Petticoat Ranch

by Mary Connealy

  “I wonder how Ma and Beth are doing?” Sally asked calmly.

  Mandy didn’t like the way the man was staring at her, all meanlike, so she put a blindfold over his eyes from the supply of pigging strings, ropes, and neckerchiefs Ma had stored down here for just such an occasion. The man struggled as she covered his eyes, but she had him bound tighter than a year-old calf at branding time. Then she turned to her little sister.

  “Ma planned this trap and it worked. No reason the others shouldn’t.”

  “I sure wish Pa would get here.” Sally settled herself to watch through the slits in the front porch steps.

  Mandy checked the load in the rifle, snapped it back shut, and laid it well out of reach of the outlaw. “Me, too.” She went to her lookout in the rear of the crawl space. “Someone needs to get here and save us.”

  “I think there’s someone coming from the front.” Sally backed out of the way to let Mandy through.

  “Got it.” Mandy caught up the pigging strings and clamped them with her teeth.

  The second man Sophie and Beth snared didn’t yell, because he cracked his head smartly on the trunk of the tree when he got snapped into the air and hung unconscious in the net Mandy had woven from hemp.

  They freed Andy, another ranch hand, but although his eyes flickered open once, he was in no shape to help them. He had a nasty gash on his head, and when he tried to talk, he mumbled something Sophie couldn’t understand. Sophie took the time to stop the bleeding and bandage him; then she and Beth left him lying in another cave to recover.

  A quick but thorough check of the mountainside didn’t turn up any more outlaws. “If the sheriff was right about there being eight men, six of them might be down there right now with the other girls. We’d better get down there and help.”

  “Ma, look!” Elizabeth pointed to the cabin, which they could see from their vantage point. Sophie looked just in time to see a man fall through the front porch floor. In seconds, Sally was visible covering the porch back up. She wouldn’t have done that if the man had given them trouble.

  Sophie looked around the ranch yard to see if anyone had noticed one of their own disappearing. No one else was in sight.

  “All right. That takes care of three of them. Five left.” Sophie studied the terrain all around them. Frustrated, she muttered to herself, “Where are they?”

  Beth was silent, also looking the land over. Finally she pressed her hand to Sophie’s. “Right above us, off to the left.”

  Sophie turned and saw two riders. “They’ll be passing right in front of one of our rock slides.”

  The two of them silently ducked back into the cave and ran.

  Clay saw the final turn in the trail that would give way to a view of the ranch. The trail widened and flattened out. Adam and Luther caught up to him and galloped with him, three abreast.

  Luther said, “No shooting.”

  “We’d’ve heard gunshots all the way to Sawyer Canyon, Clay.” Adam raced his roan, bent close to its neck until he was talking into its mane. “I haven’t heard a one.”

  “I haven’t heard Sophie calling for help again either.” Clay couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.

  They kept pushing and just rounded the corner of the trail that put them within a long uphill mile of the ranch, when they heard a thundering crash in the hills behind the cabin.

  “What’s that?” Clay sat up straight on his Appaloosa, but he didn’t slacken his pace.

  Luther stared at the distant hills behind the ranch house even as they charged on. “It sounds like an avalanche.”

  “It’s a booby trap being sprung.” Adam laughed over the thunder of hooves. “It’s something I taught Sophie to do years ago.”

  “She told me about those,” Clay remembered.

  Luther’s voice echoed with satisfaction. “That means she’s alive.” Luther’s furred hat blew off his head, revealing a shining bald scalp. Clay glanced quickly behind him and saw the hat spook the sheriff ’s horse, where Josiah rode just a few lengths back.

  “And she’s made it through the caves into the hills,” Adam said with pride. “She’s got room to move in the hills. My Sophie-girl is an almighty fine woodsman. She’ll be okay.”

  “It’s one woman and four little girls facing down a gang of desperate men.” The wind whipped Clay’s words away as he growled, “Forgive me if I keep on worrying.”

  Mandy noticed Laura’s eyes flickering open seconds before the little girl sat up.

  “Where Mama?” Laura rubbed her eyes and stretched her chubby little arms up to ruffle her blond curls.

  “Great, now we have to chase after her b’sides catching all these low-down varmints.” Sally scrambled on her hands and knees over to Laura.

  Mandy put a blindfold on the other outlaw. This one had knocked himself senseless when he fell through the porch, but she didn’t like to think of his beady eyes on her should he happen to wake up. “I declare, the work just never ends around a Texas ranch.”

  Laura whimpered a little, confused by the murky crawl space. Sally lifted her into her lap. “I’d better get her up the tunnel afore she gives us away.”

  At that moment they heard rumbling on the mountain. Mandy’s heart lifted and she looked over at Sally. The two girls beamed at each other in the murky cellar.

  Mandy gave her chin a satisfied jerk. “It sounds like Ma and Beth are all right.”

  Sally patted Laura’s back. “Maybe, when I take Laura to the tunnel, I’ll meet ’em coming back down. It’s got to be Beth’s turn to baby-sit by now.”

  Mandy checked the outlaws for hidden weapons. “You know you’re in charge of baby-sitting during attacks, Sally.”

  Sally turned to Laura. “Why don’t you grow up so you can help us fight off bad guys?”

  Laura quit whimpering and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

  “She’ll most likely get to do most of the work with the new one Ma’s having,” Mandy said brightly, “now that we’re working as ranch hands for Pa.”

  “Yeah.” Sally joggled a burp out of Laura and gave her a disgusted look. “But what are the chances of us getting attacked again? Texas is getting purely peaceable these last few years.”

  “As long as she’s quiet, why don’t you stay here with me?” Mandy asked. “It’s a lot quicker getting the porches put back together with your help. And with you watching out the back while I watch out the front, no one can get past us.”

  “Sure.” She glanced at her now-contented baby sister. “I think Laura’s okay for now. I’ll stay as long as I can.”

  Sally scooted over to the lookout spot. Laura kicked her feet, seemed to decide she had all the dirt off one thumb, and switched to the other. Then she sat on Sally’s lap, staring curiously at the two men who were in the crawl space with them.

  Sophie quickly examined the two men their avalanche had felled. “Neither of them is dead.”

  “Are you sure?” Her bloodthirsty daughter sounded disappointed. “Beth, we don’t want to kill anybody.” Sophie plopped her hands on her hips and turned to her daughter. “The Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ ”

  Beth tightened the cords on the motionless man’s arms then got busy on his legs. “Surely even the Ten Commandments have exceptions, Ma.”

  Sophie thought about it, even though they really needed to get moving before someone came to check out the noise. “That may be true, but to be on the safe side, we’d best not be killing anybody if we can possibly avoid it.”

  “Fair enough.” Beth straightened from her work and watched the trail for trouble.

  Sophie winced as she bound a leg she was sorely afraid had been broken by a falling tree trunk. “Let’s get down to the ranch and see if there’s any of this vermin to clear out around there.”

  “Should we go back by the cave and see how the girls are doing in the cellar?” Beth asked.

  “I think I see someone holed up in the barn.” Sophie studied the yard below.

  “The barn?
” Beth perked right up. “We can do some real damage to someone in the barn.”

  “Beth,” Sophie said sternly, “quit enjoying yourself.”

  “Yes, Ma.” Beth forced her face into a frown.

  They worked their way down the hillside, avoiding the trail and keeping cover around them at all times. Sophie stopped several times to inspect the land in all directions. She saw definite activity in the barn, but she couldn’t figure out why anyone would be holed up in there. Did they think they were hiding?

  “They’re waiting to ambush anyone who rides into the yard,” Beth said abruptly.

  The minute she said it, Sophie saw a group of men round the far end of the trail. She recognized Clay riding in the lead of at least a dozen men. “By the way they’re riding, I can tell they’ve figured out we’re in danger.”

  Beth grabbed Sophie’s arm. “He’ll come charging in to save us and ride right into gunfire.”

  “Maybe those men expected him and that’s the whole reason they’re in there.”

  Elizabeth whispered, “I like havin’ a pa, and he’s been a right good ’un. I don’t want to have to hunt up another.”

  “Then let’s go try and keep this one alive.” Careful to remain out of sight, Sophie led the way toward the barn.

  “That sounded like an avalanche.” Judd looked away from the window.

  “Why would there be an avalanche?” Harley asked. “I don’t like it.”

  Judd sneered. “I swear you’re getting so’s you worry just like a woman these days, Harley.”

  “Worrying has kept me alive this long,” Harley said.

  Judd ignored him.

  Harley asked, “You’re sure Eli got into the house?” “I’m sure. I saw him run in.” The truth was he’d been looking out the other side of the barn at the exact instant Eli had run into the house. His view of the front door had been blocked. But he’d seen Eli head for the house and now he was gone. There’d been no resistance. Where else could he be but inside? He didn’t bother Harley with the pesky details.

  “It don’t set right, Judd, turning Eli loose on that woman and her children.”

  Judd looked at his partner with disgust. Harley was going soft on him. Harley had scouted the place for hours after they’d lured the posse then left ’em there guarding Sawyer Canyon like a pack of headless chickens. “McClellen’s wife is uncommon beautiful, and she had four of the prettiest little girls to ever roam the hills of Texas.”

  “I don’t like to think about Eli in there with those defenseless females.”

  Judd didn’t like anyone questioning him, and Harley knew it. Judd glared at him, but Harley didn’t look like he cared much what Judd thought.

  Judd would have taken Harley on—he had it to do—but right now he was preoccupied with spying. “Sid’s in there with him. That might keep Eli under control.”

  “You wanted Eli in there,” Harley said with cool contempt. “You know how he treats a woman.”

  Judd took a second to check the two horses they’d brought into the barn with them. They were ready to ride when it was time to hit the trail. The mustang tried to bite Judd’s hand, and Judd clubbed the horse hard on the head.

  “Eli could have been the lookout,” Harley added. “You’re hoping he kills the McClellen woman so you won’t have to.”

  “You’re supposed to be keeping watch, Harley.” Judd went back to his watch. He didn’t look down the trail. Instead he scowled at Harley. “Don’t think about what might be happening in there. Have you seen any of our men on the bluff?”

  “No, but I wouldn’t expect to. Do you think all the McClellen hands are dead?” Harley asked. “How much poison did you put in their coffee?”

  “I put enough in to bring down a herd of buffalo. They’re dead.”

  “You gave ’em a lot, but did they drink it?” Harley worked the action on his rifle.

  “We saw the two in the bunkhouse laid out flat,” Judd growled.

  “They looked dead to me, too. Now we’ve sunk to poison. I’m a gunslinger, Judd, and proud of it. My fights used to be fair ones—they were against horse thieves. Then, at least, they were against men. We were ruthless, but we had a code. We had some honor, Judd. But where is the honor in poison? Where is the honor in turning a coyote like Eli loose on a defenseless woman and children?”

  Judd looked at Harley. He didn’t like the cold scorn he saw in Harley’s eyes. They’d been together a long time, and what Harley said was true. They’d been hard, brutal men. Judd reveled in that. But they’d been strong. They’d taken what they wanted face-to-face, with the power of their fists and guns. It had all gone wrong along the way. And now they’d sunk to this. They were sneaks, killing women and children and poisoning honest men. Judd refused to think about it.

  “As far as that avalanche goes,” Harley said, “I’m not a man who believes in coincidence.”

  Harley quit talking. The time for talking was past. He’d never killed a woman before. He’d never even stood by while someone else did. More than that, he’d never so much as raised his hand to a child. In fact, the few times in his life he’d even seen children, he’d been fascinated by them and found pure pleasure in watching the little tikes.

  He wasn’t a back-shooter either. That one day, when Judd had sprung it on him that he wanted Harley to dry-gulch McClellen, he’d done it— taken his shot. But he’d had a chance to think it over since then.

  Harley crouched here in this barn and knew shame.

  He watched the house and thought of those little girls and the vengeful man behind him and he wanted out. He wanted out of this mess and out of this life. But how did a man turn his footsteps back from a path he’d been treading so long?

  That’s when Harley heard a voice. A voice he hadn’t heard for years. A voice that whispered to him things his long-dead mama had told him about while she held him in her lap. About Jesus. About love. About God having a plan for his life.

  Harley eased himself away from the door and forgot about keeping watch. He let all his life spin through his mind. All the little steps that, one by one, had led him to this place and this act of pure, unforgivable evil.

  And that’s when he remembered something else his mama had said. Forgiveness. A man was bound to do wrong because that’s just the way humans were. But there was forgiveness for those who trusted in Jesus Christ. Harley reached out for it and felt years of death and hatred melt away from his heart.

  Then he saw Mason tense. “Posse coming up the road,” Judd called out to the man who had just changed sides. “McClellen’s in the lead. He’s still a ways off.”

  Judd lifted his gun to aim at the lead rider. Harley lifted his gun and aimed it at Judd and hesitated, torn now between his desire to save all these innocent people and his own complete unwillingness to take another human life—even a life so despicable as Judd Mason’s.

  A soft rustling of cloth caught his attention by a little door near a corner of the barn. Harley didn’t turn to look. He knew that sound. It was soft material and lots of it. A woman.

  Mason turned to the sound and with a sudden roar of rage he leapt to his feet and yelled, “I’ll get that meddlesome woman myself!”

  Harley turned to see her dart back outside.

  Judd ran for the back door then suddenly he veered away from it. “She’s not getting away from me!” Mason shouted. “You and the men in the house will have to hold off the posse!”

  Mason didn’t notice Harley’s gun. He whirled and jumped on the back of the fiery little mustang. The horse reared and fought. Mason kicked it viciously. He didn’t go toward the back door. He headed for the wider door next to it. Harley heard a soft noise that sounded fearful, and he looked straight up over the smaller door. There was a little girl. Harley was so amazed it took him a second to realize the child was holding a rope. Harley’s eyes followed the rope and saw it was fastened to a basket of rocks.

  If Judd went out that rear door after Sophie, he was going to get peppered wi
th rocks. The little girl looked down from where she was perched above him, like a hovering angel. He saw the terror cross her face when she realized she’d been seen. Harley shook his head and pointed his gun at Judd, still fighting the horse.

  The little girl stared at him with unconcealed relief, then—she smiled at him. Harley was in awe. The heartfelt smile of a brave little girl fighting for the people she loved was a gift as sweet as the loving words of his mother.

  God rested His hand on Harley’s shoulder as surely as if He stood beside him in that barn. It was the finest moment of Harley Shafter’s life.

  Mason spurred his horse and suddenly the feisty, little mustang went wild. After months of abuse, or maybe inspired by its Creator, it reared until it looked to be going over backward. Then, with a squeal of rage, the horse twisted its body and landed stiff-legged on the floor. It arched its back and, with an impossible gyration, hurled Judd to the ground. He landed, almost as if the horse had aimed, right underneath the little girl and her basket.

  The ground caved in under Judd. Harley heard Mason scream in pain. A basket of rocks rained down on Mason’s head, and Mason was still.

  Mrs. McClellen poked her head in the door and glanced up into the rafters. Harley looked up and saw the little girl grinning at her mama. Harley stood slowly and drew both women’s attention. Mrs. McClellen looked at him fearfully, and he quickly tossed his gun aside. “Don’t shoot, ma’am,” he said to the unarmed woman. “I give up.”

  Clay and the posse came charging into the yard just as Harley marched out of the barn with his hands in the air.

  T W E N T Y - T H R E E

  He just surrendered?” Clay asked in disbelief for the tenth time.

  “He had a gun,” Sophie repeated. “He didn’t so much as threaten us.”

  “Just tossed his gun away and raised his arms? Harley Shafter?” Clay shook his head.

  “If that’s his name, Clay. I don’t know the man!”