by Jake Logan
Amos stood up and walked toward the door. “How many?”
“Just Ace Corman and Slocum.”
“They just want to talk,” said Amos. “You keep quiet. I’ll handle it.”
Amos stepped out of the house to stand beside Stackpole. He waited until the two riders had come close and halted their mounts. Then he said, “Howdy, Ace. What brings you out this way?”
“Two things,” said Corman. “Couple of your boys got killed in town today.”
“I heard,” said Amos. He looked at Slocum. “Who done it?”
“I did,” said Slocum. “They prodded me.”
“Yeah,” said Amos. “I heard that too.”
“The other thing is, someone rode out to Townsend’s north range last night and killed two cowboys and a whole bunch of cattle. The tracks we found looked like they come from here.”
Amos looked at Stackpole. “Do you know anything about that?” he said.
“First I’ve heard of it,” Stackpole said.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear it,” Amos said to Corman, “but I can’t help you any. Sorry you wasted your time riding all the way out here.”
“Townsend thinks you done it, Amos, or had it done,” Corman said.
“If Townsend fell off his horse, he’d blame me for it. You know that as well as I do. He’s never liked me, and I don’t know why. I mind my own business.”
“You had four cowhands who liked to start fights,” Slocum said.
“They’re all dead now too, ain’t they?” said Amos. “There shouldn’t be any more trouble around here now.”
“What about those tracks coming from your ranch?” asked Corman.
“You said they seemed to be coming from here,” said Amos. “Which is it?”
“Well, they came from this direction, but they didn’t really go all the way.”
“I’d say they came from here,” said Slocum.
Amos rubbed his chin. “Well,” he said, “maybe they did. Come to think of it, them two you killed in town today was out last night. Do you know where they went, Stackpole?”
“You mean Guy and Hank? All I know is they said they was going into town to do some drinking. They was pretty well armed, though. I seen them when they left. It was just before dark.”
“Maybe they done it, Sheriff,” said Amos. “But if they did, they was on their own. I never give no order like that.”
“It’s awful handy, ain’t it?” asked Slocum.
“What’s that?” asked Amos.
“Accusing the dead.”
7
At the main gate onto Townsend’s ranch, Slocum and Corman stopped their horses. They sat for a moment without speaking, and then Corman said, “I’ll just be heading on back into town, Slocum. I’m sorry, but tell ole Townsend there don’t seem to be a thing I can do. My hands are tied. Now, if you could catch one of them doing something—”
“Like killing someone?” asked Slocum.
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
The sheriff turned his horse and went toward town. Slocum sat and watched him go for a while. Then he turned his Appaloosa onto the main road into the ranch. Along the way, he thought about the law. Oh, he believed in it all right, but usually, it seemed that out West the law was useless. A man had to stand up and fight for what was right or get run over. And it seemed like Townsend was in that position right now. Well, he wouldn’t get any more arguments from Slocum. Slocum had gone to the law. He had gone through the motions. Now the law knew what was going on, and it had stepped aside. Its hands were tied, it had said. Wasn’t that the same as to say handle it yourself? Well, Slocum took it that way.
Riding along, he tried to think of what would be the next best move. He knew that Townsend had the men primed for an all-out attack on the White Hat, but he wasn’t sure that was the best way. It might be best to just get ready for an attack, lay an ambush. If the fighting, the killing, was all done on Townsend’s property, then it would be that much more obvious who was to blame. Maybe he would make that suggestion to ole Townsend when he got back.
He found Townsend sitting alone on the porch of his big ranch house, and he rode up to the porch and dismounted. He walked up the steps and stood looking at Townsend.
“I see the boys broke it up,” Slocum said.
“They’re ready to ride soon as I give the word,” Townsend said.
“Sheriff says his hands are tied. There’s no proof.”
“I could a told you he’d say that.”
“We rode over to the White Hat. That Bob Amos said he had nothing to do with it. Said maybe the two I killed in town did it on their own.”
“Yeah?” said Townsend. “I could a told you that too. You wasted your time, Slocum.”
“Well, Mr. Townsend, I don’t think so. I think that now Corman knows what’s going on, and when we do something, he’ll just kind of look the other way. I don’t think it was a waste of time.”
“Maybe you’re right. Well, are you with me then?”
“I’m with you. I have been all along.”
“Then we’ll attack those sonsabitches at sunrise. You can tell the boys.”
“I’ll tell them,” Slocum said, his alternate plan gone out of his head. He turned to go down the steps, but the voice of Julie Townsend from the front door stopped him.
“Tell them what?”
Slocum turned. He took the hat off his head.
“That we’re gonna attack the White Hat first thing in the morning,” Townsend said.
“I see,” said Julie.
“The sheriff said there was nothing he could do, ma’am,” Slocum said. “I gave it a try. I rode out to the scene and then over to the White Hat with him. When we left, he said his hands were tied.”
“Well,” said Townsend, “mine ain’t.”
“But are you sure about this attack?” Julie asked.
“It seems like the only thing left to do,” said Slocum.
“I see,” Julie said. “Well, all right then.”
“Good night, ma’am,” said Slocum.
“Good night.”
“I’ll tell the boys, Mr. Townsend.”
Slocum went down off the porch, mounted his Appaloosa, and rode over to the corral. There, he unsaddled his horse and turned it loose. He walked on to the bunkhouse. Inside, he found most of the hands. Cash and Monkey were seated on the edge of a bunk studying a Colt revolver. When Slocum stepped in the door, all talk stopped. Everyone looked at him.
“The boss says we go first thing in the morning,” he said. “Everyone be ready.”
He headed for his own bunk, and Cash got up and followed him. Monkey tagged along. “So we’re going after them in the morning,” Cash said.
“That’s what the old man says,” said Slocum.
“You going?”
“How come you ask me that?”
“Well, you didn’t seem so hot on the idea earlier.”
“I thought the sheriff ought to be told. Well, I told him. He ain’t going to do anything. It’s up to us.”
“I see,” said Cash. “I didn’t think you was yellow.”
Slocum looked hard into Cash’s face, but he made no response.
“Well, it’s late,” Cash said. “I reckon we ought to turn in. We got early morning killing to do.”
“Yeah,” said Monkey nervously. “Good night, Slocum.”
“Sleep well, boy,” Slocum said.
The morning came early, but everyone was up and dressing, checking weapons at the last minute. The cookshack served up an early breakfast, and everyone ate hearty. For some, it could be a last meal. Then they all went to the corral to saddle horses. Soon they were all mounted and ready to go, waiting in front of the ranch house. A saddled horse stood waiting at the porch. In another minute, Townsend came out with a rifle in his hand. He stepped down off the porch, shoved the rifle into the scabbard at the side of the horse, and mounted up. Then he shouted over his shoulder as he turned his horse, “Let’s go, boys.”
Cash glanced over at Monkey. “Ever shot at a man, kid?”
“No,” Monkey said. “I ain’t.”
“It’s not hard. Just think of them as targets, and you’ll do all right.”
“Boys,” said Townsend, “it looks like they’re all still asleep down there. We’ll ride in as close as we can get. Don’t shoot till I do, unless someone spots us and starts shooting first. When we do start shooting, make all the noise you can. We don’t want to give them time to wake up.”
The old man cranked a shell into the chamber of his Winchester and started riding. The others moved right along with him, some chambering shells in rifles, others pulling six-guns out of holsters. They rode slowly at first. Then Townsend picked up the pace. By the time they were within shooting range of the ranch house and bunkhouse, they were riding fast. Townsend fired a shot through the front window of the ranch house, and then everyone started shooting. Any semblance of organization faded away as riders circled the ranch house and others raced for the bunkhouse. There was nothing really to shoot at, so they shot out windows.
Soon, however, shots were returned from both houses. One cowboy dropped off his horse. Some kept riding and shooting. Others dismounted to seek cover and continue the fight. One foolish White Hat hand came running out of the bunkhouse and was dropped immediately by several bullets. Gradually, the shooting slowed down. Men were picking their targets more carefully. Now there were men at the windows shooting back at them, and the men outside were trying to hit the men at the windows.
Cash and Monkey were down behind a wagon in front of the ranch house. Monkey fired again and again into the windows and the front wall of the house.
“Hey, kid,” said Cash, “slow it down. Pick your targets now. Look at that window to the right of the front door. Watch it, and wait for that bastard to show himself. Then shoot.”
Monkey sat still, his heart pounding. Then the man popped up and leveled a rifle out the window. Monkey fired, and the man dropped. Monkey looked at Cash with astonishment on his face. Cash grinned.
“See?” he said. “What’d I tell you. That’s the way to do it.”
Back at Townsend’s ranch house, Julie paced the floor. She wondered what was happening. She worried about her uncle. She worried about all the boys. She was glad that they had Slocum and Cash on their side. They were real gunfighters. She had known that about them from the beginning. But then, Bob Amos had several such men in his employ. It was true that when Slocum and Cash had faced any of them, the two gunfighters had come out ahead. So far. She prayed that things would continue to go that way.
She fixed herself a cup of coffee and drank it, and then she began to pace some more. She looked at the clock. Then she walked out onto the porch and saw that the sun was high in the sky. She didn’t think that she could take much more of this waiting. She walked off the porch and headed for the cookshack. Old Snaggletooth would be there. He was the only other one on the ranch who had stayed behind. She found Snaggletooth washing dishes.
“Here,” she said. “Let me help you with that.”
“Oh, no, ma’am,” said Snaggletooth. “It’s all part of my job. I can manage all right.”
“I want to, Snaggletooth,” she said. “I’m about to go crazy waiting for Uncle and the boys to get back. I’ve got to do something.”
“Well, all right, ma’am,” Snaggletooth said. “If you put it that way. I got to peel some taters.”
Snaggletooth moved over to a table with a stack of potatoes on it and took up a knife. He started whittling on a big potato. Julie was scrubbing dishes and had her back to Snaggletooth.
“I wouldn’t worry too much, ma’am,” Snaggletooth said. “Your uncle is a tough old man. He’s come through plenty a fights in his time. He’ll come through this one.”
“I’m sure you’re right, Snaggletooth. It’s just the waiting around. Sometimes I wish I were a man.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be wishing that,” said Snaggletooth. “You’re a fine woman. Just you wait. They’ll be riding back in here soon.”
“Pass the word around, Slocum,” said Townsend. “Let’s go, but don’t leave anyone behind.”
“All right,” said Slocum, and he hollered out the order from where he crouched. Then he ran to call it out again. At last, he jumped on the back of his Appaloosa and began to ride around the main house, spreading the word. He rode around the bunkhouse the same way. At last, he rode up to the body lying on the ground, and he picked it up and threw it across his saddle. Then he remounted. A shot whizzed past his ear, and he turned and snapped off a shot at the nearest window.
In a short while, the entire Townsend crew was back on the road, riding toward home. As far as Slocum knew, he had the only body that needed to be brought back. He knew that there were several wounded. A couple of them had to be helped. He also knew that the Amos side had suffered more casualties than had Townsend’s. Monkey rode up beside Slocum.
“How come you called us off?” he said. “We didn’t get them all.”
“They had enough,” said Slocum.
“We shouldn’t a stopped till we’d killed them all,” Monkey shouted.
“They were my orders,” said old Townsend.
Monkey shut up and dropped back to ride along in silence beside Cash. Cash let him go on like that for a while. At last he said, “Hey, kid, there’ll be other times.”
“I just don’t see why we didn’t finish it when we had the chance.”
“We were running low on ammunition, and we got wounded. Two good reasons to quit while you’re ahead. Don’t worry.”
Slocum was worried, though. He was worried about what Cash was making of the kid. He was afraid that if something did not slow Monkey down, and real soon, the kid would be in for a short life. He might make a good gunfighter, given time, but he was not exhibiting the kind of patience required for that to happen. He was a good enough kid too. He was just too taken with Cash. That was all.
When they rode into the yard in front of the house, Shotgun was sent to town for the doc. In the meantime, Julie, Snaggletooth, and Slocum were busy with the wounded. They patched them up as best they could. Snaggletooth made a big pot of coffee, and when they had done all they could for the wounded, they sat and drank coffee. The day was only half gone, yet Slocum felt like he had put in a full day of work.
The doc showed up to patch the wounds, and because he had to unwrap them to check them, he also had to rewrap them. He declared, though, that he hadn’t really been needed. A good job had been done in the first place. He packed his bag up and left to go back to town. At last, Townsend, Slocum, Julie, Cash, and Monkey were sitting on the porch. Townsend and Slocum smoked big cigars. They had coffee all around.
“Monkey,” said Townsend, “I want to explain something to you.”
“Oh, you don’t need to explain nothing to me, Mr. Townsend. You’re the boss. What you say goes. I shouldn’t a spoke up the way I did.”
Slocum raised his eyebrows. He was pleased. Maybe there was hope for the kid yet.
“I called off the fight because I knew that we had men hurt. We lost one killed, and that’s a shame. I didn’t want more men hurt or killed. The purpose of this morning’s raid was to serve notice to Amos. If he wants a war, we’re ready to give him one. Well, he’s got that message now. If he’s willing to call it off now, that’ll be all right with me. I figure we’ve evened the score with him. But if he wants to keep it up, well, we’re ready and willing, and he knows that now.”
“Yes, sir,” said Monkey. “I understand. It’s just tha
t—”
“It’s just that you were still hot from the battle,” said Townsend. “I know the feeling, and I appreciate it. You showed yourself good this morning, young man. I’m proud to have you with me.”
“Thanks,” said Monkey.
“Now, Slocum, Cash, what do you two think we ought to do next? Maybe I should ask, if you was in Amos’s shoes, what would you be doing?”
“I’d be gathering my forces to strike back,” said Cash.
“How soon?” asked Townsend.
“I’d say right now,” Slocum said.
“Right now?” asked Julie. “So soon?”
“That’s how he’ll be hoping we’ll think,” Slocum said. “We’ve just been through the same fight as him. We got men hurt. We ain’t ready for another fight just yet. What better time for him to hit us?”
“But can he pull together fast enough?” asked Townsend.
“That’s the question,” said Cash, “but if he can, Slocum’s right. He’ll be coming.”
8
They made hasty plans. According to old Townsend, there were only three practical approaches onto his property from the direction of the White Hat. They decided to place lookouts at each of those locations. Two men would watch, and if they were to see anyone coming, one would stay, while the other rode as fast as he could back to the ranch house to warn the others. The whole force of cowhands would not go out at once, however, in case there was some kind of trick, such as attacking with a divided force from two different directions at the same time. The rest of the men were to remain ready to go at a moment’s notice. They were to be armed, weapons ready, horses saddled.
Slocum, Cash, and Monkey stayed at the ranch house on the porch, waiting for any word from any of the lookouts. The air was tense. Cash and Monkey talked about guns and their use. Slocum lit a cigar. Old Man Townsend came out of the house to sit with them, and just after him, Julie brought out a tray of coffee and cups and passed the coffee around. She put the tray on a table and sat down on the porch with the men.
