“And what about the girl,” Curtis asked. “Do you expect any danger coming her way after the four of us have been here in town?”
“We do,” Ritchie said. “And we’ve spoken to her about it some.”
“So we’re in agreement then?” Bardwell asked. “Franklin and I have also spent our day discussing the matter. We too fear for her safety.”
“Are you boys talking about me again?” Karsyn asked, as she entered the room. She took a seat next to Castro to join in on the conversation if allowed. “So what are you boys, planning?” she asked.
“Your evacuation quite possibly,” Castro said in a more serious tone.
Karsyn looked to Bardwell the senior lawman. He nodded his agreement with what Castro had said.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“What of the house and her belongings?” Curtis asked, looking around the group.
“Oh,” she said. “This place isn’t mine. I’m only here for the summer till the owners return. I just watch over the place.”
Bardwell exhaled hearing the comment. This information would make the situation a lot easier to deal with if it was decided that she’d be leaving with them.
“I’m not saying that you will,” Bardwell said. “But if it comes to that, do you have many belongings to carry with you?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I could carry everything in two bags?”
“And you have a stage running north from here?” Castro asked.
“Yes,” she said. “The first one leaves at four each morning. It only goes as far as Fresno where it returns the following day, but by crossing lines, I can travel all the way back home if I wish.”
“Good,” Bardwell said. “Let’s hope that it doesn’t come to that, but,” he said. “It may be an option?”
“I think that you boys have all gone mad,” she said. “Riding about like that…?”
Bardwell smiled starting for the porch. Curtis and Castro followed with Curtis striking a sulfur match and both Bardwell and Castro biting off a chew.
“Do either of you think it will come to that?” Curtis asked.
***
Ritchie and Karsyn had remained inside in the parlor.
“I’d like to think not,” Bardwell said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
“Yes,” Castro added. “It looks as though we’ll be here in town for a few more days anyway.” This last he said looking up at the violent black sky and the rain it produced.
Bardwell spit over the rail into the saturated yard. “I’m afraid that you’re right, Son,” he said, nodding his head.
After talking a good piece on the porch, Curtis stubbed his cigar into the heel of his boot and started for the door and the warmth inside. Bardwell and Castro did the same.
A pot of coffee was boiling on the stove and the five got caught up in a conversation around the little parlor.
“I still have a hard time believing that the two of you are brothers,” Curtis said. “You two,” he said of Ritchie and Karsyn. “Now, I might believe you were siblings.”
“I assure you, Franklin,” she said. “These two boys are about as brotherly as brothers can be.” She laughed, “Do you remember grandpa’s dog? He said the dog was our uncle as it was your mother’s younger brother?”
Bardwell and Curtis looked at each other with a blank expression on their faces.
Ritchie laughed. “Jaxen here believed that dog was his uncle until he was fourteen or so, right?”
“I didn’t have any reason to disbelieve the old man,” Castro said, laughing along now.
Outside, a lone horse galloped up the street to the west. A loud crack was heard just as the window glass in the kitchen shattered inward. Karsyn screamed.
Bardwell, Curtis, and Castro were out in the darkened street with pistols drawn. Ritchie remained inside with one of his 1911’s in hand.
Curtis pointed west in the direction of the livery. Bardwell nodded as the deadly threesome started quietly in that direction. The town had gone silent. To the west, a great flash of lightning shattered the calm into a million tiny pieces.
Castro shook his head in the negative holstering his weapons. Bardwell nodded turning back for the little house with every light burning.
“I guess that about answers the question, doesn’t it?” Curtis announced, coming through the door.
“Yes,” Castro said.
“What’s the plan now, Sir?” Ritchie asked.
Bardwell studied on the situation for a spell before answering. The room was quiet as he did.
“I reckon someone in town knows who we are or what we’re here for,” he said. “But I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that we’re on to them.”
“So what do we do, Sir?” Curtis asked. “We can’t just leave her here by herself. What if they come calling again?”
The lawman pondered the question. “Most folk will be back in bed shortly after that one shot,” he said. “You take Jaxen here and fetch the green box out of the room you stayed in last night. When the two of you return, Silas and I will fetch the other.”
“So we’re all staying here,” Curtis asked.
“I reckon that’s about the best option that we’ve got for now,” Bardwell said. “They might keep taking potshots at the place, but they won’t venture too close with four gunslingers residing here.”
Karsyn had calmed some after the excitement, sweeping up the broken glass on the kitchen floor.
“Young lady,” Bardwell said. “You wouldn’t have a hammer and a few nails would you?”
She nodded.
Looking around the room, he continued, “The two of you are to remain with your cousin till we have her on a stage heading north.”
The boys nodded that they understood. Their long lost-cousin would be in their care for the duration of their stay here in the outpost town of Tulare.
That chance meeting the night previous had kind of thrown a wrench into their plans some, but the situation was still salvageable.
Curtis and Castro left for the boardinghouse and their green box. Bardwell doubled a blanket and nailed it over the broken window. Ritchie remained with Karsyn with his head on a swivel.
“That should keep the weather out tonight,” Bardwell said. “Franklin and I will go after a board or two on the morrow to seal that up right.”
It was thirty minutes before the two young lawmen returned carrying the heavy green pack box.
“Ain’t anyone out along the street tonight, Sir,” Curtis said, panting for breath as they ascended the steps out front. Bardwell had gotten worried and watched for the boys’ return along the darkened street.
“That’s good,” Bardwell said in a low voice. “Maybe no one will see us moving in?” He and Ritchie started for the remaining green box. “If you get into trouble,” he continued, “Give us a shot in the air and we’ll come on the double-quick.”
There was no more trouble during the night. Bardwell didn’t figure that there would be. Whoever it was that wanted to send the message had done so. The shooter was long gone after this much time had passed.
It was nearing midnight when the two lawmen returned with the last of the green boxes. Bardwell had a look around the small house, opening doors and peeking into each room and closet.
“Would you mind if we stored our gear in this closet, young lady?” Bardwell asked.
“Why not just leave them in the middle of the floor,” she asked, shrugging her shoulders.
The lawman smiled. “There’s enough explosive in these two boxes to blow Tulare off the map for good. The walls of the house are nothing more than clapboard with plaster on the inside. I’d like to see a little more protection for all this if you don’t mind?”
“By all means,” she said. “There’s nothing more than blankets in there anyway.”
“What about sleeping arrangements, Sir?” Ritchie asked.
“Young lady,” Bardwell asked. “You sleep upstairs?”
�
�Yes, Sir,” she said, nodding.
“Then go ahead,” he said. “You sleep in your room with the windows bolted and the door open. The boys will sleep in the hall outside. Franklin and I will get our rest down here.”
“Do you have a shooting iron, Cousin?” Castro asked the young woman.
“No,” she answered.
Bardwell reached down into his boot producing a five round Smith & Wesson .38 special. “You keep this with you, Honey,” he said. “Just make sure that you know who it is that you’re shooting at.”
“Damn,” Curtis said. “I didn’t know you carried a backup gun in your boot?”
Bardwell smiled. “There are a lot of things that you don’t know about me, Son.”
“Can you shoot?” Castro asked. “Have you ever shot a gun before?”
Karsyn brightened up. “You know that my daddy never had a son,” she replied. “He said that no little girl of his was going off out into the world without knowing how to use one.”
“Then you keep this with you at all times,” Bardwell said. “I hope to God that you don’t need it, but it would be better to have it than not, in our present situation.”
All agreed and started for their proper place for the night. The hour had grown old and sleep was required before the coming day.
***
Throughout the night, the rains continued to come down intermittently. Not one of the lawmen slept well as they listened for the footsteps of an intruder while the lights were turned down.
An hour before sunup, Bardwell pulled on his boots and stoked the fire in the iron stove. The pot of coffee had been left there. Bardwell decided that reheated coffee was better than nothing at all.
As daylight began to push away the darkness of the rainy night, Bardwell was sitting close to the porch railing taking in the view to the east. The great range of mountains was shrouded in fog. Gray clouds overhead obscured the rising of the daystar. After a cup or two, the lawman bit off a mouthful of tobacco and settled back in the chair. Soon enough the others would stir.
This ride down south here had put him in a hell of a predicament. The lawman was used to riding with Curtis, sleeping under the stars most nights and hitting the outlaws hard and when they least expected it. He was good at what he did and there was more than a few that could testify to that. Some had paid with their lives.
Now, he had the two brothers from Sacramento to contend with. On this mission, he couldn’t simply wing it like he normally did. Not only did he have the two boys in tow, but now their cousin had been brought into the mess.
Adding misery to the situation was the infernal rain that wouldn’t let up. If the rains would cease, they could strike for the objective. For now, they’d just have to wait it out.
The lawman didn’t take to waiting too well. If folks figured they were the law, he’d move the affair off into the wild and camp outside of town. But now, he had responsibility for the young woman’s safety. If things got too hot here in town, she might find herself sleeping under the stars, but he’d try his best to keep that from happening. One way or another, she’d have to leave when they rode out of town. There was just no other way.
“Good morning, Sir,” Castro said, stepping out onto the porch for the morning. The lawman took a chew and settled into a chair just the other side of a small table there. “Do you mind a little company?”
“No, no,” Bardwell said. “Have a seat, Son.”
“Rain again, huh?” Castro asked, looking at the heavens.
“Yes, Sir,” Bardwell answered.
Silence prevailed, as the lawmen took in the morning quiet.
If the rain kept coming down, the road would become impassable for a few days till the wind and sun could dry them once again. Neither of the lawmen wanted to see the roads turn to a muddy quagmire of hoof-sucking mud. If this were to happen, it would make trailing the outlaws nearly impossible, not to mention running if they were forced to.
“If this rain keeps up, Sir,” Castro said. “We’ll be forced stay here in town for a few more days.”
Bardwell nodded. “I hate to say it, but I believe that you’re right, Son.” The lawman continued to sip coffee in the morning air. “You think you boys are up for it when the weather does turn?” he asked.
Castro nodded. “I believe that we are, Sir,” he said. “Between what we’ve got and what you’ve said, I believe that we’ll be okay?”
“Good morning, you two,” Karsyn said, stepping out onto the porch with a steaming cup in one hand and a fresh pot in the other. “You ready for some more?” she asked.
Bardwell smiled handing up his cup for a refill. Castro did the same getting up from the chair to allow his cousin a place to sit. Karsyn sat, as Castro leaned against the rail.
“It’s so nice to see rain finally coming to this part of the world,” she said, looking up to the gray clouds swirling past.
Bardwell nodded, as did Castro. Neither said a word.
“Do you think that I’ll need to leave town when all of this is over?” she asked, pouring herself another cup from the blackened pot.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Bardwell said. “But I believe that it would be a good idea for your sake. If nothing else go north for a few months and let folks forget about what happened here, some?”
Karsyn seemed to agree with what was said. Bardwell figured she would dig her heels in like a stubborn mule and put up a good fight, resist, but she didn’t. Maybe she was okay with the idea of returning home and getting away from this godforsaken border town.
“Why don’t you boys come into the kitchen,” she asked. “We can continue talking inside where it’s warm and I can start fixing up something to eat?”
Bardwell smiled. Other than the thought of the job ahead, it was nice staying here with the young woman—Karsyn—and riding with the boys. For so many years it had been him against the world—it seemed—and now they were five.
It wouldn’t last. In a day or so, once a plan was settled for the girl, she’d be off in who knew what direction. Over the years maybe, he’d run across the boys again. The lawman understood well what they had said there would be no mention of them in his reports when he returned to the office. It would be as if they never existed, those two.
Castro took one of the chairs at the cozy round table. Bardwell did the same with Karsyn deep in the icebox and getting the morning together. Outside of the broken kitchen window, there was enough morning light to see the better part of the town.
“So what’s the plan today?” Castro asked, sipping from his cup.
“More of the same I reckon,” he said. “That is unless something better comes along? The weather is too bad or I’d suggest we ride back out to Ironwood and do a little more scouting.”
“If we remain here in town,” Castro said. “We should remain vigilant after what happened here last night.”
“You’re right, Son,” Bardwell said. “We’ll want to keep an eye on the horses and get our supplies together for the ride home.”
Castro nodded his agreement.
“You two boys will stay with Karsyn here at all times,” Bardwell continued. “And no one leaves this house alone.”
“Do you fear us having any trouble here in town, Sir?” Karsyn asked.
Bardwell pondered the question some before he gave an answer. “During the daylight hours,” he said. “No. But come nightfall, I do.”
“So we get our affairs in order and hole up here for the night,” Castro said matter of fact. “The four of us can easily defend the place?”
“It’s the best plan that we have for now,” Bardwell said, sipping his coffee.
Curtis came out reaching for his first cup of coffee, followed by Ritchie rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Good morning, all,” Curtis said with his customary smile.
“Morning, Boys,” Bardwell said.
The little kitchen was filled with the smells of bacon frying on the iron stove as the lawmen sat around the tab
le planning their next move.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
After the morning meal, Bardwell and Curtis made ready to walk over and check the animals.
“What’s our story,” Curtis asked. “If anyone should start to ask about town, you know?”
“Use what was decided the other night,” Bardwell replied. “We’re out of work cowboys riding north from the territories in search of work. The boys and Karsyn here are related on her mother’s side.”
“We just stopped in for a few days to catch up some?” Castro added.
The others nodded their agreement with the story.
“Sir,” Castro said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see about our animals myself?”
“As you should,” Bardwell answered.
“I’ll stay behind to help out here,” Curtis said.
“Grab your hat, Son,” Bardwell said, starting for the door.
Castro pulled on his long coat and pushed a black hat down over his curly brown hair. “Be careful, brother,” he said, looking back across the kitchen.
Ritchie smiled back. “As always,” he said.
The rain of the previous night had ceased. Clouds overhead parted blowing further to the east. It looked as though the lawmen might get a break in the weather.
“So you’re mother,” Bardwell asked. “I reckon that both your brother and cousin look something like she does?”
“You’re right, Sir,” Castro said, as the lawmen walked to the livery for a look in on the animals, “and our Uncle Stewart also.”
“And your father is Mexican?” Bardwell continued.
“Yes, Sir,” Castro said. “I’m told that I look just like him.”
Bardwell nodded but said no more.
“You’ve killed your share of Mexicans haven’t you, Sir?” Castro asked.
Again, Bardwell nodded. “I have, Son,” he said.
“That’s what they told us back in school,” Castro said. “I always figured that you’d be a hard-ass?”
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