Clint tried moving it on his own with no luck.
Next, he and Wes tried to move it. All that got them was a matching set of strained backs and sweaty foreheads.
“Jesus,” Clint muttered as he straightened up and pressed his hand against the small of his back. “How’d you get this here in the first place?”
The farmer was holding up well for a man his age, but was still doing his fair share of sweating. “I was so worked up when I found it, I damn near pulled my back out of joint trying to lift it onto a wagon. After that, I just tied it to the back and drug it here.”
“I suppose it’s easier to cover up those tracks than to carry it.”
“You’re damn right. Why do you think I left it here with nothin’ but a bunch of rags to cover it up?”
“I was wondering about that awhile ago. Not anymore.”
Wes let out a breath and rubbed his hands together. “Why should we move this thing anyways?”
“Because if Mark saw it, then he knows where it is if he comes back.”
“And you think that boy can lift it better than us two combined?”
“No,” Clint replied. “But it’d be better all around if he thought it was gone.”
Eventually, Wes started to nod. “I suppose so.”
“You said there was more gold. Where is it?”
Pausing for a moment, Wes eyed Clint suspiciously. The farmer let out the breath he’d been holding and looked down as if he was ashamed of something that had gone through his mind.
“If you don’t want to tell me,” Clint said, figuring out what was bothering Wes, “you don’t have to. In fact, it could be safer if nobody else knew about—”
“I didn’t take it from where I found it,” Wes said quickly. Now that the words were out, Wes looked as if a rotten tooth had finally been pulled from its socket. “I’ve been fighting so hard to keep from telling anyone about it, it gets hard to let go.”
“Like I said, you don’t have to say anything you don’t want to.”
“And the fact that you tell me that makes me trust you. Actually,” Wes added, “the fact that you mean it carries a lot of weight with me. The biggest chunk is in the pumpkin patch. I was trying to get it out of there when you first rode in.”
Clint smiled as he remembered seeing the farmer in the pumpkin patch. “And I thought you were just giving me a sour look because I was a stranger riding along with Lynn.”
“Well,” Wes added with a snarl, “that’s not altogether appreciated either. But Lynn’s a big girl now and I’d say she’s got a fairly good head on her shoulders. Now are we gonna stand here jawing or are gonna get this thing moved?”
“You say there’s a root cellar under the stable?” Clint asked.
Wes nodded. “Not much of one, but it’s big enough for this thing. Actually, I dug it there to sock away valuables and such. The way the bank in town is guarded, you’d think they were holding nothing but candy in their damned safe.”
Clint let out a tired breath and squatted down on his side of the gold. “All right, then. Let’s see if we can’t get this moving.”
Both of them dug their fingers in as far under the gold as they could. From there, they dug in their heels and looked at each other to make certain they were ready for another try. They nodded, tightened their grip and pushed up with their legs.
Sweat trickled from Clint’s forehead as a breath slowly seeped from between his lips. It took a few tries, but they finally managed to get the lump of gold moving from the spot where it seemed to have been embedded into the ground. For every fraction of an inch the gold budged, Clint and Wes had to work until every muscle was on fire.
It felt as if Clint was about to break his back, but he eventually moved the gold enough to shift his fingers a bit lower under the muddy surface. They took advantage of each small movement by pushing harder to get the gold rolling.
After all their work, Clint and Wes got the gold moved six feet onto boards that made up a sled attached to the hitch of two plow horses. It wasn’t the prettiest contraption, but the simple sled was strong enough to hold the gold’s weight. The horses hitched to the sled shifted uncomfortably as they felt the new weight added.
“Easy, now,” Wes said as he walked forward and patted each horse’s neck. “If we can lift the damn thing, you two can drag it to the stable.”
Clint meant to stop for a few seconds to catch his breath, but wound up taking several breaths and wiping his brow. This time, when he looked out the barn door, it seemed an awfully long way from there to the neighboring building.
“So we hide this one and the rest of it,” Wes said. “What then?”
“I’ll need to work out a few things with you as far as protecting this farm in case those gunmen come back.”
“I been protecting this spread for years,” Wes said defensively, “and I know plenty about how to do it.”
“How many gunfights have you been through?” Clint asked.
The farmer clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow, but remained quiet for a few seconds. “What do you suggest?”
“I’ll make my suggestions after we get the gold moved. After we work out a couple plans, I’ll see about tracking down those two gunmen and discouraging them from coming back.”
“Seems like one of ’em’s just after Lynn, but I suppose that ain’t much of a comfort. If he knows about the gold, he’ll be back for sure. Maybe we should just get her away from here. It’d be a hell of a lot easier than moving this gold.”
“Sure,” Clint said with a chuckle. “If she wants to go. Making a woman change her mind when she doesn’t want to could make moving this hunk of gold seem like tossing a pebble. Besides, it’s going to be a whole lot easier to protect one spot rather than two. Those ladies should just stay put until something changes.”
“What ladies might those be?” Tina asked as she walked toward the barn.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Wes moved quicker than a man his age had any business moving when he dashed to the pile of rags in the corner and tossed a few onto the heavy load being hauled by the horses. Clint covered the old man by walking forward and standing in the partially open door.
Smiling easily as she walked toward the barn, Tina leaned to one side in an attempt to get a look past Clint. “You two have been in there a while. Is everything all right?”
“Just earning my keep,” Clint replied.
“What were you talking about? I heard something about us ladies.”
Clint did some quick figuring in his head to guess how much she could have heard. Since Tina was about ten yards from the barn door, she couldn’t have heard much. If she’d been any closer, Clint thought he would have spotted her.
“Your father was just warning me to keep my distance,” Clint said with a smirk.
“Well, that shouldn’t be too hard. I’m headed into town.”
“Into town? What for?”
Even though he’d done his best to try and ask the question as casually as possible, Clint could tell that Tina was suspicious. Perhaps it was the fact that Clint was so tired, but he’d sparked a peculiar glint in her eyes when he’d been trying to steer away from that very thing.
“What are you two doing in there?” she asked.
“Just chores. Look, you shouldn’t be going into town. Those gunmen might be waiting to get a shot at you.”
“It’s not me they’re after,” Tina replied. “It’s Lynn. Besides, Mark Rowlett isn’t exactly the smartest man in the world. I should be able to stay away from him if I want.”
“How well do you know him?”
Tina grinned and shrugged as if she was thinking back to a private joke. “Pretty well,” she said.
The more he heard, the less Clint was concerned about hiding the gold. It seemed Tina was hiding a few things of her own and didn’t much care about covering her tracks. “What do you know about all of this?” he asked.
“Just what I said. Mark and his friend are idiots. Just because t
hey’re out and about doesn’t mean I can’t go into town for some flour, sugar and sewing needles.”
“You live on a farm,” Clint told her in the best stern voice he could manage. “There’s plenty to eat around here.”
Tina merely crossed her arms and stared at him as if he’d sprouted antlers. “We don’t grow sugar and we sure don’t grow sewing needles. If you’re so concerned, maybe you should come with me.”
“That’s a good idea,” Wes said from behind Clint. “Why don’t you go with her?”
“I thought there was still work to be done around here,” Clint said.
“I can handle the rest on my own,” Wes replied. “Besides, you’ve got things to tend to in town yourself, don’t you?”
Clint could see it was pointless to argue. Tina wasn’t about to be swayed, and Wes had the right to handle his gold however he saw fit. “All right,” Clint said, stopping just short of throwing up his hands. “Let me get my horse saddled.”
“No need,” Tina replied cheerily, while spinning toward the stable on the balls of her feet. “Willie and Gert practically climb into their harnesses on their own.”
“Take Clint’s horse,” Wes said quickly. “Willy and Gert got work of their own to do.”
Figuring Willie and Gert would be happy to be through with hauling the gold as quickly as possible, Clint saddled up Eclipse in record time and rode the stallion out of the stable. He’d been worried about Tina heading into the barn while he was getting Eclipse, but she was busy saddling up her own horse. Once they were done, they left the stable and rode toward the northern property line.
“This is going to be a quick trip,” Clint announced. “And try to stay close to me. I don’t want you taking a wrong turn and—”
Tina waved him off with one hand before snapping her reins. “If you want to stay close to me, Mr. Adams, you’ll have to earn it.”
It was easy work for Clint to catch up to her before Tina made it too far past the fence surrounding the farmhouse. Of course, Tina kept making Clint work to maintain his position all the way into town.
TWENTY-NINE
The town was in sight when Clint saw Tina pull back on the reins. Actually, he knew she’d slowed her horse down when Eclipse nearly ran right over her. Having allowed her to stay ahead so he could keep her in sight, Clint had to act quickly to react when she made a sudden stop. Before Clint could ask what had caused her to slow down, he saw the answer for himself.
Two horses thundered away from town and were headed to the east, one following after the other. Since he couldn’t see any flames on or around the horses, Clint had to figure they were running away from something else. There surely wasn’t anything in sight worth running to.
“That’s Mark!” Tina shouted. Turning in her saddle, Tina looked at Clint with excited eyes and said, “That’s Mark! I know it!”
“How do you know?” Clint asked.
“That’s his horse!”
Clint’s first impulse was to doubt what she was saying, and even ask how she knew what she was talking about with such certainty. Before he could do that, he saw one horse catching up to the other. As far as he could tell, they were the animals used by the gunmen who’d shot up Wes’s farm.
“Doesn’t look like they’re headed for Pa’s farm,” Tina said.
“Maybe not, but they’re going somewhere in a rush.”
Tina looked at Clint with a definite spark in her eyes. “You want to chase them down?”
“No,” Clint replied, giving voice to the first thing that sprang to mind.
But that answer didn’t last long.
After catching sight of those two, it didn’t stand to reason that Clint should let them ride away. “Aw hell,” he grunted as he snapped the reins. Tina’s giggle could be heard even over the sound of her own horse building up speed to stay beside Eclipse.
“We’re just going to see where they’re headed,” Clint said.
She nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off Joey’s back.
“I’m serious,” Clint warned. “You’ll do what I say or I’ll make certain of it personally.”
“I like the sound of that.”
They rode for a short while before Clint signaled for them to slow. He pulled back on Eclipse’s reins and was relieved when Tina matched his pace.
“All right,” Clint said in the lowest voice he could manage. “We don’t want to get too close.”
“Watch it, Tommy!” someone shouted from Clint’s right.
Clint looked toward the sound of the voice, but didn’t find Mark or Joey. In fact, when he looked to see where Mark and Joey were, Clint found both of them appearing to be just as confused as he was.
More horses could be heard riding up to them. Clint drew his Colt the second he realized he was being surrounded.
“Double back and head toward town,” Clint told Tina.
Tina’s smile was gone, but she wasn’t exactly panicked. “I’ll stay here. I can help.”
“Just go back to town, dammit! Your staying alive will be all the help I need.”
Although she clearly didn’t like it, Tina brought her horse around and pointed its nose toward Thickett. She tapped her heels against the animal’s sides, snapped the reins and bolted away from Clint.
Two more riders appeared, but stayed well out of pistol range. The man who’d first showed up wore a duster and had his hat pulled down low to cover up a good portion of his face. One of the other riders was dressed in a similar fashion, but the third looked more like a cowboy. All three of them carried rifles.
Clint evened the odds by holstering his Colt and taking his own rifle from where it hung against Eclipse’s side. He managed to clear leather, but wasn’t able to bring the rifle up before the riders opened fire.
Several shots ripped through the air, hissing within a foot or so of Clint’s head. Most of them didn’t get that close, however, so Clint took the time to duck and fire a few shots of his own.
The first round Clint fired got close enough to spook the horse of the closest rider. Since the rider wasn’t about to sit still long enough, Clint didn’t get the chance to follow up with another shot. As soon as the rider pulled back, the other two moved forward.
There was a lull in the shooting that only lasted long enough for the riders to steady their aim. They pulled their triggers in a deliberate fashion, zeroing in on Clint’s position until Eclipse started to get nervous. Since the Darley Arabian wasn’t the skittish sort, Clint followed the stallion’s lead and picked another spot.
As he moved for the cover of some nearby trees, Clint looked for any trace of Tina. Fortunately, he didn’t find any. What bothered him was the sight of Mark and Joey steering their horses back toward town. Before Clint could act on that, he heard one of the riders shout over the gunshots.
“Come along with us,” the rider commanded. “We got this one pinned down real good.”
Mark seemed reluctant at first. He and Joey kept their eyes on Clint as they carefully urged their horses toward the closest man wrapped in a duster. When he saw he wasn’t about to be shot from his saddle, Mark flicked his reins and moved even faster. Joey remained at his side the entire way.
Steeling himself and tightening his grip around the rifle, Clint held the weapon up to his shoulder and got Eclipse moving with a nudge from his knee. The instant he got one of the men in dusters in his sights, Clint heard several more gunshots pop around him.
Lead hissed past him, and one piece even found its mark in a tree trunk less than half a yard from his chest. Since the rifles were going off at a controlled pace that resulted in a continuous wave of lead, Clint had no choice but to move farther back into the trees.
One of the riflemen even got an angle behind those trees, which forced Clint back even farther.
Clint heard one of the riflemen shout something to the others, which was followed by the sounds of several sets of hooves pounding against the dirt. When Clint rode around the trees, they were all gone. There was n
othing left for Clint to do besides curse himself for letting someone else get the higher ground.
THIRTY
Clint didn’t stop when he got to Tina’s side. Instead, he simply reached out to grab her horse’s bridle and take it along as he kept Eclipse moving down the street. He was so preoccupied looking for an ambush that he didn’t even notice how busy the street was.
Once he reached a corner that put plenty of turns between where he was and the spot he’d left behind, Clint looked Tina over carefully. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Did you get hit?”
“I’m fine, Clint. You still could have killed me by pulling my horse around by the nose like that.”
“I thought I told you to get somewhere safe. You were just standing there waiting in the open.”
“You told me to get into town. That’s where I was and I was plenty safe. Besides, those men didn’t even come this way.”
“Well, they could have,” Clint snapped.
Tina looked as if she was about to say something, but then shifted her eyes away from Clint altogether. With just enough force to get the job done, she turned her horse’s head away from him until the bridle slipped from Clint’s grasp. “The shop I wanted is right over this way,” she said calmly.
Clint followed her, feeling very much like a scolded child. That ended when he got Eclipse to close the distance between him and Tina. Once they were on level ground again, Clint recalled something that had stuck in his head for a while. “You seemed to pick out Mark’s horse pretty quickly,” he said.
“I was there when they rode onto my farm the other night, remember?”
“Yes, but still. That was in the dark and there was a lot going on at the time. Most folks wouldn’t remember something like the horse’s breed or color.”
Tina shrugged and replied, “I like horses.”
“And I’d like you to answer me honestly.”
Sighing as she climbed down from her saddle, Tina took her sweet time in tying her horse to a hitching post. Finally, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’ve seen Mark a few times before. I just didn’t want Lynn to know.”
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