by Ken Farmer
“How?” interrupted Loraine.
“From Bone’s memories and she knew that we become close in 2014.”
“Oh, right,” she said.
Mason and Bodie came back in with several armloads of deadfall and dumped it beside the rock pit they had built. The Ranger set about building the fire and in a few short minutes, they had one big enough to boil the coffee.
Bone slipped down to the creek, filled the pot and brought it back.
“Thank you, dear,” said Loraine as she put the ground coffee inside and set it beside the flames.
Padrino laughed and shook his head. “Still can’t get over ya’ll getting married. St. John was gobsmacked…”
“What?” asked Flynn.
“Flabbergasted…Stella said she knew ya’ll were in love, but that you didn’t know it or were fightin’ it.”
Bone kissed Loraine on the cheek and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “She was right…Hit us like a freight train…guess it triggered when Loraine was shot while we were breaking up a stagecoach robbery.”
Then he laughed. “We couldn’t believe it either…Say, what about Tyrin?”
“St. John said he would get Stella and Peach to go out to the ranch.”
“Oh, good. Got to worrying about that,” said Bone.
“Who’s Tyrin?” asked Mason.
“Blond and white pit bull almost exactly like Garin…she adopted back in 2012 or up in 2012…depends on how you look at it,” said Bone.
“I have to say, this is fascinating,” said Padrino.
“What’s that?” asked Bodie.
“Being back in time…especially to a time I’ve always loved. The water’s clear, air’s clean, no T.V. with their biased news programs and gossip, no Internet, fewer politicians, no one knows what the hell political correctness is…I feel more alive here.” Padrino looked at the others. “I like it.”
Bone and Loraine exchanged glances and embraced.
“So do we,” she said.
“What’s political correctness?” asked Bodie.
The three replied simultaneously, “You don’t want to know.”
§§§
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JACKSBORO
The Rudabaugh brothers walked out of Doctor Mosier’s office. Harlan had a white bandage around his head, covering his split right ear.
“That old quack wadn’t none too gentle…’specially when he wuz sewin’ my ear up,” said Harlan.
“Mebe he wuz pissed ‘bout havin’ to git outta bed to doctor us…Coulda left it split like we do when we’re markin’ cattle an’ hogs,” commented Frank. “Be like Chisum’s jinglebob earmark.”
“I’ll give you another knot on yer head, brother, you keep that up.”
“No, thankee, this one’s big as a turkey egg.”
“Gotta find that smoke an’ those kids what whoever it was let out.”
“I jest cain’t figur out who the hell it was that hit us on the head without us seein’ ‘em comin’…Hit too hard to be a ghost.”
“Couldn’t a been that split tail, we both seen her leave,” said Harlan.
“I know…Swear to God there weren’t nobody in the room when we’s eatin’ when the lights went out. Didn’t see nothin’…Don’t ‘member nothin’.”
Frank looked to the north northwest at the lightning that was dancing across the horizon like St. Elmo’s Fire on cattle horns. “Got a winter storm comin’.”
Harlan looked off too. “Good, that oughta keep the town busybodies indoors…‘Specially we git sleet, snow er mebe even black ice. Don’t think the sheriff an’ his wife er comin’ till tomorra anyways, now…We’ll be ready fer ‘em.”
“Don’t think we’ll be needin’ anybody up on the roofs, then. We’ll jest have us an’ the boys on both sides of the street…We kin pin ‘em down.”
HALL’S BRANCH CAVE
Everyone sat around the cave, nursing on Loraine’s good hot coffee as the temperature had been steadily dropping for the last hour. They could see the increasing lightning show reflecting off the tree tops outside the front of the entrance. The distant thunder rolling across the dark skies resembled that of a battlefield artillery bombardment.
“What do we do if it’s an ice storm?” asked Loraine.
“That’ll be a good thing, babe. Means they won’t be able to set an outside ambush for the sheriff…They’ll be inside out of the weather.” He grinned. “Just be sure you don’t slip and fall down.”
“Easy for you to say,” Loraine muttered.
“That’s right, Bone. One thing I’ve noticed about evildoers in my years of law enforcement is they aren’t too prone to expose themselves to any hardships…Especially when it’s related to harsh weather,” said Mason.
“If it’s snow, we’ll have a problem with Bone and me using Lucy’s bracelets.”
“How so, Padrino?” asked Bodie.
“Our bodies might be invisible, but we would leave tracks in the snow, maybe less in sleet…Now if it’s ice, that’s another thing all together.”
“Other than bustin’ our butts if we were to fall…won’t be leaving tracks,” added Bone.
“What’s the plan, then?” asked Bodie.
“I recommend we do an OK Corral,” said Padrino.
“What do you mean?” inquired a confused Flynn.
“Well, according to newspaper reports, the three Earp brothers, Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan, along with Wyatt’s friend, Doc Holliday, braced the gang known as the Cowboys in the street in an alley beside a stable with the name, O.K. in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in 1881…It lasted about thirty seconds.”
“Head on?” asked Mason.
“Head on…There were six of the Cowboys, Billy Claiborne, Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury and Wes Fuller…”
Bodie interrupted Padrino. “But, you said they was twelve of these yahoos.”
“No matter,” said Bone. “One, they won’t be expecting there to be five of us and they have no idea of our firepower.”
“Exactly,” commented Loraine. “Padrino and I will be using our semiautomatic .45s, Bone, his hand cannon…I’ve seen just the sound of that thing firing make bad guys pee their pants.”
“And then there’s Mason and Bodie. I understand ya’ll aren’t too shoddy either,” commented Bone.
“Right, I’ve got eight rounds in my pistol with two backup magazines. I can fire all eight and reload in less than a total of four seconds,” said Loraine.
“That’s a fact, seen her do it,” commented Mason.
“How many extra mags do you have, Padrino?”
“Two also, but mine only hold seven rounds.”
“Close enough,” she replied.
“All right, now, here’s what I suggest we do…”
For the next fifteen minutes, Bone laid out a fire fight plan.
Later, the five intrepid law officers were all cleaning and checking their weapons and having coffee as the storm was almost on top of them.
“Glad we got a good supply of firewood. Methinks we’re going to need it tonight,” said Loraine as she emptied and reloaded her two mags.
“Is gettin’ a mite nippy,” added Mason as he peered down the barrel of his Colt after running a patch through it…Sure glad we didn’t let Fiona come.”
“What was the matter with her?” asked Padrino.
“She’s pregnant…threw up most of the way to the Wilson ranch,” answered Bodie.
“Ah, of course…And you’re right, Mason, she didn’t need to be out in all this…She’s carrying Bone’s grandmother.”
Mason looked over at him and nodded. “I know that ‘Padrino’ means Godfather, but you or Bone never said what your real name is.”
Padrino grinned. “It’s Jethro Barthelomew Pereira.”
“I see why you prefer just Padrino,” said Bodie.
A down draft of frigid air hit the trees out in front the cave, bending their tops to the south. The wind was followed by a blas
t of sleet that peppered the outside with millions of tiny pellets of ice. It rattled off the cold, bare limbs like hundreds of tiny machine guns.
Bone shook his massive shoulders and threw some more wood on the fire. “Hope that slacks off some by tomorrow.” He glanced at the white wall of falling sleet outside the entrance illuminated by the flames.
“It will…I surmise that the front with its accompanying frozen moisture will be like most Texas winter storms that hit this way…short and fierce. If we were going to be beset by a long drawn out snowstorm, it would have started gently with huge snowflakes drifting slowly down…and lasting for several days with possibly up to a foot of the white stuff.”
“Hope you’re right, Padrino,” said Mason as he warmed up his coffee and squatted down close to the fire.
The sun wasn’t up yet as Padrino stirred the fire to life and added some sticks. In a moment, there was a nice blaze and he had the coffee pot sitting on the flat rock next to it.
He could see stars outside. “Going to be a clear day,” he mumbled.
“Don’t mutter, old man, speak up,” said Bone as he walked over from his bedroll and held his hands out to the fire.
“Wasn’t speaking to you. Let you know when I do…Old man is it? I’ll show you ‘old’. You’re not too big for me to still whip your young ass, you know?”
Bone held up his hands. “I give…I know you’re not. They couldn’t melt me and pour me on you.”
Padrino handed him his empty canteen. “Why don’t you go down to the creek and refill this, while you’re resting…Used what I had to make our coffee. May need some more.”
Bone took his canteen and headed outside and down the slope to the branch, sliding part of the way.
“Wish I could get him to do things that easy,” said Loraine, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, squatting down beside the fire and filling her cup. “Smelled the coffee.”
“One of the best ways to wake up that I know about…except for smellin’ bacon or pancakes.” He grinned.
“Heard that…Get your side of fatback out, I’ll slice up some for us and put it on. Mary Lou said she put a big one in your poke.”
“Mmm, sounds good,” said Bodie as he slipped on his jacket. “Gotta go outside and see a man about a dog.”
“That was a lot more information than we needed, Bodie,” said Loraine.
Padrino got his slab out and handed the wrapped package to her. “Need my K-Bar?”
She pulled out her own knife, a ten inch Bowie of hammered and folded Damascus steel.
“Whoa, I forgot you had that. Had it on you when you transported?”
“I did…Bone made sure I had my Kimber and my knife with me when we went fishing at Possum Kingdom Lake, for snakes, you know…I came…they did too.”
“It’s a good thing,” he answered. “We’ll have to be satisfied with bacon, pan bread and beans for breakfast.”
“We’ll have to go to Sewell‘s after we take care of business…She makes flapjacks to die for,” said Mason as he walked forward from back in the cave where he had bedded down.
Bone stepped back inside with Padrino’s canteen. “Tell ya’ll one thing, cold enough out there to freeze the…”
“Bone!” Loraine snapped.
He grinned. “Was going to say the ears off a mule.”
“Uh-huh,” Loraine countered.
“What time do ya’ll want to head out?” asked Bodie as he came back inside.
“Soon as we’re done havin’ a bite,” said Mason.
“Like Washington surprising the Hessians in 1776 on Christmas night,” said Padrino.
“That’s when he crossed the Delaware wasn’t it?” commented Loraine.
“It was,” answered Padrino.
“Well, here’s hopin’ it works as well,” said Bodie.
“Paraphrasing Master Yoda…‘Doing there is…Hoping there is not,” commented Padrino.
“Who is that?” asked Mason.
“A character in a science fiction movie in our time about a space war saga,” said Bone.
“Oh, a real fantasy type story,” commented Bodie. “I read a lot.”
“Wouldn’t say that. You know Lucy…Her race has been fighting another alien race known as the Reptoids for millennia…Fact is, Loraine and I have participated in a space battle against them with a secret black ops group in our time known as the Black Eagle Force*…I piloted one of the Anunnaki’s fighter spacecraft and Loraine was my weapons tech…We kicked ass and took names, didn’t we, Pard?”
*Aurora: Invasion (Black Eagle Force # 6) 9/27/14
“That we did, Bone…that we did.”
“She learned to fire two laser cannons at the same time, in different directions.”
“Really? How could you do that?” asked Mason.
“It not much different from playing the piano or guitar…You use two hands, don’t you?”
Mason cocked his head and then nodded.
“You mean a battle out in space?” asked an incredulous Bodie.
Bone nodded. “Out between Mars and Jupiter. Thousands of craft. The Reptoids were coming to harvest Earth.”
“What do you mean, ‘harvest’?” asked Mason.
“They wanted to use us here on Earth as their cattle…We were their protein source.”
“Aw, really?…Ya’ll are funnin’ us,” said Bodie.
“Afraid not. I’ve seen them. Ugly as homemade sin,” commented Padrino. “They had machines in their ships that converted us to small wafers.”
“They are one reason that Lucy has to hide until she’s rescued. The Reptoids love getting their hands on an Anunnaki,”
“Wow,” said Bodie.
“We got our own problems to deal with, though, folks. The only thing we have goin’ for us, since we’re badly outnumbered, is the element of surprise and our unusual firepower,” commented Mason. “Eat up and let’s go.”
“‘I drew this gallant head of war, And cull'd these fiery spirits from the world, To outlook conquest and to win renown Even in the jaws of danger and of death.’…Shakespeare’s King John,” said Padrino as he slipped on his blanket-lined Carhartt jacket.
Mason and Bodie exchanged glances.
“Fiona,” they nodded and said simultaneously.
§§§
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
JACKSBORO
Frank, Harlan and their ten hired gunhawks sat in Sewell‘s having breakfast and morning coffee in the toasty warm restaurant. They were the only customers. None of the townsfolk were out and about and not only because of the weather.
The restaurant’s front windows were frosted on the inside around the edges from the bitter cold. There was a three inch layer of sleet covered with a thin sheet of ice over everything outside.
Apache, Rio, Luke, Boone…git your asses outside an’ patrol the streets. You’ve had enough coffee,” said Harlan.
“It’s freezin’ out there, Boss,” whined Rio.
“Did I ask what the weather was? I said to git out to your posts. You bunch of gutless wonders ‘re gittin’ paid enough…I expect you to do yer damn jobs…or you kin hit the road right now.”
The four men got to their feet with sour expressions, grabbed their heavy coats from the pegs by the door and headed out the front, ringing the two-inch brass bell attached to the header.
“Doc, Joshua, Black Jack, go find that darkie an’ those kids…don’t come back in till you do,” added Frank.
They grumbled and followed the other four outside.
“Hoodoo, Nickel Jim, an’ Dog…Ya’ll git down to the jail an’ wait there. Don’t think the sheriff an’ his woman are gonna be travelin’ in this cold, but, hell, they might be tougher’n you sugar tit babies…Now, git outta here.”
Outside of town, the five law officers made their way on foot along the Alvord road. Padrino held up his hand. The sun’s rays made the layer of fresh sleet glisten with an almost blinding glare of billions of tiny diamonds.
“Everybo
dy keep your hats pulled down low and your eyes squinted. Damn stuff will purtnear blind you,” said Mason.
“Just around that bend up there is that copse of cedar where the Apache was staked out yesterday. Bet a dollar he’s not there today, but we need to check anyway. Now, not sure if my bracelet has recharged, so, why don’t you check out the other side of those cedars, Bone,” said Padrino.
“I can do that.”
He pressed the two stones with the otherworldly symbols inlayed in them with gold, mounted in the gold links. The air around him shimmered and the big man vanished from their sight.
Bone walked off staying in the road, leaving slight footprints in the frozen surface from his moccasins. He checked the grove of junipers thoroughly, turned and headed back to the others, killing the shield of invisibility.
“Just as we figured…Nobody’s there. Suspect most of them are holed up someplace warm or are out watching close to a place they can get back in to warm up.”
“I can understand that, I can’t feel my feet anymore,” said Bodie.
“Stomp up and down, Ranger, keep the blood circulating. The good thing is we’ve had to walk over a half-mile to get here. I feel pretty comfortable, but we have to keep moving,” said Mason.
“Guarantee they won’t be expecting us,” commented Padrino.
“Don’t blame them, I wouldn’t either,” added Loraine through her dark green muffler wrapped across the bottom of her face. “Too bad we don’t have any body armor.”
“Body armor?” questioned Bodie.
“In our time, we’ve got a special lightweight vest they developed that will stop anything but a high velocity express rifle round for soldiers and law officers…Saved a lot of lives,” said Bone.
“A .45 or 9mm hurts like hell and will leave a nice bruise…but won’t kill you,” added Loraine.
“I can imagine,” commented Mason. “But, we gotta do with what we got.”
“Sounds like that Kay Star song,” said Bone.
“Who?” asked Bodie.
“Never mind,” answered Bone.
They entered the end of Archer Street and didn’t see a soul on the streets.
