by Jake Logan
“You’d change horses in the middle of the stream? You’ve killed a number of my men already.”
“We kill for pay,” said Cash.
“Nothing more,” said Monkey.
“Well, I’ll be damned. You want to come to work for me?”
“If the pay’s good enough.”
“What about that Slocum?”
“I figure we’ll ask him if he wants to come along with us.”
“I don’t want him. I want you to kill him.”
Monkey gave Cash a look, but Cash ignored it. “That would be most of the job right there,” he said. “Without us two and Slocum, Townsend wouldn’t have anything.”
“I’ll pay you a thousand dollars to kill Slocum,” said Amos.
“A thousand apiece,” Cash said.
Amos thought for a moment. “All right. All right. A thousand apiece. After you get rid of Slocum, we’ll talk about more permanent arrangements.”
Cash and Monkey were riding back toward the Townsend spread at a leisurely pace. They rode for a while in silence. At last, Monkey spoke up. “Cash,” he said, “I thought Slocum was your friend.”
“He helped me out of a jam once,” said Cash, “but that don’t make me his keeper.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Kid, if you want to make a living with that six-gun of yours, you can’t let sentimental thinking get in your way. Slocum’s worth a thousand apiece to us right now. That’s good pay. You ever seen a thousand dollars, kid?”
“No. I ain’t. Never.”
“Did you ever expect to?”
“No, I didn’t. A thousand dollars.”
“What do you think about Slocum now, kid?”
“Why, hell, Cash, I think I can take him.”
“Now you’re talking.”
The lookout was still on duty at the main gate when Cash and Monkey rode back onto the Townsend spread. They hailed him as if nothing was wrong and rode on in. Cash had told Monkey to make like everything was just fine. Put on the pretense that they were still with Townsend. They would watch for their chance at Slocum, but likely it would not be there on the ranch. They would have to get him off by himself somewhere.
“Just play it cool, kid,” Cash said. “We’ll get our chance.”
They got back to the corral at the same time Slocum was returning from the range. Together, they unsaddled and took care of their horses, turning them loose in the corral. Then they walked toward the cookshack.
“Have a rough day?” Cash asked.
“Not bad,” said Slocum. “How much longer are you two going to lay around getting paid for nothing?”
“Hell, Slocum, we’re being paid for looking out for this place against the White Hat. Why the hell should we bust our ass chasing cows? What the hell are you doing it for?”
“Seems like the fighting’s over,” Slocum said. “I’m just trying to give the man an honest day’s work for my pay. That’s all.”
“Well, you just go on and do that. Me and Monkey here, we’ll keep watching the trails to protect you cowhands from any danger.”
Slocum gave Cash a look, but he did not bother responding to that remark. They found their places at the table and sat down to eat. Slocum ate enough for two men. It had been a rough day, but he would not admit that to Cash. A long day of chasing half-wild animals through rugged terrain. They were about done with their meal. Most of the men had gotten up and left. Slocum had one more cup of coffee, and Cash decided that he and Monkey would stay too.
“You really think the fighting’s over and done?” Cash asked Slocum.
“We hit Amos hard three times,” Slocum said. “That’s not to mention the boys of his we got in town. If he had any strength left, he’d have come back at us by now. At least, that’s the way it looks to me.”
“Yeah? Well, maybe you’re right about that. Maybe we should go back to being ordinary cowhands, like you done.”
“What made you change your mind about that?”
“Oh, I’ve just been thinking about what you said. That’s all. You know, about an honest day’s work for the old man. I never was one to take no charity.” Monkey was giving Cash a puzzled look, but he kept his mouth shut. “What do you say, kid? Shall we go back to work? Be honest cowhands like our ole pard here?”
Monkey gave a shrug. “Whatever you say, Cash.”
Cash turned up his cup and drained it. Then he stood up. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go talk to the boss.”
Monkey got up to follow him. Slocum sat for a moment longer over his coffee, puzzling over Cash’s behavior. Just what the hell was he up to? He was not that fond of hard work. Slocum had figured out that much about the man some time ago. He was a good man to have on your side during a fight, but beyond that, he wasn’t worth much of a shit. Slocum finished his coffee and got up to follow those two over to the ranch house.
When he got there, he found them on the porch: Cash, Monkey, Townsend, and Julie.
“Come on up and join us, Slocum,” said Townsend. “The boys here was telling me that they want to go back to work.”
“Yeah?” Slocum stepped up onto the porch and took a chair. He took off his hat. “Evening, Julie,” he said.
“Good evening,” she said with a smile.
“Slocum,” said Townsend, “do you think it’s safe for these two to go back to work the way you done? Do you really think we’ve won this war with Amos?”
“Well, sir,” said Slocum, “right now, it looks that way to me. We hurt him pretty bad, and he’s not fighting back. He could go out recruiting some more hands, more gunfighters, but we don’t know that he’s been doing that. If we find out that he is, then we can go back to the way we been doing things.”
“Well, that makes sense to me,” said Townsend.
“Uncle,” said Julie, “are you sure?”
“There won’t be nothing to worry about, miss,” said Cash, leering at Julie. “Slocum, me, and Monkey, we’ll all still be right here on the ranch. We still got guards out, don’t we? If anyone’s coming, they can get word out to us fast enough.”
“Then it’s settled,” Townsend said. “In the morning, you two ride on out with Slocum. He’ll catch you up on where he’s at and what’s going on. Well, I’m going to turn in. It’s been a long day.”
Townsend got up and headed for the door, and the others all said good night to him. Slocum stood up. “We ought to be turning in too,” he said. “Good night.”
“Good night,” said Julie.
Slocum walked down off the porch. He looked back at Monkey and Cash.
“Go on, kid,” said Cash. “I’ll be along.”
Monkey joined Slocum walking back to the bunkhouse.
Julie started to stand up.
“You don’t need to be in a hurry,” said Cash, “do you?”
“Well, no,” she said. “I guess not. Do you have something on your mind?” Cash looked at her, and it became suddenly obvious what was on his mind. Julie got nervous. She stood up. “It has been a long day, Mr. Cash. I’ll say good night.”
Cash stood quickly and grabbed her by an arm. “Don’t rush off,” he said. “We got a lot to talk about.”
“We have nothing to talk about,” she said.
“Maybe you’re right. Talking’s a waste of time.” He took hold of her by both her shoulders and pulled her toward him, bending his head to try to force a kiss. Julie twisted her face away from him.
“Stop it,” she said. “Let me go.”
Cash slipped one arm around behind her back. He pulled her close to him. She put both hands on his chest in an attempt to push him away. Cash’s other hand went behind her head and his fist closed on a handful of hair. Still, she twisted her face, but Cash pressed against her. He managed to get his lips on hers, and while she clamped her mouth tight and continued to struggle, he slobbered a wet kiss over her mouth and face.
Julie slipped one hand loose and pulled Cash’s head away from her by his hair. With her other
hand, she slapped him hard across the face. Surprised, he turned loose of her, and she stepped back, glaring at him.
“Get out of here,” she said. “Stay away from me.”
“Ain’t that the way you like it?” he said, rubbing his face where she had slapped him.
“Not like that,” she said, “and not any other way from you.”
“I suppose you’ll go tell Uncle about this and get me fired,” Cash said.
“No,” she said. “I won’t do that. But if you ever touch me again, I’ll kill you.”
She turned and went into the house, slamming the door behind her. Cash stood on the porch and laughed.
10
The next day passed without incident. Cash and Monkey rode out with Slocum, and they did their share of the work. Slocum was uneasy with them, however. Trying not to be too obvious about it, he kept his eye on them. He kept them in front of him. Now and then, one or both of them got behind him, but as quickly as was possible without giving himself away, he changed his position. They made small talk, the way men will do when they work together.
Slocum had dismounted to untangle his rope following a bout with an ornery cow, and he was not paying too much attention to the other two. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Monkey pull out his six-gun. Quickly, he went for his own, but he had it only halfway up when the blast from Monkey’s revolver made his ears ring. The shot had come close to him, but it did not hit him. Slocum sensed that something was wrong. He held his own gun, not quite up and pointed at Monkey, while Monkey reholstered his. Slocum looked down to see a dead rattler not far from his feet. He put away his own gun.
“Thanks, Monkey,” he said.
“If you were any faster,” said Monkey, “you might’ve killed me.”
“Yeah,” said Slocum. “Sorry about that. It was just a reflex action.”
Slocum went back to his work, and Monkey rode over to Cash, out of earshot of Slocum. “Good shooting, kid,” said Cash.
“Not bad, I guess.”
“You could’ve taken him, you know.”
“I beat him all right,” Monkey said, “but I drawed first.”
“Even so, he wouldn’t have come close. You can take him, kid. You can take him.”
“You want me to do it?”
“Not now, and not here. We’ll wait a bit.”
It was Friday evening, and Slocum volunteered to take the place of the lookout who was watching the front entrance. Most of the boys would be going into town, and Slocum figured that if he went, he would just sit and drink with Cash and Monkey. He was not in the mood for that. The man he freed from duty was very appreciative, and Slocum was content. He waved at the boys as they rode past him on their way to town. Among them were Shotgun Stone, Cash, and Monkey.
“We’ll drink a few for you,” said Cash as he rode by.
Slocum leaned back on the stack of hay bales after the riders had all gone their way. He thought about Cash and Monkey. He wondered if he should have left well enough alone when he first set eyes on Joe Cash. He wondered if he should have let him hang. He’d seemed all right for a time, but then he had gotten a hold on young Monkey, and Slocum did not like what he was seeing happen to the kid.
While he was thus musing, he heard the sound of another horse approaching from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Julie riding toward him. He stood up, took off his hat, and waited for her approach. She stopped her horse beside his Appaloosa and dismounted.
“Howdy, Julie,” he said. “What brings you out this way? Not headed for town, are you?”
“I came out to see you,” she said. “Brought some sandwiches and coffee. You interested?”
“I sure am, and thanks.”
She settled down beside him against the hay bales, and took out the stuff she had in a basket. Slocum ate a sandwich. Then he sat back to sip a cup of coffee. He could still watch the road from his position. “That was mighty good, Julie. I appreciate it. Do you do that for all the boys on watch?”
“You’re my first,” she said.
“How come me?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I just like you.”
“That’s a dangerous thing for a lady to say.”
“Because you’ll just take what you can and then ride away?” asked Julie.
“Something like that.”
“That’s no big surprise. It shows in you. A woman would be a damn fool to expect to hold you for long.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“No. It doesn’t.”
She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to give him a kiss. He responded, gently at first. Then he put both his arms around her and kissed her hard and passionately. Finally, they broke apart. Julie was panting for breath.
“I am on duty here, you know,” Slocum said.
“You won’t always be on duty,” she said. “There’ll be another time. Other times.”
“Yeah. There will be. You don’t have to go yet, though, do you?”
“Not just yet.”
Slocum took her hand in his. “I’d like for you to stay. You’re pleasant company for a lonely man.”
In town, Monkey and Cash were getting drunk. Shotgun Stone was at the bar with a couple of other hands from Townsend’s ranch. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. As far as anyone knew, there were no White Hat hands in the place.
“I reckon they’re scared to come in,” Shotgun said to the men with him. “We’ve whipped them too many times.”
“Hell, Shotgun,” said one of the boys with him, “there may not be any left over there to come into town at all.”
Shotgun laughed. “You might be right about that. This fight was damn near over before it begun.”
“And I suppose it was all your doing, Shotgun,” said Cash in a loud voice, intruding himself into the conversation.
Shotgun and the others got quiet. Shotgun turned to face Cash. “I never said that, Cash. ’Course, I done my part all right.”
“I don’t recall seeing you in the fight,” Cash said. “You was back in the bunkhouse waiting for us to get the job done, wasn’t you?”
“I was in it all right. I was right there.”
“Bullshit.”
“What the hell are you doing, Cash? You trying to provoke me into a fight? I don’t want to fight you. Ain’t no reason for it. We’re all on the same side here.”
“I don’t see that it makes much difference what side you’re on.”
“Well,” said Shotgun, turning his back on Cash, “I ain’t gonna fight you. That’s all.”
“You’re a chicken shit,” said Cash.
“No, I ain’t.”
“I say you’re a chicken shit, and you either agree with me or go for your gun.”
“Let’s get out of here, Shotgun,” said the cowhand next to him.
“No, by God,” Shotgun said, whirling and pulling out his revolver at the same time. Cash’s was out before Shotgun could get his level, and it barked death. The slug tore into Shotgun’s chest. He sagged against the bar, and then he sat down heavily on the floor. He was dead. The cowhands who had been with him picked up the body and left the saloon. Cash put away his gun and sat back down.
“That’s one less, kid,” he said.
“You’ve give us away, though,” Monkey said. “We can’t go back to Townsend’s tonight after that.”
“Sure we can. I didn’t give nothing away about our new situation with Amos. My fight with Shotgun was over the way he acted during our gun battles. It was a personal fight. That’s all. We’ll go back to Townsend’s all right. Don’t worry about that.”
“Well, hell,” said Monkey with a shrug, “whatever you say.”
“I say let’s have another drink.”
“That’s all right, pard,” said Monkey, “but I’m thinking about going upstairs with Honey Pot here in just a little bit.”
Slocum was still on guard when the two boys came back to the ranch with the body of Shotgun Sto
ne. He heard them approaching and stood up with his rifle. It was way too early for any of the boys to be coming back, but as they drew closer, he recognized them. Then he saw what they were bringing along, slung across a third horse. Slocum thought that he recognized the horse as the one Shotgun had ridden to town, but he wasn’t sure, or he did not want to be sure.
“Who’ve you got there?” he said.
“It’s Shotgun, Slocum. Cash shot him dead in the saloon.”
“Cash?”
“Picked a fight with him on purpose, he did. Shotgun said he didn’t want to fight, but Cash finally egged him into it.”
“Who drew first?”
“Shotgun did.”
“Damn,” said Slocum.
“We best get him up to the ranch house and let the boss know what happened.”
“Yeah. Go on ahead. Damn it.”
Slocum watched them ride on until they were out of his sight. Then he sat back down. He was still holding his rifle in his left hand. With his right, he shoved back the hat on his head. What the hell was Cash up to? Was he just bored with a few days of peace? Did he need a fight that bad? Why the hell did he have to kill Shotgun? He would say, of course, that it had been a fair fight, that Shotgun had pulled first and he had only defended himself. It was his pattern, and it would work, of course, with the law.
Slocum wondered, though, what Townsend would do. If Cash had the gall to come back out to Townsend’s, would Townsend buy his story, just like the sheriff would, and let him stay on? And what was Monkey doing all the time Cash was starting a fight and killing Shotgun? Suddenly, Slocum wished that he would be relieved. He felt as if there were things he needed to be checking on. He needed to see Townsend, and he wanted to confront Cash.
There was nothing he could do, though. He was on duty. And he would likely still be on duty until everyone else was asleep. He guessed it would all have to wait till morning. He wondered, though, if he would be able to sleep. He wondered if anyone would. Anyone other than Cash and Monkey. They would sleep just fine, wherever they chose to bed down for the night.
