by Neil Hunter
The Home of Great Western Fiction!
The novelization of Vermijo, the movie, told the story of Frank and Luke Tyler and their battle with the three vicious Lockhart brothers. Frank, a former US Marshal, stepped in to save his grandson from hanging for a crime he didn’t commit. And though the odds may have been against them, the Tylers stood firm against the Lockharts and eventually put them down, bringing an uneasy peace to the frightened town…
Now the surviving members of the Lockhart gang have returned, robbed the bank and brutally murdered the bank’s manager. With only a woman named Ruby Tucker to keep law and order, they believe they can get away free and clear.
Big mistake.
Frank and Luke, now both US Marshals, ride in to track them down. But Ruby is already on their trail. Furthermore, her past has equipped her with all the skill and courage she needs to track the gang and take them on.
There’s just one problem.
The surviving outlaws are doubling back to Vermijo, intending to burn it to the ground in an act of vengeance.
Blood is going to run red on the streets of Vermijo.
The first indication it was going to be different that day was the sound invading the quiet of mid-morning. The growing slam of boots on the boardwalk outside Vermijo’s jail. Boot steps that were coming closer and not slowing. Someone was in a hurry and the sound rang as a warning to the dark haired woman seated behind the desk in the law office.
Ruby Tucker, temporary sheriff of the town though even that statement had a hollow ring to it, lifted her head from the paperwork spread across her desk. The temporary label was already becoming closer to permanent since she had accepted the appointment close to two months ago and there were no signs that it might be coming to an end soon.
The events leading up to the demise of the threat from the Lockhart brothers and their hold on the town had left Vermijo in a kind of hiatus. With the three brothers dead the town had released its collective breath, tasting freedom for the first time in a long while. In the early days Vermijo existed in a hushed limbo, glad to be free, yet still looking over its shoulder in case it all turned out to be a dream and they could expect the brothers to come riding back into their lives.
That never happened. The Lockharts were gone. So it seemed were the so-called deputies who had collected around the brothers. With the leaders eliminated they saw the writing on the wall and with the flow of money drying up the exodus was swift. The hired guns departing in a mist of dust and Vermijo was granted its independence.
Albeit temporary.
Having been under threat for so long Vermijo went about its business walking soft and peering into shadows that didn’t exist. There was a noticeable hesitation. People needed a guiding hand to push them back into normal existence.
It came to everyone’s notice that with the Lockharts gone the town had no law enforcement officer. And not wanting, or needing a repeat of the past, the town council decided they wanted someone they could trust. Someone from among their own ranks. Someone with the moral strength to administer Vermijo’s affairs. The problem was finding that individual. It was decided to hold an election and the residents of Vermijo were given the chance to put forward their choices.
That became the first hurdle. After a few days there were no candidates for the post. No one came forward. The list remained empty. No one, it seemed, wanted to take on the office of Sheriff. The mayor called a meeting in the church and a silent crowd sat on the hard seats, there but unwilling to commit themselves. Sam Piggot, the town’s banker, took the lead, standing in front of the hushed group.
‘We have to make a decision,’ he said. ‘Town can’t be without a law officer for too long. The Lockharts are gone. We got our town back so we need to finish the job.’
His words were met with continued silence.
‘I understand the reluctance to bring in outside help,’ Sam said. ‘We had a bad experience but we can’t just ignore the fact we need a lawman. Surely there must be someone who can step up and…’
From the back of the room a voice spoke up.
‘Ain’t as easy as that Sam, and you know it. We let ourselves down and the Lockharts walked all over us. Goin’ to take us a time to be able to face ourselves again. Shame is a powerful thing. Hell, I’m the first to admit it. The Lockharts might be gone but their shadow still hangs over Vermijo, and it leaves me wanting nothing more than to get on with my life an’ let responsibility be handled by somebody else.’
There was a low, uncomfortable murmur of approval from the gathering. The citizens of Vermijo were of a collective mind.
Sam Piggot saw the defeat in their eyes and though he might have disapproved, he also understood the reluctance. He gave it one more attempt.
‘Come on, folks, we have to step up. Isn’t there anyone here who’ll put themselves forward?’
‘Yes. I will.’
Sam turned towards the voice, and for once he was lost for words as he recognized the owner of the voice.
‘You gone deaf, Sam Piggot? My voice not loud enough for you? Never had complaints about it before.’
Regaining his composure Sam faced the speaker, who was standing up now.
‘This is serious business here…’
‘You see me laughing?’
‘But … you …’
‘Sam, if you even say it I’ll come over and knock off your hat.’
‘I’m not wearing a hat.’
‘Appears to me you’re safe then,’ Ruby Tucker said. ‘But don’t give me cause to change my mind. Now how about my request?’
‘Ruby, Vermijo has never had a woman as sheriff.’
‘Vermijo has never been without a lawman before, either. This town needs someone in that office. Even if it’s only to sit behind a desk and administer the paperwork. Well that’s something I’m capable off. I’m doing it every day in the store. Letters are coming to the jail every day. If somebody doesn’t look to them they’re just going to pile up. There might be things that need to be dealt with. So just tell me, Sam Piggot, aren’t I talkin’ sense?’
‘What if a drunk makes trouble?’ someone called from the crowd.
‘Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to send a rowdy customer out the store, Clem Tooley. You ask my Hiram.’
The tubby Hiram Tucker, Ruby’s husband, nodded his agreement
‘Law enforcement is man’s work,’ Tooley said, then realized he had stepped into a trap of his own making.
‘So you pin on the badge and do it, Clem. Let’s see if you can back up what you just said. Far as I recall you’re a man. That so?’
‘Ain’t my job. I’m a farmer.’
‘And Ruby’s the wife of a storekeeper,’ a female voice called out. ‘I don’t see her backing down, Clem Tooley.’
‘She might not be wearing pants but I figure she could fill ’em,’ stated another female voice.
More female voices added their assent and Clem Tooley slumped back in his seat red faced and silenced.
‘I’m not trying to better anyone,’ Ruby said. ‘I’m just saying I’m willing to take the job until a permanent appointment is made. What does the town have to lose? If anyone does it’ll be my husband Hiram. He’s going to be down a member of staff in the store.’
Hiram Tucker glanced at his wife, a nervous smile edging his lips. He understood what she was putting herself forward for and more than anyone he knew she was capable of holding the sheriff’s position. A surge of pride rose in him, tinged with more than a little concern. Not just for Ruby … but for anyone who might stand in her way.
Ruby Tucker was strong-willed, stubborn and had a powerful resolve that would see her through any crisis. They had been together a long time and from his knowledg
e of her younger days Hiram knew there was a side to her the town had no idea about. Her proposal unnerved him but at the same time a sense of pride rose. If anyone could handle the job Ruby Tucker could.
He stood beside her and raised a hand.
‘I nominate my wife, Ruby Tucker, for the appointment of sheriff for Vermijo.’
The room was dominated by the voices of every woman present, and it wasn’t long before there were male voices added.
Sam Piggot stepped back, surprised at the clamor, yet he only had to see the expression on the faces in front of him to understand what he had to do.
‘Looks to me we have no choice,’ he said and as the noise quieted down he glanced at Ruby. ‘I guess the decision has been made. We only need to step over the office and swear you in. Ruby, looks like you are the new sheriff of Vermijo until such time we can elect a permanent officer.’
~*~
Ruby was halfway out of her seat when the door opened and Dexter Bishop stumbled into the office. He was tall, blond-haired, a serious young man who worked at the bank for Sam Piggot. Under normal circumstances Dexter was studious, a tad on the rigid side right, but now his face was sickly white, sheened with sweat and his eyes were wide and staring. He hung onto the office door as he faced Ruby, mouth hanging open without a sound coming out.
‘Dexter, what’s happened?’
He stared at her for long seconds as Ruby stepped up to him, realizing he was in some kind of shock. She put a hand on his shoulder. Under his coat he was shaking as if he had a high fever.
‘Take a breath, Dexter. A good deep breath, then tell me.’
Dexter did as he was told, gulping in air.
‘He’s dead, Miss Ruby … no doubt about it … on the floor of the bank …’
‘Who is, Dexter? Tell me who is dead?’
Now he was staring at her as if she should have known.
‘Why, Mr. Piggot … lying on the bank floor with his head smashed wide open …’
Ruby’s mind worked with calm precision. She guided Dexter to a chair and sat him down.
‘You stay there and don’t move until I get back. You hear me, Dexter? Don’t move.’
‘I locked the door to the bank before I came. Wouldn’t want anyone to walk in and see that.’
He handed her the key, his hand still shaking.
Ruby crossed the jail and took down the belt and holster hanging on a peg, strapping it around her slim hips. She made a swift check to make sure the .45 caliber Colt was loaded, then took a cut-down Greener shotgun, plucking a couple of shells from the shelf beneath the gun rack. She was loading the barrels as she walked out of the jail, turning along the boardwalk and heading for the bank along the street.
Passersby stopped to watch as she walked, the Greener held across her chest, eyes scanning the dusty street for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing to see. Simply Vermijo going about its business on that Tuesday morning. Just another hot, dry day in the town that had recently had its share of problems and was hopefully getting over them.
Yet even as she neared the closed doors of the bank a niggling suspicion was telling Ruby Tucker things were going to become unsettled once again.
With the shotgun in her left hand Ruby paused at the entrance to the bank, glanced around and did her best to ignore the curious glances she was drawing.
‘What on earth are you doing, Mrs. Tucker?’
Ruby recognized the voice. The last person she needed right now.
Marcus Trehearne, lawyer, and a man who had disapproved of Ruby’s appointment as sheriff from day one, even though he had not graced the meeting with his presence. Trehearne believed women were supposed to be kept in the home. In the kitchen and existing solely to be at the beck and call of men. He never failed to voice his opinions, though most people in town were tired of hearing him.
‘It’s called doing my job, Lawyer Trehearne. What the people wanted when they voted me in as sheriff.’
Trehearne, dressed in his expensive suit and wide-brimmed hat, made no bones about his displeasure. He jabbed a finger at the shotgun Ruby carried.
‘And that?’
‘Why that’s a shotgun, Mr. Trehearne.’
‘A tad dramatic, Mrs. Tucker, and I don’t appreciate your tone.’
‘Well that’s going to worry me all to hell. Now get out of my way and let me do my job.’
Ruby stepped around the blustering figure and faced the bank entrance. She used the key he had given her and unlocked the door. Cocking the shotgun she paused for a heartbeat before opening the doors and stepping inside.
She took a couple of steps before she stopped in mid-stride, drawing a ragged breath as she saw the body on the floor.
If he hadn’t been wearing his dark suit and waistcoat and dark-maroon cravat Ruby might not have recognized Sam Piggot straight off. Then there was the gold fob watch hanging outside of the waistcoat pocket and the ring he wore on his right hand.
Sam Piggot lay on his back, one leg turned under the other, arms spread on either side of his body.
It took a great deal of effort for Ruby to look at Piggot’s head. What was left of it. His face was unrecognizable, flesh mangled and crushed bone having turned it into a blood soaked mask. His skull, too, had been brutally smashed, splintered until the brain had been exposed. Shards of bone and flesh lay in the spread of blood that had leaked across the floor of the bank.
The bronze bust that had stood on a plinth to one side of the main doors lay close by. Blood was smeared across the base, with fragments of flesh and hair attached.
‘Lord help us.’
Ruby recognized Lawyer Trehearne’s voice coming from behind her. He had determinedly followed her into the bank, most likely to continue remonstrating with her. The sight of Piggot’s body had wiped that from his mind.
‘Is that…’
‘It looks like Sam Piggot,’ Ruby said. ‘Trehearne you need to go. I’ve things to do.’
‘I…’
‘You want to be helpful? Go tell Doc Begley I need him here. Now.’
Trehearne backed off, face suddenly white. He left the bank and hurried off along the street where curious townsfolk were starting to gather. Ruby closed the doors and locked the them again.
She took a walk around the bank, sure that she was alone, but finding comfort in holding the primed weapon. She saw the door to the safe was partway open. Not surprising. She dragged the heavy door wide and saw scattered items on the floor. There were a few coins in amongst the spilled goods. Someone had been in a hurry. Next she checked Piggot’s private office. He had a personal safe behind his big oak desk and that was open too. There were legal documents strewn across the carpeted floor. She couldn’t see any cash in the safe.
Ruby turned and went to the rear of the bank to check the rear door. It stood partially open.
Someone started banging on the front door. Ruby made her way to it, unlocking it to allow Vermijo’s doctor inside. Begley took a quick look at the body and despite his years as a medical man gave a shocked gasp.
‘Was it a robbery, Ruby?’
‘Looks that way. Both safes been gone through. I just found the back door open as well. Young Dexter Bishop found Piggot and came to my office to tell me. He was pretty well shaken up.’
‘I can’t say I’m surprised. Walking in to find this,’ Begley said. ‘Who would do something so bad?’
~*~
‘You really have to kill him?’
‘Gave me no choice. Son of bitch was goin’ to make a heap of noise. I had to stop him.’
‘Well, hell, Ben, you surely did that,’ Cy Colston said. ‘That bronze do-dad really caved in his skull. Ain’t seen blood fly like that in a long time.’
‘Thought you was never goin’ to stop bouncin’ that thing off his head,’ Jubal Larch said.
‘If he hadn’t been so damn stubborn I might’ve left him alone.’
There were four of them around the fire, drinking hot coffee from tin mugs a
nd waiting for the food in the pan to heat up.
Ben Hodges had previously worked for the late Jim Lockhart as a deputy. With the sudden reversal of fortune in Vermijo he had seen how things were going, and had wisely removed himself from town, along with Charlie Seaburgh and Cy Colston. The gathered townsfolk, taking their revenge of the remaining Lockhart … Carl … had been too involved to notice the trio edging away and getting their horses. They rode quietly away from Vermijo, knowing the hold the Lockharts had held over the town had gone, and with it their positions.
The trio had ridden clear of Vermijo, first with thoughts of saving their own skins, and later taking time to consider the future. They had some money on them, though only a little. It wouldn’t last long, so the need to raise more became important. And as always with their kind the prospect of having to work for it went a long way with their discussion.
It was Hodges who came up with a plan of action. A possible way they could make a substantial amount by the simple expedient of stealing it. Before the downfall of the Lockharts, Hodges had been privy to the discussion Jim Lockhart had with Vermijo’s banker … Sam Piggot … and had heard the talk about the silver mine being developed in the area. In simple terms Piggot was part of the deal that would net himself and the Lockharts a percentage of the takings. He would negotiate the mined silver and share the profits with Jim Lockhart. It was an underhand deal, Piggot keeping information from getting out and pocketing money to keep quiet about the deal. Hodges had heard the terms of the deal, keeping quiet while Jim Lockhart spoke with Piggot. He kept the details to himself, only bringing them back into his thoughts as he and his partners worked on how they could bring in some ready money.
Later, with recent events in Vermijo starting to fade, Hodges brought up the matter and outlined the possible way he, Seaburgh and Colston, could get their hands on the silver Sam Piggot had sitting in the bank.
During the days after they had left Vermijo a couple more men were brought in to join Hodges, adding to the strength of the gang planning to hit the bank. Jubal Larch and Cletus Bigelow had known Hodges for a number of years, riding the outlaw trails and indulging in various criminal exploits. They had lost touch with him during his time with the Lockharts but Hodges kept them in mind as he worked on how they would carry out the Vermijo bank job. Larch and Bigelow were strangers to Vermijo. Able to visit the town and take a look around without arousing suspicion.
