Once a Ranger

by Dusty Richards

  He drew a laugh from them and shook hands with several who thanked him. Then he went to the livery and tightened his horse’s cinch. He and Cochise were going home. He was ready to be back with Cally.

  He short loped Cochise all the way. One more bad situation over. He bet those hard-eyed brothers had no idea what had hit them in Steward’s Crossing.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWO WEEKS WENT flying by with little happening but progress on the new structure. Cally’s house was fast being closed in. Dresscoe had studied the prevailing summer winds and assured her that they would sweep through her house all summer long.

  “They may blow everything over, but it was a good way to design one.”

  Guthrey agreed. “He’s done a great job for you so far. I’m proud.”

  “So am I. How is Deloris getting along?”

  “Well, she fed us good.”

  “Dan and Noble have not complained either. Can I make a watering system and a garden here?”

  “It is your house, my dear. I can live in it, but you decide what to do with it. As much as you enjoy a garden, you better add it to your plans.”

  “Noble witched me a new well. He had a forked peach branch to witch for it and found it in back where I need water for a garden here.”

  He chuckled. “Another well—another windmill?”

  She nodded. “He also has a windmill spotted no one is using.”

  “Better buy it.”

  She hugged him. “You are wonderful, you know that?”

  “No. I am laughing at my very busy wife.”

  “Speaking of busy. Olive’s dress is made and Cam has a new suit for this Saturday night’s wedding.” She dropped her head and shook it as if something was too much. “She’s so tickled she’s pregnant, she’s about to bust.”

  “She waited a long time.”

  She put a finger to his mouth. “I may be finished waiting too.”

  “Good.”

  “Don’t tell anyone—yet.”

  “I won’t, but it would be nice.”

  “Oh, a new house for my firstborn. Yes, Phil Guthrey, with you thrown in I’d be the luckiest girl in the world.”

  “I may ride down and evict those squatters down south tomorrow.”

  “Is that the trash that those brothers stayed with?”

  “Yes.”

  “Just be careful.”

  He hugged her tight. “I will.”

  * * *

  IN THE MORNING he took Dan and Noble with him to the squatters’ place. There were lots of them in the camp. Some of the women walked around bare breasted and it never bothered them. Many of the ragged army curled their lips at the three lawmen when they went past them to the center of the camp near the low cooking fires where the smoke swirled around close to the ground.

  “Listen up, folks!” Guthrey shouted, sitting on his spotted horse and looking over the tough ragtag squatters. “This is not public land. This is private land and you can’t stay here any longer.”

  They booed him.

  He paid no heed to them. “You have forty-eight hours to leave or you will be jailed for trespassing.”

  “That’s bullshit, lawman.”

  Guthrey reined around Cochise and gave the man who’d spoken a hard look. “Wait forty-eight hours and you’ll see what I mean.”

  Then he spun the paint horse around. “You’ve been warned.” He rode over to join his two deputies. “See anyone wanted?”

  “Who’d want this bunch?” Dan asked.

  They laughed and went on. There must have been thirty of them there. If they left this place they’d simply move somewhere else. Guthrey could hope, maybe, out of his territory. But such gatherings made a hangout for real bandits like the Morales brothers. They needed to be gone.

  Guthrey and his two men checked by the Bridges Ranch to see if Guermo needed anything. A four-mule team hauling a loaded ore wagon came down from up at their mine.

  The big red-faced driver, Asa Birk, sat on the seat and reined up his mules, then spoke to Guthrey. “Howdy, sheriff.”

  “Howdy, Asa. Heading for the stamp mill below Tombstone?” Guthrey asked.

  “Yeah. I take a load a week down there for you all. Leave an empty wagon and take a loaded one out. Takes me two days to get back here and two to get down there to the mill without any breakdowns, so I don’t get much done but haul ore for your operation. Sure is high-grade stuff. Most small mines peter out fast. This one sure ain’t.”

  “We don’t want it to,” Noble said. Everyone laughed.

  Asa clucked to his team and went on his way.

  Deloris told them Guermo was fine and all was well. She offered them some food. Guthrey said no, thanked her, and they all headed back for Soda Springs. By late afternoon, Cally met him at the corral.

  “Doc told your deputies today that Fred Morales won’t live through the night.”

  “He made the decision when he tried to rob Mr. Hayes. He sure hung on long enough with those serious injuries.”

  “I know. Just wanted to tell you.”

  He hugged her. “Asa hauled off another load of rich ore today.”

  “Good. By the time it gets smelted we may need that money.”

  “We will?”

  “No, I’m just teasing.”

  “Good.”

  “I have supper for all of you,” she announced.

  Dan and Noble nodded.

  Dan told them about his plans for the cattle drive and how he had everything lined up: butchers, pasture, and help. They talked about it over the evening meal. He planned to hire three day-hands to help him drive them. Noble never objected; he and Guthrey had talked about how it should be Dan’s operation. So they encouraged him and finished their meal.

  Guthrey knew his wife was proud of her brother. Maybe the boy was going to grow up. He hoped so.

  “Guthrey, I checked at the courthouse. That place down there we were at today could be a good ranch headquarters. It’s deeded land and the record shows some guy in California owns it. What’s it worth?”

  “Since I burned down the squaw shade, not much.”

  They laughed.

  “Are you interested in a place of your own, Dan?” Cally asked.

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” Dan said.

  Cally looked at Guthrey for his answer.

  “You better ask her. She handles the money,” he said with a smile.

  “What are you going to offer him?”

  “Five hundred dollars.”

  Noble nodded. “He might take that. Sure ain’t making him any money sitting empty.”

  “You know him?” Guthrey asked.

  “Yeah, he was one of those guys left here early when things got hot. But he wouldn’t sell it to Whitmore. His name’s Coleman.”

  “That’s his name,” Dan said. “Euless Coleman.”

  “Tell him you aren’t a part of them and make him an offer.”

  Dan nodded looking smug. “I’ll do that.”

  “No word from Texas and the McAllen thing?” Noble asked.

  “There was no mail from them today,” Cally said. “I went by the office and checked.”

  “They will answer in time. No doubt they’re shorthanded.”

  “You think more Rangers quit over the scrip payment business?” Dan asked.

  “More than likely,” Guthrey said. He had no idea, really. Eventually they’d tell him what they could do about the man.

  * * *

  NEXT MORNING AT dawn, Guthrey found Vance down by the corral sleeping in a blanket on the ground.

  “What’s happening?” he asked, squatting down beside him.

  “Montoya is coming.”

  “When?”

  “He is on his way now. He sent a man named Paschal up here to check things
out. Last night Paschal had too much to drink and told me his boss was coming with many men.”

  “How many?”

  “Five or six is what he said.”

  “Who will he strike?”

  “The same ranch he did before. He is still mad about them stealing back their horses and his as well. It is to teach the gringos a lesson.”

  “I’ll have Dan go down there to warn Jim Duval. We’ll have a large posse to meet them when they get there.”

  Vance agreed. “I will ride south and try to scout them coming.”

  “Eat some breakfast with us first. Cally is up fixing food now. You be careful; I need you.”

  Vance smiled. “I will. She is a good woman and a good cook.”

  “I think so. Thanks for coming. You must have been in the saddle all night.”

  “I am fine.”

  * * *

  THINGS MOVED FAST and in a few hours Guthrey had a posse of ranchers and cowboys ready to start for the Duval Ranch. When they arrived, Dan and Vance were both there waiting with everyone rifle-armed and prepared.

  “You found them?” Guthrey asked his man.

  “They have a camp down by the Whetstones. I think he wants to raid this ranch at night. His men’s horses were not saddled and they were lying around drinking.”

  He shook Duval’s hard calloused hand. “I guess Montoya didn’t have enough the first time. We need to put our horses in your pens so they aren’t noticeable. String some rope across where we can to take any raiders off their horses that try to drive through. I have told all the posse they need to stay out of sight in case he uses field glasses on us. You heard Vance’s report?”

  “Yes. I never thought about ropes. Damn good idea.”

  “We need to be ready for them.”

  “We will. Gladys has hot beans and corn bread. Get something to eat.”

  Guthrey nodded. “I’ll tell the others to file in and out the back door for food and the rest of the time stay out of sight.”

  “I want to give them a real welcome,” Duval said with a grim nod.

  Laughing, Guthrey headed for Gladys’s beans and corn bread. “So do I.”

  * * *

  THE HOT DAY passed slowly. By sundown everyone had a rifle and was ready. Guthrey had been over all the plans of how close the thieves needed to come before a shot was fired. He wanted them down low and hoped his ropes strung up caught some of the raiders.

  At twilight, Vance made a circle of the ranch house perimeter and came back to tell Guthrey they were out there on horseback.

  “Seven men.”

  “I have a dozen rifles loaded. That’s two bullets for each man, nearly.”

  Quietly, he circled the ranch headquarters, checking each man as the crickets started chirping. He paused and told each man to keep low and that they had the bandits severely outnumbered. The round complete, lights were put out in the house, and he heard horses approaching.

  They sure had a big surprise coming. Then the raiders charged, shouting and whipping their horses, firing guns wildly. They reached the edge of the open space in whichthey turned rigs around when Guthrey yelled, “Fire!”

  The barrage of bullets caught horses and riders in a tough cross fire. Those that missed being shot were snatched off their horses by the ropes, and posse men jumped on them in the night’s darkness and pinned them down.

  A curtain of gun smoke slowly drifted away on the night wind. Lanterns were lit and Guthrey dispatched a few wounded horses with his .45, while his crew gathered prisoners.

  “Over here,” Vance called to Guthrey. “I think he’s dead. This is Montoya.”

  The big man’s blank eyes stared at the stars for eternity. He had a bandolier strapped across him loaded with rifle cartridges. Wounds in the chest and the side of his head had bled a lot. He wore a walrus mustache and a grim look—the bandit was dead.

  “I sure wish it had been my bullet killed him,” Duval said.

  “It probably was,” Guthrey said. “This matter is over, thank God. None of our men are hurt?”

  Duval shook his head. “Only the raiders. Your rope deal worked great at knocking them off their horses. I’d never thought of it.”

  “Jim, sometimes in this business you need to level things. Ropes strung like that will do that for you. Tell my deputy Vance thanks or we’d never have had this much luck.”

  “I will.”

  “Good. I heard your wife say she had fresh coffee made. Let’s go have a cup.”

  Dan reported later, “There are two dead, two wounded, and the other three just beat up after getting clotheslined off their horses.”

  “All we need now are some fireworks to celebrate,” Guthrey said, reminding them about Mexico. They laughed.

  TWENTY-SIX

  GUTHREY WAS BUSY filling out his monthly expenses on his jail with Baker and Zamora.

  “I’ve decided none of us are accountants or smart enough to do this. After lunch, I’ll ask Cally if she’ll go over these figures. It’s damn expensive running a jail and operating a sheriff’s office. No wonder they didn’t do it before.”

  “The county board complains every month they don’t have the money to pay it,” Zamora said.

  Guthrey nodded. “But they find ways every time to pay. They don’t want our job; they only want us to do it cheaper.”

  His men agreed.

  “I am going to Cam and Olive’s wedding tonight. So let it ride till next week,” Guthrey said.

  “I’m willing. We would like to go but figure we might need to be here,” Baker said.

  “Tell him to have good luck from both of us,” Zamora added.

  “I will. They look real happy.”

  He left the office, and when he got home, he saw the team was already hitched. He decided he better get moving.

  “Who harnessed the team?”

  “Noble. I asked him to. We have a long drive if we are going to be there.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Monday you need to look at our expenses.”

  “Fine. I can drive. You can eat your lunch on the way.”

  “What about my clothes?”

  “You look fine to me. We will both be dusty by the time we get there anyway.”

  “You are in a hurry.” He picked up the large burrito and motioned to the doorway. “Okay, I’ll eat on the way.”

  The ride proved dusty enough and, with the heat, long enough. But they arrived on time. Guthrey carried Cally’s covered food inside the schoolhouse for her and she brushed her hair, standing beside the wagon.

  “Well, we made it,” he said.

  “Thanks, I thought you’d forgotten about today, you were so late.”

  “Guess I tucked it away in my mind is all.”

  “No wonder. You’ve had enough happen lately for three sheriffs.”

  “I still would like McAllen up in my jail.”

  “That will be a big order.”

  “I haven’t given up yet.”

  “You’ll get him. It all takes time and you are an impatient person.”

  “Am I impatient with you?”

  “No.”

  “Good. The rest don’t matter.”

  “Oh, my impatient man, I love you.”

  “It’s a good thing you do. Go see about the bride. I can see Cam’s ready out back.”

  * * *

  THE WEDDING WENT smoothly. After Guthrey had kissed the bride, she whispered, “It’s been a long time since the last time you did that. Thanks for Cam, I love him.”

  The newlyweds were off for a night at a secret hideout and on Sunday going to Mount Graham for a honeymoon.

  “Vaya con Dios, Olive.”

  “Same to you, Ranger.”

  “I’m not a Ranger anymore.”

  She mildly shook her head. “Once a Ranger, always one.�
�

  He had to think on that one as they parted. Old flames he thought were extinguished flared up. He felt no need for her as a woman in his life, but he’d never really taken time to consider her words about once a Ranger. . . .

  * * *

  NO ANSWER TO the letter he sent to Ranger headquarters and more than a month had dragged by. Maybe he should write the marshal of El Paso or the police chief and see if McAllen was around there. No telling. Mail took time and even got lost or spilled beside the road after stage robberies.

  At last he received a letter from Austin and Colonel Steve Arrens.

  Dear Sheriff Guthrey,

  I received your letter and have pursued with my office in El Paso the notion that this person, Alfred Jones McAllen, was in the area. My El Paso office reports that he now resides in Mexico on a large hacienda he owns down there. He does not frequent north of the Rio Grande, according to my men that are on that scene.

  I think you will find the authorities down there unwilling to help you apprehend him, since he is such a prominent businessman. I am sorry to be so long in answering you, but correspondence between Austin and El Paso is very slow too.

  May I wish you good fortune in apprehending him. If I or my men can help you further, contact either office for assistance.

  Respectfully,

  Colonel Steve Arrens

  “What can we do?” Zamora asked that afternoon when Guthrey met with him and Teddy Baker.

  “I’m thinking of asking Vance to go with me and try to bring him out of Mexico.”

  “Whew. Risky business,” Baker said. “I bet he has plenty of bodyguards down there.”

  Guthrey nodded. “But he needs to be on trial.”

  “You better scrap that idea,” Zamora said. “Going into Mexico is way too risky.”

  “Once in Mexico, there was a really bad outlaw who’d committed murder in Texas and we knew he was hiding down in the Sierra Madres. The Mexican federales let three of us in and we went down there, found him, and brought him out to Texas to hang for the murders. Mexico City complained to Washington, D.C., that we had invaded their land to get him illegally, but by then he was already on his way to the gallows.”