by Jake Logan
In the next few minutes, the two bullies came close to starting two fights, but each time the person they picked on showed good sense and backed off. They continued to laugh and talk loud in general, challenging the whole world to a fight. Slocum suddenly wanted to get out, but he thought about the boy upstairs, and he could just see Cash getting himself into trouble with those two. Cash could handle himself. That wasn’t a problem. But if the kid happened to come down and get into the middle of it, well, that would be a different story. He told himself that he had to hang around for a while longer.
Upstairs, Monkey was on top of Honey Pot and pumping away. He was panting with each thrust of his hard dick into the depths of her luscious cunt. “Oh, yes, baby,” she said. “Oh, yes. You’re doing great. You’re wonderful. Keep it up, big boy.”
Monkey shoved into her again, and then he felt it coming. “Oh,” he shouted. “Oh, God.”
He pumped his juices into her again and again, continuing his thrusts all the while. At last he was spent. He lay down hard and heavy on her and gasped for breath. Honey Pot stroked his back. “You done real good,” she said.
“Was I all right?”
“Honey, you were more than all right. You’re as good as any man I ever had, and believe me, I’ve had plenty.”
“God, do you really mean it?”
“I mean it. I ain’t gonna tell you that I never lie to a man, but I ain’t lying to you. You done me real good.”
“God, Honey Pot,” Monkey said, “I’m glad.”
“Do you think you could go again?”
Sometime later, Monkey and Honey Pot appeared on the landing. She was hanging on to his arm, and he was grinning like a possum. Honey Pot caught the look that Cash shot in her direction, and she smiled knowingly. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they headed for the table where Cash and Slocum still sat drinking. As they sat down, Cash looked at Honey Pot and said, “Well?”
“Well what?”
“How’d the boy do?”
“He done just fine. Don’t you worry your head none about this boy.”
Cash laughed out loud and slapped Monkey on the back. “So how was it, kid?”
“Cash, I’m in your debt. It was—well, it was great.”
Slocum drained his glass again and said, “I think it’s time we headed back for the ranch.”
“What’s your hurry?” said Cash.
“Come on,” Slocum said.
“Well, shit, you go on if you’ve a mind to, but me and the kid here is staying. The night’s young, pard. There’s whiskey to drink and women to lay. You getting old or what?”
That was a hell of a thing for Cash to say. All of a sudden, Slocum did feel very old. He wanted no part of this life, but at the same time, he did not want to leave the two cowboys, especially Monkey. Something told him that if he left them there, Cash would get Monkey in trouble. He’d never forgive himself if the kid got hurt. “Shit,” he said, “drink up and let’s get out of here.”
“Hey,” said one of the two braggarts at the bar. “You two fellers there got yourselves a genuine nursemaid, it sounds like. Better let him take you on home and tuck you in bed.”
“He ain’t my nursemaid,” said Cash. “I’m staying here till the place closes down.”
“Come on, Cash.”
“I’ve had my say.”
“Cash?” said the man at the bar. “Is that your name? Cash?”
Cash stood up and faced the man. “I’m Joe Cash,” he said. “You got any problem with that?”
“No. Hell, no. It’s just that, if you’re Cash, you ought to have the moneybags and you ought to be telling the nursemaid what to do. You better just go on home with him. You and the kid.”
“They’ve been trying to start a fight with someone ever since they came in,” said Slocum. “Leave them alone. Let’s just get out of here.”
Slocum stood up, but the tough at the bar walked over to block his path. His buddy walked over to stand beside him. “Say, nursemaid,” the loudmouth said, “your two pards don’t want to go. You hard of hearing? Why don’t you just go on out of here by yourself and leave them be?”
“Why don’t you two go back to the bar and mind your own business?” Slocum said.
“I’m making it my business,” said the man.
“Yeah. Me too,” his companion said.
Slocum heaved a sigh. Joe Cash stood up. Monkey started to stand, but Cash said, “Sit still, kid. There’s two of them and two of us.” He walked a half circle around the table to stand beside Slocum.
“What’s your names, boys?” he said. “I like to know whose ass I’m about to stomp.”
“My name’s Runt Rawls,” said the smaller of the two, “and you won’t forget it after tonight.”
“Mine’s Toughnuts,” said the other one, and he swung a big fist at Slocum’s jaw. Slocum blocked the punch and drove a fist into the man’s gut. Toughnuts whoofed out air, but he stood his ground. As soon as Toughnuts swung, so did Rawls, and Cash just as deftly blocked his first punch. Almost simultaneously, Cash and Slocum swung blows that caught the men on their jaws, and the two thugs staggered backward to lean against the bar. Toughnuts was the first to move away from the bar, and he came at Slocum with his head down and both fists ready for action.
Rawls turned slightly, picked up a bottle from the bar, and smashed it, leaving the neck and jagged edges in his hand. He moved toward Cash with this new weapon at the ready. Toughnuts swung both fists hard and fast, most of his blows missing or landing on Slocum’s shoulders. One lucky punch snapped Slocum’s head back, but he quickly retaliated with a hard right to the side of the man’s head, sending Toughnuts staggering back again.
Rawls lunged at Cash with the broken bottle, but Cash sidestepped just in time, and kicked Rawls in the ass as the man moved past him. The kick sent Rawls forward, where he ran into an empty table and sprawled over it. Cash ran after him and, before Rawls could get back to his feet, grabbed him by the belt and slung him the rest of the way over the table and down onto the floor.
Toughnuts rushed at Slocum, and Slocum stepped aside and hit him hard on the back just between the shoulders, knocking him to the floor. He reached down and pulled Toughnuts to his feet by the shirt collar, turned him around, and smashed a right into his jaw. Toughnuts staggered back again, but this time, Slocum kept moving. He moved in and struck twice more, and Toughnuts collapsed.
In the meantime, Cash waited for Rawls, who had lost his broken bottle, to get back to his feet. Rawls looked around. He saw that his partner was down and beaten. He looked at Cash and at Slocum, and he hesitated. Slocum sat down.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’m done.”
Rawls put up his fists and moved hesitantly toward Cash. Cash waited, his fists poised too, but as Rawls came close, Cash delivered a swift kick to his balls. Rawls doubled over, his face turning green. He fell onto the floor, both hands gripping his groin, and rolled over and over moaning and groaning. Cash dusted off his hands and moved back to the table to sit down again.
“Damn, Cash,” said Monkey, “that was a hell of fight. You too, Slocum. Both of you. You whipped them real good.”
“You boys made some bad enemies,” said Honey Pot.
“Those two?” Cash said. “Hell, we can handle them any day.”
“Not just them,” she said. “The whole White Hat outfit. They’re a mean bunch, and they stick together. It won’t be comfortable for you three in town after tonight.”
“Why three?” Cash asked. “The kid didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“He’s your pard.”
“Well, anyone wants to make a fight of it, they’re welcome,” said Cash.
“That goes for me too,” Monkey said. “I ain’t a-skeered of them. Cash and Slocum made me stay out of this one. It woulda been three against two. Otherwise, I’d a been right in there with them.”
Toughnuts struggled to his feet just then and staggered to the bar, still be
nt over. He leaned on the bar and hollered for whiskey. Rawls moaned another time or two. Then, seeing that his partner was up and drinking, he helped himself to his feet by hanging on to a chair. He did not straighten up, though. He stood doubled over, still holding his balls. His face was still a pale green. Slowly, he hobbled to the bar next to Toughnuts. Soon, both men had glasses of whiskey, and they drank them down fast.
“Are you two ready to go yet?” Slocum asked.
“Naw, hell, Slocum,” said Cash, “the trouble’s all over with. We might as well stick around now.”
About that same time, Toughnuts whispered to Rawls, “You ain’t hurt too bad, are you?”
“Son of a bitch like to of mashed both my balls,” Rawls whined back.
“Didn’t mash your gun hand, did he?”
Rawls turned his head to look Toughnuts in the face. “My gun hand ain’t hurt,” he said.
“Get ready then,” said Toughnuts. “When I tell you, we’ll turn on them. You take the one that kicked your balls, and I’ll take the other one.”
“What about the kid?”
“He won’t be no problem once them other two is out of the way.”
Slocum stood up just then. “Well, I’ve stayed around here too long already,” he said. “If you two are damn fool enough to stay longer, it ain’t my problem.”
“Where you going, Slocum?” asked Monkey.
“I’m going back to the ranch. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll come along with me.”
Monkey gave Cash a look, and said, “What about it, Cash?”
“Hell, let him go, kid.”
“We’ll see you later, Slocum,” said Monkey. “Don’t worry. We’ll be all right.”
Slocum headed for the door, and Toughnuts said to Rawls, “Now.” Both White Hat men went for their guns. Slocum heard the call, and he whirled. His Colt came out as he turned, and as it leveled on Toughnuts, it barked. Toughnuts’s shot went into the floor. He stood still, looking down at the bloody hole in his chest. His mouth dropped open. His hand relaxed, and the gun slipped from his fingers. Then he fell forward on the floor and lay still—dead.
At almost the same moment, Cash, who was still seated, flung himself over backward. When he hit the floor, he rolled to his right, and he pulled out his six-gun. Rawls fired twice. His first shot went right where Cash had been sitting. His second dug into the floor just where Cash had rolled. He did not get a third shot. Cash pointed his gun and fired. The slug tore into Rawls’s forehead, and the man’s head bounced crazily on his shoulders as his body relaxed, then crumpled into a wad.
“Damn fools,” said Slocum. He holstered his Colt, turned, and walked on out the door. Cash picked up his chair and sat down again. He and Monkey and Honey Pot sat for a moment in silence.
“Well,” he said finally, “I reckon Slocum might be right, kid. It might be time for us to go on back.”
Monkey was staring at the two bodies on the floor. “Yeah,” he said.
“Just one thing, boys,” said Honey Pot. “Ain’t no question about it now. You’re all in big trouble.”
5
First thing the next morning, Slocum walked over to the big house. As he was climbing the steps to the front porch, the door opened and Julie Townsend stepped out. Slocum stopped, surprised, and took the hat off his head.
“Good morning, Mr. Slocum,” Julie said.
“Morning, ma’am,” said Slocum. He realized that he was staring at her, and he forced himself to look down at the steps. “I, uh, just came over to have a word with Mr. Townsend.”
“He’ll be out in a moment. Won’t you sit down?” She indicated one of several chairs that were scattered around the porch. Slocum climbed the last two steps and went over to the chair to sit. He waited until Julie was seated.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said.
“How do you like your job here so far, Mr. Slocum?” Julie asked.
“The boys are all friendly enough,” Slocum said, “and Mr. Townsend seems to be a fair man.”
“You didn’t really answer my question.”
“A job’s a job. If a man had enough money in his jeans, he wouldn’t need one.”
“So you don’t have enough money?”
“I ain’t never seen enough money, ma’am.”
“Well, Mr. Slocum, you’re certainly not going to get rich working here.”
“No, ma’am.”
The door opened again, and Old Man Townsend stepped out. When he saw Slocum sitting with Julie, he looked up a bit surprised. “Oh,” he said. “Good morning, Slocum. Don’t you have an assignment?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” said Slocum, standing up. “But I wanted to have a word with you.”
Julie stood up then and said, “I’ll just be going back into the house. Excuse me, gentlemen.”
Townsend shot her a glance, and Slocum said, “Morning, ma’am.”
“Well,” said Townsend after the door had shut behind his niece, “what is it?”
“Mr. Townsend, last night in town, me and ole Cash killed a couple of White Hat boys. Does it matter?”
“It might.”
“Well, they picked a fight with us. We was minding our own business, sitting at a table with young Monkey and that gal Honey Pot. They was standing at the bar, and they come all the way over to us to pick a fight. We told Monkey to keep out of it, and he did. Well, we whipped them pretty good, but as I was leaving the place, they went for their guns. Both of them. Me and Cash was just faster than them is all.”
“How come you’re telling me this, Slocum?”
“I thought you might want to tell us to ride on.” Slocum waited for a response from Townsend, but there was none. He continued. “Honey Pot said the White Hat is a pretty tight outfit. We might bring trouble on you.”
“You thinking you ought to run for your life, are you?”
“It ain’t that, Mr. Townsend. I don’t want to bring my trouble on you is all.”
“Slocum, go find your partner, and you might just as well bring Monkey along. Get back over here with them right away. We’ll have us a talk.”
Slocum stared at Townsend for a moment, wondering what the old man was up to. Then he put his hat on. “All right,” he said. “We’ll be back in a hurry.”
As Slocum went down the steps, Townsend stood watching him go. In another moment, Julie stepped back out on the porch and walked over to stand beside her uncle. She gave him a curious look.
“It’s started, Julie,” he said. “Do you want to catch the stage back East?”
“No, Uncle,” she said. “I’ll stick it out.”
Slocum returned, followed by Cash and Monkey. He had told them of his conversation with the old man, and they were ready for anything. When they reached the house, they found Townsend sitting on the porch alone, waiting for them. “Come on up, boys,” he said. “Have a chair and a cup of coffee.” He gestured at a table with a tray of cups and a coffeepot on it.
“We’ll hear what’s on your mind first,” said Cash.
“Well, sit down then.”
They all sat. No one said anything more. They were waiting to see what Townsend had to say. He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip.
“Boys,” he said, “I hired you—well, not you, Monkey. You were already here. I hired you two under false pretenses. I led you to believe that I was needing cowhands. Truth is, I thought you looked like gunslingers. That’s how come I hired you.”
“What?” said Cash, leaning forward in his chair.
“You heard me right. I’ve been expecting trouble with the White Hat outfit for some time. When I first saw you two, I was afraid that you might have come to town to work for them. When I heard you talking about looking for jobs, I made you an offer before you got a chance to go the other way.”
“You’re paying us cowhand wages,” Cash said.
“If you’ll stay on with me,” said Townsend, “that’ll change.”
Cash leaned back and rubbed his chin. “Well,
now,” he said. “What about the kid?”
“He’s a cowboy,” said Townsend. “He’s no gunfighter.”
“He will be,” Cash said. “I want him with us.”
Townsend looked at Monkey. “What do you say, son?”
“I go with Cash, Mr. Townsend.”
“All right. Slocum?”
“You say you been expecting trouble with that bunch?”
“For quite a spell. Aw, we’ve had a few fights in town, but they haven’t amounted to much. Not till last night. Now, I’m afraid that it will all break loose. Well, what do you say?”
“I don’t like being suckered into a situation,” Slocum said.
“I been paying you to be a cowhand,” Townsend said. “I didn’t start that fight last night. You can ride out if you’ve a mind to.”
“I’ll stay on,” said Slocum. “At cowhand’s wages.”
“You crazy?” said Cash.
“I hired on to be a cowhand,” said Slocum. “If trouble comes, I’ll fight.”
Guy Hembree rode his horse hard, harder than he should. He whipped it up as he turned into the main gate of the White Hat Ranch, riding underneath the arched sign overhead that bore the emblem of a big Stetson, also the brand of the outfit. Guy rode hard till he arrived at the ranch house, a low, rambling building with an overhanging roof in front but with no porch underneath it. As he pounded up to the house, the door opened and three men stepped out, curious to see who was driving a horse so hard. One of the three men stepped out in front as Guy dismounted.
“What are you doing, Guy?” the man asked. “Trying to kill my horse?”
“No sir, Mr. Amos. I ain’t. I just got urgent news from town is all.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Rawls and Toughnuts’re dead,” Hembree said.
