porch. The other was out by the shed near the corral. Charlie rode easy down the hill.
At the bottom of the hill, he left his horse in some trees and moved in on the ranch on foot. Carefully working his way to the corral, he crouched against a side wall of the storage shed. Slowly he pulled out his Colt and waited. The ranch hand there paced back and forth across the front of the shed. Charlie waited until the man had come back close to the corner where he lurked. Then he sprang out and clubbed the man hard on top of the head with the butt of his Colt. The man fell like a dropped flour sack.
Not knowing how badly he had hurt the man, and not wanting to kill him while he lay there unconscious, Charlie stripped the gunbelt off the body and slung it over his own shoulder. He looked around quickly for a length of rope, found one slung over the fence, and tied the man’s hands tight behind his back. Then he headed for the house. The man there had stopped pacing and was sitting in a chair, leaning back against the front wall of the house, smoking a cigarette. Charlie peeked at him from around the near corner of the house. He stepped out quickly, thumbing back the hammer of his Colt.
“Move and you’re dead,” he said. The man sat still.
“I ain’t moving,” he said.
“Stick your hands up,” Joiner said. The man obeyed. “Now reach across with your left hand, real easy, and pull out that revolver and drop it.” Again, the man obeyed.
Charlie walked up on the porch. About halfway to the man, he stopped, a look of surprise on his face. “Bobby?” he said.
The man turned his head to look at his captor. “Charlie,” he said, and a smile spread across his face. “Charlie. By God. They said you was coming back, but I sure never thought to run into you like this. Say. You better watch out. There’s a man out by the corral.”
“It’s all right,” said Joiner. “I done met him. But what are you doing here? Are you with Harman?”
“Aw, hell, Charlie,” said Bobby. “I’m working for him, all right. As a cowhand. There wasn’t no other work to be had around here after you left. But if you’ve come to get back what’s yours, you can count on me.”
“I can’t pay you nothing,” Joiner said.
“You’ll be able to later,” said Bobby.
Joiner holstered his gun, and Bobby leaned over to pick up his own. He holstered it. Then he stood up and walked to meet Joiner and shake his hand. “Damn, it’s good to see you,” he said. “Harman’s a son of a bitch. You was right about him. He’s the big rustler around here. Only thing is, everyone who knows anything is either with him or afraid to say anything.”
“Was there just the two of you left here tonight?” Joiner asked.
“Yeah,” Bobby said. “That’s all. What do you mean to do?”
“I meant to steal some ammunition and maybe some money,” Joiner said, “but just now I’m getting me another idea. Where’s Harman?”
“Oh, hell,” Bobby said, “whenever the boys move them cattle at night, he stays in town at the Hi De Ho where everyone’ll see him.”
Joiner looked around. “You know,” he said, “three men might could hold off twenty here at this house. What do you think?”
“Five or six would be better,” Bobby said, “but, yeah, three might could. You got another man?”
“I got one,” said Joiner.
“You thinking of taking it back?” Bobby asked. “Tonight?”
“Right now I’ve got it,” said Joiner. “Ain’t I?”
“You’ve got it,” Bobby agreed.
“Only thing is,” said J
oiner, “I got to go back and get my man. You better come along with me in case anyone comes out here to check up on things.”
“Ain’t no worry about that,” Bobby said. “I’ll stay here and watch the place for you. If any of Harman’s men should come by, I’ll run them off.”
Slocum heard the pounding hooves coming and went to the door with his Colt in his hand. He stepped outside and into a deep shadow to wait. The rider came in view, and he could see that it was Joiner. He lowered the Colt and stepped out. “Chuckie,” he said. “What’s up?”
“A change of plans, pard,” Joiner said. “They moved out the herd a while ago and left only two men at the ranch. I conked one on the head and tied him up. The other one is an old friend of mine. Bobby Hale. I left him alone watching the place, but John, it’s mine again. Ain’t no one there but Bobby. Let’s go take it over.”
“Just like that?” Slocum said.
“Yeah,” said Joiner. “Why not?”
“Well, hell, I don’t know why not,” Slocum said. “Let’s do it.”
They went in the house, and Joiner saw Julia right away. He called out her name and rushed over to throw his arms around her. “Julia,” he said, “I been wanting to see you real bad.”
“We got very little time for that,” Slocum said, “if we’re going to do what you said.”
Julia backed off a bit and looked at Joiner in the eyes. “What?” she said. “What are you planning?”
“I got my ranch back,” Joiner said. “No one’s there but a friend of mine. He’s watching it for me. Me and John’s going down there to join him, and we’ll hold it too.”
“Three against twenty?” Julia said.
“Make it four,” said Myrtle, going to get her rifle from the comer of the room.
“Five,” Julia said. “I can shoot too.”
“Well, what about your job?” Myrtle asked.
“Hell,” said Julia, “it’s not worth worrying about.” Joiner went back outside to saddle Slocum’s horse and hitch the team to the wagon, while Slocum gathered up his few belongings and the two women packed up supplies and clothes and anything they wanted to take along with them.
“I don’t have a change of clothes with me,” Julia said.
“I got plenty,” said Myrtle. “We’re about the same size.”
They loaded the wagon and tied Joiner’s saddle horse on behind, and Joiner climbed up on the seat to drive. The two women joined him there. Slocum rode along beside on his big Appaloosa. It was a short ride from Myrtle’s house to the big ranch house that had once belonged to Joiner. When they pulled up in front of the house, Bobby stepped out of a shadow. “Howdy,” he called out. “I had to make sure it was you a-coming, Charlie.”
“Good,” said Joiner. “Help us unload this wagon, will you?”
“Sure,” Bobby said.
“Oh, Bobby,” said Joiner. “This here is John Slocum. You know the girls?”
Bobby touched the brim of his hat. “I sure do,” he said. “Howdy, ladies. Pleased to meet you, Slocum.” They unloaded the wagon in short order, and Bobby busied himself taking care of the horses.
“You said you hog-tied one,” Slocum said.
“He’s over at the corral,” said Joiner.
“You ought to have killed him,” Bobby said. “He’s a mean one. Hell of a gunhand too.”
“Okay, Boss,” said Slocum, “what the hell do we do with him?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Joiner said. “I knocked him cold. Then I tied him up. I don’t rightly know what to do with him now.”
“You could kill him,” said Slocum.
“When he’s all helpless like that?” Joiner said.
Myrtle had stepped back out on the porch just then. She strode over to Slocum’s side and pulled the revolver out of his holster. “Oh, hell,” she said. “Where is he?” Joiner led her to the corral, and Slocum followed along. The man was still on the ground, still tied. He was not moving.
“Maybe you done killed him,” Slocum said.
Joiner knelt beside the man and rolled him over. He leaned down close to the man’s face. Then Joiner looked up. “He’s alive,” he said.
“Untie him,” said Myrtle.
“What?”
“You heard the lady,” said Slocum.
Joiner untied the wrists of the unconscious man.
“Is he right-handed or left-handed?” Myrtle asked.
“I don’t know,” Joiner said.
“All right then,” Myrtle said. “Lay his arms out to the sides.”
Joiner stretched the man’s arms out straight, the palms up, and Myrtle walked over and calmly put a bullet through each palm. “Now load him on a horse and slap it on the ass,” she said. “He won’t do any more shooting for a long time. Maybe never.” She shoved the Colt back into Slocum’s holster, turned, and stalked back toward the house. Joiner stared with wide eyes at the two mangled hands.
“Get him a horse,” Slocum said.
Bobby then saddled one of the ranch horses, and with the help of Joiner, loaded the still-unconscious man onto the saddle. Joiner gave the horse a slap, and it ran. “Where do you reckon he’ll wind up, Charlie?” Bobby asked.
“I don’t give a damn,” said Joiner. “He’s out of here. That’s all I care about. Hey, Bobby.”
“Yeah?”
“How about that Myrtle? Damn. She scares me.”
“Me too,” Bobby said. “I’m glad she’s on our side.”
“All right, boys,” Slocum said, “let’s get serious for a minute here. There’s three of us and two women. We got to watch in all directions and be ready to get hit by twenty men.”
“Eighteen,” said Bobby. “Charlie knocked one out tonight.”
“Charlie and Myrtle,” Slocum said.
“And I was another one,” Bobby added. “So there’s eighteen left.”
“All right,” said Slocum. “Eighteen. That’s still a pretty damn good crowd to have coming at you all at once. How soon do you reckon they’ll be back?”
“It’ll take them the best part of a week to make the trip down there, sell the cows, and then get back here,” Bobby said. “It always has.”
“Hey,” said Joiner. “This might be the right time to hit Harman in town. Catch him short.”
“How many men did you say he has in there at his saloon?” Slocum asked.
“Six or eight?” Joiner said, looking at Bobby.
“Yeah,” Bobby said. “ ’Bout that.”
“You two going to ride in there and tackle six or eight?” Slocum said. “I ain’t ready, and I don’t like the odds. ’Specially on his own ground.”
Joiner set a kind of a pout on his face and shoved dirt around with the toe of his boot. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “So what do we do then?”
“We got a week, according to Bobby here,” Slocum said. “Let’s hit the sack. One of us will stay awake just to be safe. We’ll take turns. First daylight, we’ll look around. Check out the storehouse. Make some plans. Okay?”
“Okay,” Joiner said.
“I’ll take the first watch,” said Slocum. “The way I’ve been lately, once I hit the hay, I’ll be hard to get up.”
“I’ll head for the bunkhouse,” Bobby said.
“You’ll stay in the big house with the rest of us,” Joiner said.
“Well, okay,” said Bobby. “I’ll just run over there and get my gear.”
Slocum and Joiner walked together to the front porch of the big house, and Slocum set the chair in a comfortable place from which to watch. “I don’t suppose there’s any cigars in the house,” he said.
“I’ll check,” Joiner said.
Slocum pulled out his Colt and reloaded the two chambers that Myrtle had emptied into the palms of the unfortunate gunnie at the corral. He reholstered it. The night was quiet and dark. He could hear crickets calling for their mates. In the distance a coyote howled and an owl hooted. The sky was clear, and the stars were bright, but the moon was only a
sliver, not enough to give much light to the night sky. He heard the door open behind him, and turned to see Joiner coming back out. He had three cigars in his hand. He held them out for Slocum. Slocum looked at them and sniffed them.
“Ole Harman’s got pretty good taste,” he said.
Joiner handed him some matches, and he stuck all but one in his shirt pocket along with the two extra cigars. Then he reached down to strike the match on the porch floor, and he held the flame to the end of his cigar and puffed to get it going. “Ah,” he said. “It’s been too damn long. Thanks, pard.”
Bobby came walking up with a bedroll over his shoulder. “Okay, Boss,” he said to Joiner. “You going to show me where to bunk?”
“Come on,” said Joiner. “John, I’ll be out in two hours. That okay?”
“That’s fine, Chuckie,” Slocum said, and he puffed happily on his cigar.
Bobby gave Joiner a curious look. “Chuckie?” he said.
“Ah, shut up,” Joiner said. “Come on in the house.” Slocum poked the cigar into his mouth and stood up. He stretched both arms out to his sides. It hurt some. He brought them back in and did it again. Then he pulled his Colt. That hurt too, and he was slow. He did it again. And again. He could see that this wasn’t going to be fast or easy, but he knew that he had to get his strength and his motion back as fast as possible. He only hoped that it would be fast enough. A week, Bobby had said. They had a week to get ready for what was likely to be one hell of a fight. He stretched his arms out again. It still hurt.
5
Slocum felt a little guilty, rousing Joiner out of bed the next morning. After all, he said to himself, the poor boy hadn’t seen his little Julia for something like two years. Last night had been a hell of an important night for the two of them. Still, it had to be done. According to Bobby, the cowhands would be back in about a week. There was a lot to be taken care of. Finally, everyone had crawled out of bed. Bobby was the only one who did not have to get up early. He had taken the last watch and was already up. Myrtle and Julia set about making breakfast for all of them. As soon as the coffee was ready, the men gathered around the table and sat down.
