Finally, he saw what he had waited to see. The kitchen door opened and two huddled figures paused only a moment to speak to the man on the back stoop before scurrying across the yard to the small cabin by the corral. His whole body tensed, almost causing him to shout out to proclaim his victory, unaware of his tightly clenched fists until he finally felt his fingernails cutting into his palms. Eager to seek his vengeance, he nevertheless cautioned himself to remain patient and wait for his opportunity. At long last in a position to strike, he was determined not to make the mistake of striking too soon. He was pretty sure now what opposition he would be facing, an old man and a young boy, hardly anything to concern him, but still no reason to be careless. There was always Bertie to consider, but he planned to strike before she knew what was happening. He counseled himself to bide his time and continue to watch the store until the early morning hours. By that time, he felt sure that everyone there would believe there was no danger of his return.
It might be less risky if he got his rifle and waited for Blossom to come out of the cabin in the morning and simply shoot her down. There was a good chance he would get a shot at Bertie, too, if she ran to help her daughter. Then he could wait in ambush on the trail up from the river in case the young man decided to come after him. That would be the easy way to do it, but he wanted Blossom to know for sure who killed her, and he craved the satisfaction of witnessing her pain and horror. There would be a reaction from one or both of the men there, but he was willing to bet that neither had come up against a man as fast with a gun as he was. And he would be working in close quarters, where his speed would offer an advantage. He could not really see that his risk was that great. It was to be their misfortune if they tried to interfere.
* * *
Unknown to the malicious hunter in position on the ridge above the river, awaiting the hour to kill, another hunter rode through the night in desperate determination. Fearing that every moment it took him to reach Rubin Fagan’s store was a moment too late for Bertie and Blossom, he drove his horses as hard and long as he dared. Rascal’s hooves pounded against the firm ground of the passage, causing Hawk to think of the ticking of a clock that could be counting out the life seconds left to the two women. He was going to be forced to rest his hardworking horses one more time before he reached Rubin’s, otherwise, he would find himself on foot. It was going to be hard to do, but he could not bring himself to run them to death. Finally, he pulled Rascal up when he came to a stream and dismounted. Both horses went immediately to the edge of the stream to drink. It would not be many hours before daylight, but he would wait for them to rest.
* * *
At about an hour before dawn, Rubin roused himself from the step he had been sitting on all night. He stood up and tried to stretch his tired muscles that had begun to cramp up from his uncomfortable position. Just as a precaution, he took a look around the cabin and the back of the store before going around to check on Robert. Taking extra caution, lest he be shot by accident, he peeked around the front corner of the store, ready to let Robert know it was him. He soon saw that his concern was unnecessary, for Robert looked to have gone to sleep where he sat on the porch floor, his back against the wall.
Rubin quietly stepped up on the porch and walked over to his son. He took hold of the barrel of Robert’s rifle and gently removed it from his hand in case he suddenly awoke and pulled the trigger, scaring all the women half to death. Robert slowly opened his eyes to find his father standing over him. His first reaction was to jump, startled. “Pa!” he blurted.
“Wake up, boy,” Rubin said. “It’s almost sunrise. That bastard ain’t comin’ back here tonight. He’da already been here if he was of a mind to. Come on, let’s go start up a fire in the kitchen and get some coffee goin’. I swear I need some. I ain’t used to settin’ on the back step all night.”
“I musta just fell asleep,” Robert said, feeling ashamed for having been caught napping. “I was wide awake all night.”
“Sure you were,” Rubin said. “I’m sure you woulda woke up if that feller had come back, anyway.” Robert got up and followed his father inside to make the coffee.
Watching their every move, Dubose couldn’t have asked for any better circumstances, both men inside and it still dark outside. He was satisfied to see Robert’s rifle still leaning against the wall on the front porch. A good place for it, he thought, smiling to himself. It told him that they were no longer concerned about his coming back. He got to his feet and quickly made his way down the ridge toward the cabin. With little concern for the would-be guardians inside the house, he strode up to the front of the cabin, taking only a moment to consider the door. It was as he had hoped, built to keep people out, but not to withstand the force he was about to apply. Walking forcefully up to it, he kicked it open with one mighty blow with his boot. The two women in the bed, exhausted from their ordeal of the night before, sat bolt upright. Far too startled to know what was happening for a second, their shock was immediately replaced with terror when they saw the outline of Zach Dubose in the dark doorway.
“Hello, darlin’,” he smirked. “Are you glad to see me?” He went immediately to the rifle he knew would be propped up close beside Bertie’s head and when she reached for it, he slammed her with his fist to her face, driving her back down on the bed. “You won’t be needin’ this, you old bitch.” Horrified, Blossom screamed. Dubose turned to her and threatened, “I’m gonna get to you, darlin’, soon as I take care of your friends.” He quickly emptied the cartridges from Bertie’s rifle and threw it aside. “That’s in case I get busy in a minute or two.”
As he expected, the kitchen door in the store swung open and Robert came running out, charging toward the cabin. Dubose stood back inside the darkness of the cabin and fired one shot from his pistol through the open door. The shot spun Robert around and dropped him. Rubin yelled for his son and started out the door to go to him, only to be chased back by another shot from Dubose. “Come on!” Dubose yelled. “Send me another one!”
Rubin pulled back away from the door, ran past a frightened Minnie Red Shirt, and out the front door. With his shotgun in one hand, he ran around the side of the store in order to get to Robert without passing in front of the cabin door. “Son,” he pleaded, “can you get up if I help you?” Robert nodded and struggled to help himself, not sure how badly he was hurt. With his father’s help, he was able to walk back around to the front door. Unaware of what was happening outside the cabin until too late, Dubose stuck his head out the door and took a shot at them that just knocked a chunk of wood from the corner of the store before they disappeared behind it.
He stepped back from the door again. “I missed a good opportunity there,” he told Blossom, who was still sitting up, frozen with terror. “I coulda got both of ’em right then, if I’d been a little bit quicker.” He reached over and took her chin in his hand. “You’re real glad to see me, ain’t you, sweetheart?” Finding humor in that, he threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, ma’am, we’re gonna have us a grand ol’ time. You see, your two heroes out there can’t come in that door to save you without gettin’ shot. And they can’t shoot in here ’cause they might hit one of you fair ladies. That’s how smart your husband is.” To emphasize his point, he suddenly backhanded her. “You made a mistake when you ran off from me.”
“Let us go, Zach,” Blossom pleaded, his slap having brought her out of her shock. “Let me help Mama. You damn near killed her.” She rolled Bertie over and tried to wipe the blood from her face, only to have Dubose grab her by her hair and pull her back. “Let her be!”
She was still trying to hang on to her wits, thinking there may be a chance to talk her way out of this horror. He had always been mean, but now he was acting insane. Seeking some way to reason with him, she said, “You can still get away, if you leave right now. You’re trapped in here and they can wait for you to come out the door to shoot you. But you still have time now.”
He chuckled in response. “You don’t und
erstand, do you? As long as I’ve got you two nice ladies, they can’t do a damn thing. And when I’m ready, I’m gonna tell ’em I’m gonna kill both of you if they don’t back away. And you know what? That ain’t just a bluff, ’cause when I leave here, you’ll both be dead.” He was distracted then by a shout from the store.
“You in the cabin!” It was Rubin who called out. “Why don’t you let those women go? You’ve already put a bullet in my son. Ain’t that enough to satisfy you? Come on out and won’t nobody shoot at you. Just get on your horse and go.”
Seeming delighted, Dubose looked at Blossom and said, “See, he don’t know the real story, either.” Turning his head back toward the door, he shouted back, “I got a better idea. You and your boy, if he ain’t dead, throw your guns out and walk out in the yard where I can see you, and I’ll walk out then.”
“I don’t think I can trust you to keep your word,” Rubin yelled back.
“Well, that’s the only way it’s gonna work, ’cause if you don’t, I’m gonna start killin’ women.”
“Hold on!” Rubin shouted. “Let me see if Robert can make it back to the yard.” He quickly checked with his son and Robert said he could make it. “All right,” Rubin called. “We’ll walk back around the house to where we were. Then we’ll drop our guns.”
“Now you’re makin’ sense,” Dubose yelled back. “Come on out.” He edged up to the side of the doorframe where he could just peek out, but still be protected by the solid log wall. In a few minutes, both father and son appeared, the son barely able to make it, leaning on Rubin for support. Rubin held a handgun, which he kept pointed at the cabin doorway.
When they reached the spot angled away from the cabin door, Rubin said, “All right, I’m dropping my gun. You can come on out and get goin’.”
Dubose smirked. They were making it too easy. With his pistol ready, he stepped outside the cabin. As soon as he did, the kitchen door swung open and he was knocked backward from the blast of the shotgun in Minnie Red Shirt’s hands. She quickly closed the door again to reload. Rubin picked up his pistol and he and Robert took refuge behind the corner of the cabin, not sure how bad Dubose was hurt, and not sure what the fate of the two women would now be. But Minnie’s blast was low and while wounding Dubose seriously, only served to enrage him. He got to his feet, his clothes from his waist down in tatters and already bloody, and still roaring his defiance, he came out the door again, shooting at the kitchen door as he staggered drunkenly. Looking wildly for Rubin and Robert, he was met instead with the image of what he thought at first a ghost, advancing toward him. The lawman! How could he be here? He raised his. 44 again and aimed a shot at him that missed, and reeled when a slug from Hawk’s rifle backed him up to the cabin door. Desperate now and terrified at the sight of the relentless hunter, he stumbled back inside, only to be met with the butt of Bertie’s rifle across the back of his head, knocking him to his knees. He struggled to retrieve the pistol that had dropped to the floor, but was knocked over on his side by a blow from the iron skillet wielded by Blossom. Fueled by a rage long suffered at the hands of the evil predator, the two women struck the fallen brute repeatedly until Dubose finally rolled over face-first on the cabin floor.
“Bertie,” Hawk calmly announced, “he’s finished. He’s dead.” Both mother and daughter looked up as if not really seeing him, still lost in their desperate attempt to remove this evil from their lives. Finally, first Blossom, then Bertie, dropped their weapons and backed away from the battered corpse. Drained of emotion, Blossom began to cry and went to her mother’s embrace. “Come on,” Hawk said, “let’s get you outta here.” He led them outside the cabin, where Minnie was now waiting to take them inside the kitchen. “We’ve got wounds to take care of,” he said to Rubin, who was already helping his son back inside. “I’ll drag that piece of dung outta your cabin.”
CHAPTER 15
In spite of the aftermath left by the visit from Zach Dubose, there was a sense of relief and optimism at the trading post as the morning progressed. Robert’s wound was in his shoulder and Minnie was able to remove the bullet. Bertie and Blossom had some facial cuts and bruises that were of no real concern to them compared to what had been promised by Dubose. At Minnie’s insistence, cleanup of the cabin was put off until after a big breakfast was prepared. They had fresh venison that needed to be roasted before it went bad, so there was plenty of food.
While the women were cooking breakfast, Hawk returned to the ridge where he had come upon Dubose’s horses that morning and he led them back to the corral. After dragging Dubose’s body out of the cabin, he loaded it across the saddle on the dappled gray and carried it away from the store to be buried after he ate breakfast. When he returned to the kitchen, the others were already eating, even Robert, who was seated at the table with his right arm in a sling fashioned by his mother. Hawk helped himself to a cup of coffee and sat down to join them. He placed a roll of money on the table in front of Blossom. “Seein’ as how you’re the widow, I reckon this is your inheritance from your late husband.” It was enough to bring gasps of surprise from everyone there. Hawk had heard from Loafer Smith and Rufus Tubbs that Dubose had plenty of money. They had not exaggerated. The day seemed to be getting better as each hour passed. Soon the matter of returning to Helena came up for discussion. Rubin and Minnie said the women were welcome to stay over and rest up before starting back, but there was a distinct urgency on the part of the two women to start back as soon as possible. “We’ve already put you folks out enough,” Bertie insisted. “I think it’s time to return the peace to your home, like it was before we showed up, bringing our troubles with us. If we start back this afternoon after we clean up your cabin, we should get back to Helena tomorrow noon.” She glanced at Hawk for confirmation. He nodded and she continued. “We can’t thank you enough for takin’ us in and we want to repay you for your kindness. Especially you, Robert,” she said, glancing his way. “Now that my daughter can afford it,” she added.
After breakfast, the women went back to clean the floor of the cabin in an effort to remove all traces of the late Mr. Dubose and to pack up once again to ride. Hawk went to the spot where he had dumped the body and dug a hole for it. He paused to take a long look at the battered corpse, thinking how many miles he had traveled to finally reach this moment. Maybe now he could free his mind of the pledge to JoJo he had carried since that night in Helena. He would see Blossom and Bertie back to Helena safely and then it was high time he returned to his life—what there was left of it after being absent from his job for so long.
When all were ready to travel, Hawk asked Blossom if she was sure she hadn’t rather wait to start back in the morning. “I want to start right now,” she said. “I don’t wanna stay in that place where he came after Mama and me. I’d have nightmares for sure.” He glanced at Bertie and saw from her expression that she was of like mind. So they settled up with Rubin, partially with cash, but mostly in a trade for Dubose’s satanic-looking gelding, which Robert had taken quite a fancy to. Rubin had some negative concerns about the trade, but went along with it, even though he was not sure he could ever look at the horse without reliving the morning just past. They exchanged good-byes then and Hawk and the two women started back on the trail to Helena.
* * *
As predicted, they arrived in Helena around noon, when Hawk delivered Blossom and Bertie to the Last Chance Saloon safe and sound. He waited long enough to enjoy one drink in the celebration Sam Ingram provided before he excused himself to take their horses to Grover Bramble’s stable. “Just these horses?” Grover asked, indicating the extra horse that returned with Bertie’s. “Ain’t you gonna stable yours?”
“Reckon not,” Hawk replied. “I’d best get started back toward Bozeman to see if I’ve still got a job.” He had no intention of returning to the celebration going on at the Last Chance. Bertie and Blossom would both want to thank him for coming after them and he knew he would find that uncomfortable. It was best to say good-bye to
this day and see what tomorrow brought. He had one farewell to say before he left town, however, so after he finished talking to Grover, he turned Rascal toward the graveyard on the hill outside of town.
Fred Carver had honored his promise to Hawk and buried her under the only tree on the hill. He had fashioned a nice headstone, too, with the name Joanna Feeley on it, as Hawk had instructed. “I’m sorry it took so long to settle the score for you, JoJo, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there to keep you safe when you needed me. I hope you’re restin’ easy somewhere safe now.” His thoughts were interrupted then by a screeching noise in the oak overhead and he looked up to see two red-tailed hawks fighting. They flew away when he looked up at them, leaving behind one solitary feather to float down and land softly on his leg. Struck motionless for a long moment, he stared at the feather, dumbfounded. Then he smiled, accepting it as a message, removed his hat, and carefully fixed the feather back inside his hatband.
He wheeled the big buckskin around and started down the hill to strike the trail to Bozeman. When he reached it, he pulled Rascal up for a moment while he made a decision—to turn to the right and head for Bozeman or turn to the left toward Sophie’s Diner? Rascal snorted, as if ready to get started. “Yep,” Hawk said. “I reckon so, but I’ll be back.” He nudged the big horse and wheeled to the right.
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