One Man's Fire

by Ralph Compton

  “I heard of that name,” Zack said. “Where were you caught?”

  “Seedley,” Eli replied as if he were naming a hated enemy. “Jake and the others got away.”

  “What others?”

  Even though he hadn’t inserted himself into this conversation, Saunders could tell that question was loaded with some deadly ammunition. In fact, every one of the robbers watched intently as Eli spoke his reply.

  “Cody Beasley and Scarecrow Hank.”

  Some of the robbers in the back of the group scowled beneath their bandannas, but Zack and Eddie grinned. “Ain’t too often I find someone who’s heard of that name,” Eddie said. “Ain’t no lawman in these parts that knows it, that’s for certain. Them that calls him Scarecrow to his face usually got a fight on their hands.”

  “Me and Hank locked up plenty of times,” Eli said. “We worked together well enough, so he usually let it slide. Course, there was a time when we were stuck in a downpour in Kansas that ol’ Hank wasn’t in such a forgiving mood. Cracked me in the jaw with his fist wrapped around that little derringer he carries under his belt.”

  “I rode with Hank for a while myself,” Eddie said.

  Eli shrugged beneath his ropes. “Hank rode with lots of men.”

  “I caught sight of that derringer once. Made the mistake of calling it a woman’s gun.”

  “That couldn’t have gone over well.”

  “It sure didn’t,” Eddie laughed. “So you say this lawman bushwhacked you?”

  “He did. Me, Hank, Jake, and Cody were robbing a stagecoach and it all went south in a rush. This one got lucky, but still wasn’t man enough to fire a shot. Instead, he knocked me down and wrapped me up.”

  “That why your holster was empty and you didn’t have anything but dust in your pockets?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Seems like you’re not too lucky where being tied up is concerned,” Zack pointed out.

  “Maybe not, but at least you men had the sand to do it without hitting me from behind like a coward.”

  Saunders might have been keeping his mouth shut, but he was fuming so much that smoke was about to come out of his ears.

  Zack handed his shotgun over to Eddie and drew a hunting knife from the scabbard that hung from his belt. Lowering himself to one knee beside Eli, he asked, “So there’s rewards being offered for you and Jake and the rest?”

  “Ain’t there always?”

  “And this sheriff was carrying enough to pay them off, huh?”

  “That was just to help boost the funds of other local lawmen that’re friends of his. Ever since I was caught, everyone else is looking for the rest of the gang. Jake especially. Bounty hunters will be about, as well as posses or vigilantes. Wouldn’t cut it if anyone went through the trouble of bringing in someone like Jake or Hank and there wasn’t enough in the kitty to pay the reward.”

  “Friend of mine who was in Cheyenne said Jake was headed that way.”

  Saunders felt his heart skip a beat, but Eli barely seemed to notice. On the contrary, his expression drifted more toward casual amusement as he said, “We’re also supposed to be in Wichita or down Texas way. Don’t believe what you hear, right?”

  “That’s right. That’s why I have a hard time believing the sheriff of some town I ain’t never heard of is responsible for fillin’ the coffers of someone outside his jurisdiction.”

  “These lawmen all take care of each other,” Eli said. “Besides, you got your hands on the money that was stuffed in this one’s boots, pockets, and everywhere else. That should tell you all you need to know.”

  “All I should know…like there’s more where this came from?”

  Eli’s only response was a grin and a wink.

  “Think you could take us to where it is?”

  “One of you knows where Seedley is, right?” Eli asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then you know as much as I do. I couldn’t have found that mud hole on a map if my life depended on it. You men seem like the sorts that would appreciate knowing where they might find a load of cash. I just hope you might see your way clear to repaying that information with a kindness of your own.”

  “What’d you have in mind?” Zack asked.

  “What do you think?” Eli snapped as all of the friendliness disappeared from his voice. “I been locked up in a jail cell and led around by the nose for long enough. I just want to go my separate way.”

  Zack held the knife so its blade was less than an inch from Eli’s ropes. “We ain’t seen nothing to make us think you were lying. Fact is, you’ve said things that no man other than an outlaw would know. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you’re not just another dog who hides behind a badge like this one here.”

  Where Saunders had been fuming before, he was positively steaming now. Sweat trickled down his face that had nothing to do with the temperature.

  “But if I’m just gonna cut you loose,” Zack continued, “I’ll need something more than just a how-do-you-do.”

  “Professional courtesy isn’t enough anymore?” Eli sighed. “What a sad state of affairs that is.”

  The blade came up toward Zack’s face so he could tap it absently upon his cheek. He then used it as a pointer when he said, “Next time you see Jake Welles or any of the others from that gang, I want you to deliver a message. Tell them Zack Pardow and his boys were good enough to swoop in and relieve this sheriff of his money, which also shortchanges plenty of other lawmen around here of the ability to pay off rewards being offered for their scalps.”

  Eli’s smile was all too genuine. “He’d get a kick out of that.”

  “Then he should also think highly enough of us to consider taking us on.”

  “All of you?”

  The hardened face that Zack had been showing his prisoners crumbled a bit when he shrugged and said, “Most of us. Any that he’d like riding with his boys.”

  “I don’t speak for Jake, but I can put a good word in.”

  “That’s all I ask.” From there, Zack went through the short sawing motions required to hack through the ropes that had been binding Eli from head to toe. After a few strands were cut, the rest loosened and he was able to wriggle free. Zack dropped his knife into its scabbard and offered that hand to Eli, who took it and was helped to his feet.

  Eli straightened his clothes and rubbed a few spots that had been cramped or chafed during his most recent imprisonment. When he looked down at Saunders, he found the sheriff looking back up at him with an expression that was best described as cautiously hopeful.

  “We’re going after the rest of the money that one’s sitting on in Seedley,” Eddie said. “You’re welcome to come along with us if you like.”

  “I’ll pass on that offer. Seen enough of that place already. Watch yourselves while you’re there. Plenty of men who’ll be ready to pick up a gun if an alarm is raised.”

  “Deputies?”

  “Vigilantes. If this sheriff wasn’t good for anything else, at least he was able to talk enough sense into that group to keep them in line.”

  The robbers all looked back and forth at each other in another silent council. Eli might not have known exactly what they were relaying in all those glances, nods, and shakes of heads, but he’d been a part of enough such consultations to have a pretty good idea.

  “Keep him wrapped up tight,” Zack said while kicking Saunders with the side of his boot. “If he don’t come up with a good way to that money or help us get past them vigilantes, we’ll drop him as deadweight and get rich the hard way. You good from here, Eli?”

  “Better than good.”

  “All right, then. Let’s not waste any more time. We should be able to get to Seedley, conduct our business, and be out before dawn.”

  All of the robbers made their way to horses that were tethered nearby. Robert tossed his shotgun to one of the masked men so he could walk over to the boulders, pick up Saunders, and heft the sheriff over one shoulder with a minimum of fuss.


  “You’ll probably want a better horse,” Eddie said.

  Eli nodded. “I’ll take the sheriff’s. Give me my guns and his as well. Also, I could use some ammunition.”

  That got a healthy round of laughter from most of the robbers.

  Approaching Zack with an outstretched hand, Eli took the Colt from him and said, “You did the right thing in letting me go.”

  “Call it professional courtesy. Just remember what I said about talking to Jake on our behalf.”

  “I’ll do that. One more thing. How’d you decide to come after us? You were following us all the way from that last town, right?”

  “You got that right. George back there tends to horses for most of the folks passing through who stay at the hotel or rent a room,” Zack replied while waving back to one of the masked men. After that, the man pulled down his bandanna to reveal a face that was a lot younger than Eli had been expecting. It only took a second for him to recall seeing that face outside the hotel when he and Saunders had approached it to rent their room. “That sheriff was waving around a good amount of money when he paid for his room and made arrangements for supplies to be rounded up and brought to him.”

  “Showed me plenty of cash when he told me to take good care of his horses so they’d be ready to ride this morning,” George said. “Even gave me something extra for my troubles. Figured there’d be plenty more where that come from.”

  Eli didn’t outright say the words I told you so, but his eyes expressed that sentiment well enough when he met the sheriff’s piercing glare.

  “Soon as I’m out of these ropes,” Saunders growled, “I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands.”

  “Save some of that gumption, law dog,” Zack said as he passed him by on the way to his horse. “You’re gonna need it.”

  Chapter 15

  Eli was extremely happy with himself as he rode away from the robbers who’d had him wrapped up tighter than a corset only a few minutes ago. Not only had he managed to talk his way out of a very unpleasant situation, but he’d pulled himself out of official custody with the sheriff’s horse beneath him to boot. It wasn’t much of a surprise that so many folks had heard about his old gang. Jake had always insisted on letting folks know who was stealing from them so his name could become a thing unto itself. Eli and Hank hadn’t been as happy with that idea and nobody cared to know who Cody was, so it all worked out well enough. When Saunders had described the iron wagon as a lightning rod, he’d acted as if that were a new concept. Eli had ridden with the biggest lightning rod of them all. Other robbers knowing about the Welles Gang was like a schoolmarm knowing her ABCs.

  A sly grin crept onto his face as he slowed his horse to an easy stride. Until now he’d simply wanted to get away from the robbers before they thought better of letting him go. Now that there was a good enough distance between them and it seemed nobody was following him, Eli had to think about where he meant to go. Surprisingly enough, that wasn’t as easy as he’d expected.

  Most recently, he’d barely been able to take three steps in a row without someone tugging on a chain connected to his wrists or running into a wall of brick or bars. Before that, he’d ridden with Jake and that bunch. As much as Jake liked to talk about being free, he was the only one to truly make that claim. After Eli’s face was seen in Jake’s presence during a job, he’d been irrevocably connected to that bunch. Eli could come and go as he pleased just as long as he didn’t stray far enough to make one of the other gang members nervous. The chain was longer and the walls were a bit farther away, but they were still there.

  His mind then drifted to a stretch of time where he’d truly been able to do what he wanted and go wherever he chose. It was one of the most terrifying periods in Eli’s twenty-eight years on earth. The horizon flowed out in every direction, making him feel small and his choices insignificant. Before that, his life had been a path that had become nearly too rough to traverse. Every day had been a heavy, grinding thing filled with pain that wore him down to a nub. The unnamed sickness in his skull made his thoughts grind together like gears that could only be oiled by however much whiskey it took to numb him. Every time a doctor shrugged at him where his sickness was concerned set him adrift on open water with no star to steer by.

  What Eli wanted to do and what he was able to do had always been two separate things. That’s how it was for most folks. What seemed particularly cruel was the fact that his wants and natural gifts couldn’t even be within spitting distance of each other. He hadn’t started out wanting to steal the money that wound up in his pockets, but he had a knack for it. Locked doors and sealed safes beckoned to him. Men in suits who thought they were comfortable behind armed guards and the letter of the law might as well have spit in his face and insulted his kin. Like a bird that only needed to be pushed from the nest, Eli just had to swipe his first silver dollar to know where his natural gifts needed to be applied.

  Ever since he’d gotten the taste for stealing, he knew he couldn’t go back to the traditional ways of earning his keep. Considering the condition that gnawed at the inside of his head in painful jabs that lanced behind his eyes or stabbed at the roots of his teeth, wasting time with menial labor seemed ridiculous. As the pain became worse and his lawless deeds weighed him down more, Eli had pulled away from every other aspect of life that he might possibly miss when it drew to a close. That alone was a restraint that cut into him worse than a bit in his mouth. Thinking back on that took away the sweet taste of victory he’d been savoring a few short moments ago. He pulled back on his reins again, bringing his horse to a stop.

  Once again, the horizon was spread out like all of creation laid out for him to see. Feeling the dizzying certainty that he was beneath something so vastly greater than him made Eli understand why the good Lord had given men eyes that could only take in so much. Being able to see the rest made his head swim with too many possibilities, too many directions to be taken, and too much space to cover in even a dozen lifetimes. Eli gripped the saddle horn and eased himself down until his boots touched solid ground. Rather than look up at the infinite reaches beyond the clouds drifting lazily between man and God, he focused on dirt and things that sprouted up from it as best they could.

  Eli squatted down to place his fingers in the soil. Whenever he’d been lost or in need of advice, he could always rely on the one thing that was always present no matter how far he roamed or how badly he might have twisted things up.

  Inspiration never came easy.

  Guidance was an even trickier thing.

  Although he didn’t expect quick answers or some shining path leading him to his destiny, Eli hoped for something more than the windy silence he got. The longer he waited, the more he became acutely aware that he was alone in the middle of Wyoming Territory with nothing more than a stolen horse and filthy fingers to show for it.

  Eli’s gut twisted into a knot.

  All the experience he’d cobbled together throughout his years on either side of the law told him he was a fool to expect anything more than aching knees for the time he’d wasted thus far.

  The outlaw in him was still slapping Eli’s back to congratulate him on a job well done where Sheriff Saunders was concerned, but the man beneath those things knew the real story.

  If Eli hadn’t cared whether Saunders had lived or died, he would have chosen different words when bringing Zack and those others around to his way of thinking. He could have gained even more favor by borrowing a gun and shooting the lawman himself. Instead, he’d woven the story about the money in Seedley and where the cash in Saunders’s boots had come from. At the time, he hadn’t thought much about why he should take such a roundabout way in explaining those things. Eli let out a sigh and cursed himself for being weak. The only thing worse than a lawman dragging him around by a chain was an angry lawman hunting him down after being double-crossed and left to rot in the incapable hands of simple thieves.

  Saunders wasn’t the only one who could spot a killer by looking
one in the eye. That skill was required for any outlaw of Eli’s caliber to survive, and he could tell for certain those robbers were capable of filling the lawman with lead and taking whatever trophies they could to impress any other robbers who might not have been there to witness the act for themselves. For some reason, Eli had done his best to avoid that outcome.

  Did he consider Saunders to be a good man?

  Had he somehow grown to like the sheriff?

  While those possibilities might have had some merit, Eli knew there was something else. Something that didn’t come to him until he’d given his heart a chance to stop galloping within his chest and his thoughts a chance to settle in his mind after being kicked up like silt at the bottom of an old trough. What weighed even heavier on him wasn’t making things easier for himself in the present. That was akin to only laying down enough track for a train to roll around one bend. What Eli was concerned about, whether he’d known it at the time or not, was how things looked for him in the longer stretch.

  Being concerned about the future was something new to Eli. When he was a younger man, his future had been either out of his control or too vast to contemplate. Now, with him an outlaw, it had been etched into stone: a play with only two acts. Too certain to question and too short to worry about.

  That had changed at a moment when things seemed to have been at their lowest point. During a period when Eli felt the most confined and possessed the least amount of hope, he’d been given a reason to breathe deeper and savor the breath as something more than just a gulp of air. He’d been shown something worth living for. He’d met someone who made it seem worthwhile to change his old ways and forge new ones.

  He’d met Lyssa Beihn.

  If asked why the woman’s face had stuck with him ever since she’d brought him that first meal while he was locked away in Seedley, Eli would have been hard-pressed to come up with a good answer. He’d been attracted to other pretty women, drawn in by the scent of their skin or soothed by their touch, but Lyssa was different from all those passing fancies. She’d seen him for what he was, arrived when he hadn’t had the strength to put on a false front or win anyone’s favor. After all of that, she still had a smile that had been lovingly crafted just for him. He’d never stopped seeing that smile. Never stopped hearing her footsteps as she drew closer to his side. Never stopped wishing he was worthy of holding her hand.