Shot to Hell

by William W. Johnstone; J. A. Johnstone

  “Well, that oughta tell you I’m doin’ my part in givin’ this dining room somethin’ to eat besides beef,” Rooster crowed. “You can ask Rachael about that.”

  Rachael took her cue and remarked. “Yes, indeed, Rooster is doing a dandy job with the pork, and chicken, too.”

  “You come on out and I’ll show you what one man can do, if he knows what he’s about,” Rooster said.

  “I’ll do that,” Perley replied. “You stayin’ here tonight?” Rooster said that he thought he would, so Perley said, “Good, we’ll ride out after breakfast. How ’bout you, Possum?”

  “Might as well,” Possum allowed, “might be entertainin’.”

  With that decided, they didn’t linger around the supper table very long, deciding to retire to the front porch of the hotel to give the rocking chairs a workout. Rooster filled his corncob pipe he said he only smoked on special occasions. “What’s the special occasion?” Possum asked.

  “Why, hell, the end of the Ned Stark gang in Bison Gap.” Rooster answered. “Ain’t that special enough for you?”

  “That it is,” Possum said. “If I had a pipe, I’d smoke to that, too.”

  Rooster got quiet for a full minute while he lit his pipe, took a few puffs, then tamped the tobacco down again and relit it. Content that it would smoke steady then, he became serious. “I reckon it’s about time somebody thanked you two for coming all the way back here to help us here in Bison Gap. This town woulda gone straight to hell, if you hadn’t come when I sent you that letter. I was just hopin’ when I sent it, but I kinda knew you’d come.”

  “Why, we appreciate that, Rooster,” Possum replied. “But I expect it’s Perley that was the key to openin’ this lock. I just came with him to get him up in the mornin’s.”

  “I’d have to disagree with that,” Perley insisted. “It was Possum that decided to come down here as soon as I got the letter. I just came to get away from the Triple-G for a spell.”

  They were still trying to outtalk each other on who did the most for Bison Gap when Richard Hoover, the postmaster’s son, ran by the hotel. Seeing Possum sitting on the porch, he stopped and came back to tell him that the council was calling a special meeting in the morning at the Buffalo Hump at nine o’clock. “Special meetin’, huh?” Possum asked. “Well, I expect you’d best tell Mrs. Slocum about it, too.”

  “Mr. Wheeler said I didn’t have to tell the hotel or the barber,” Richard continued. “He said it didn’t have nothin’ to do with them, so there wasn’t any use in botherin’ ’em. But I saw you settin’ here, and I expect he wants you.”

  “All right, thank you, son,” Possum said. “I’ll tell Emma if there’s anything that might interest her. Don’t hurt to keep up with what everybody is doin’.” After the boy ran on down the street, Possum said. “Well, looks like I won’t be ridin’ out to your place with you and Perley in the mornin’, but I’ll ride on out there after this special meetin’ is over.”

  The talk went on long after Rooster’s corncob pipe had burnt out, and it was Perley who surrendered to the bed first, but his declaration that he was sleepy was followed by one from each of his two companions.

  * * *

  After a hearty breakfast of hot cakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs, Perley and Rooster left to get their horses from the stable, leaving Possum to soak up some more of the coffee. As they rode the narrow path along the creek, Rooster was reminded of the night when he and Possum went looking for Perley. When they came to the spot where Perley had surprised them, he pulled up. “If you hadda built a fire that night we was lookin for you, I woulda seen it from here. And you wouldn’ta got the jump on me.” Rooster saw fit to remind him.

  “Why, I expect that’s right,” Perley conceded, knowing that it was important to the crusty little man. With that question satisfied in Rooster’s mind, they continued on to his cabin, where they took care of Rooster’s daily chores. In Perley’s mind, it was a day he needed. Peaceful and relaxed, with no decisions to be made beyond whether to feed the chickens or the hogs first. A little before noon, they saw Possum coming down the path from the creek trail.

  “Meetin’ must not have been very important,” Rooster greeted him when he rode up to the barn. “I figured it couldn’ta been ’cause Dick Hoover’s boy didn’t tell me to be there.”

  “You’re right,” Possum said as he stepped down from the gray gelding. “I coulda rode out with you two this mornin’. Wasn’t nobody there but Wheeler, Dick Hoover, Henry Lawrence, George Gilbert from the bank, and the preacher. Ralph told me he didn’t mean to bother me with it. They was just gonna talk about business loans and such. I don’t know why Reverend Poole was there—to keep ’em honest, I reckon,” he joked. “Anyway, I figured there wasn’t nothin’ I could do for ’em, so I came on out here.”

  “Might be you shoulda stayed at the meetin’,” Rooster cracked. “Since they had a representative for the Lord, they mighta needed one from the devil, too.”

  It was an easy day. Rooster took advantage of the extra help and completed some repairs to the stalls in his little barn and replaced some broken boards on his front porch. The day passed too quickly in Perley’s mind, but it served to free his mind to return to its usual carefree state. Before he knew it, it was close to suppertime, so they saddled the horses and rode back into town.

  “I figured you three would show up as soon as my beef stew was done,” Bess greeted them when they walked into the dining room.

  “That’s right,” Rooster replied. “I could smell those biscuits in the oven way over on the other side of Oak Creek.”

  Hearing Bess greeting them in the dining room, Rachael came from the kitchen to give Perley a message. “Perley, Ralph Wheeler was looking for you this afternoon. He said there was something he wanted to ask you. I told him you’d probably be back for supper, and I’d give you the message.”

  “Wants to ask me a question, huh?” Perley responded. “He didn’t say about what?”

  “Nope,” she answered. “I didn’t ask him.”

  I reckon I can guess, Perley thought, the same question he’s asked before. “I reckon I’d best go see what he wants before I sit down to eat—catch him before he leaves the store.” He had given in to Wheeler’s request before, when he agreed to take the job of sheriff temporarily. But he thought now John Mason had shown he deserved the chance to hold that office. And being a sheriff was just not something Perley wanted to do. “I’ll be right back,” he told them. “I don’t think this’ll take long.”

  He hurried over to Wheeler’s General Merchandise and was glad to see that Ralph had not closed for the day. “Rachael said you wanted to talk to me,” he said when he walked in.

  “Oh, yes, Perley, thanks for coming by,” Wheeler said. “I hope I didn’t interrupt your supper.”

  “Not a-tall,” Perley responded. “I hadn’t got started yet.”

  Wheeler hesitated for a moment as if trying to decide how to begin. “First off, I’d like to thank you on behalf of all the people of Bison Gap for all you’ve done to rid us of the curse of Ned Stark. Frankly, it couldn’t have been done without you, and there ain’t anybody in the whole town that doesn’t know that’s true.”

  Perley felt downright embarrassed. He had not expected more than a simple “thanks for the help.” His natural modesty made it difficult for him to accept such accolades without an attempt at humility. “That’s mighty nice of you to say that, Mr. Mayor, but I wasn’t by myself. Possum and Rooster and all of the council were all together in getting rid of Ned Stark. And I have to give your sheriff credit for standin’ tall when the time came. Truth is, I’ve got good friends here, and I wanted to help them if I could.”

  “I respect that,” Wheeler said, “and I figured you’d respond just like you did.” He grimaced as if something hurt before continuing. “Secondly,” he said, “I had a meeting this morning with some of the council members about a problem we feel we’re faced with in the future. It has to do with you, and I�
��m left with the uncomfortable duty to ask you to leave Bison Gap, for the sake of those friends you mentioned.” When Perley made no reply, obviously struck speechless, Wheeler hastened to explain. “That episode yesterday at the Buffalo Hump was an example of what the council thinks we can expect from now on, as long as you’re in town. Every gunslinger in Texas will be showing up in Bison Gap just like that one yesterday.” Wheeler threw his hands up in frustration. “Ned Stark hadn’t been gone a day when that Ramey, or whatever his name was, showed up here looking for the man who shot Curly Williams.”

  After a long pause while he tried to recover his wits, Perley replied. “I reckon I understand why you feel that way. How soon do you want me outta town?”

  “Well, the sooner the better,” Wheeler answered. “Damn it, Perley, I know you’re not one of those gunslingers, and I feel like an ungrateful lowdown dog to ask you to leave town after what you’ve done for us. But it’s just what we feel is best for the town, and I was the unfortunate one who got the job of telling you.”

  “All right with you if I don’t go till in the mornin’?” Perley asked. Wheeler nodded at once. “I’ll need to load up my packhorse and take care of a couple of other things. I’ll be needin’ to buy a few things from you in the mornin’, too.”

  “Anytime tomorrow will be fine,” Wheeler said.

  “’Preciate it,” Perley said and turned to leave.

  After he went out the door, Cora Wheeler stepped out of the storeroom where she had been listening to Ralph deliver his message. She looked at her husband, who was pressing down on the counter with his fists clenched. “That was one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard,” she stated. “That poor man.”

  * * *

  “What was that all about?” Possum asked when Perley walked back into the dining room. Thinking along the same lines as Perley thought before, he asked, “You ain’t the new sheriff, are you?”

  “Not hardly,” Perley replied. “The council’s givin’ me till tomorrow to get outta town.” His statement left everyone at the table shocked speechless, just as it had when he got the news.

  Rachael was the first to find her voice. “That dirty so-and-so!”

  “Mama!” Alice exclaimed upon hearing her mother’s language.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” Rachael quickly apologized, “but sometimes it’s all right for your mother to use that language. This is one of those times.”

  “Whaddaya mean, the council told you to get outta town?” Possum asked. Perley told them everything the mayor had said about the potential for gunslinger problems, if he remained in town. “How can the council tell you to get out, if the council ain’t even voted on it?” Possum demanded. “No wonder he didn’t want me and Emma at that little meetin’ he had this mornin’.”

  “You practically saved this town right by yourself,” Rachael insisted.

  “Maybe that’s why they had the preacher at their meetin’,” Rooster remarked. “They mighta had to ask him if they should nail you to a cross or somethin’.”

  “Watch your mouth, Rooster Crabb,” Bess scolded. “We don’t need a lightning strike on top of it.”

  Her reprimand struck Perley as funny, then suddenly the whole affair struck him as funny and he said, “It’s better than being asked to be sheriff again.” He grinned at Bess and asked, “Can I have some of that stew now? The mayor said I’ve got till anytime I want tomorrow.” The discussion of Perley’s exile from Bison Gap continued on through supper, but after the initial shock, he was no longer bothered by it. Everyone in his circle of friends had their say about what they considered fine treatment for one who had risked his life for no other reason than to help the town. Emma, who came in late to dinner, threatened to call another meeting of the town council of all the members. Perley told her he’d rather she didn’t, because he was ready to go home, anyway.

  When Perley, Rooster, and Possum went out on the front porch of the hotel after supper, Perley took that time to have a serious talk with Possum. Possum had rapidly become a prominent fixture in the town, so Perley broached the subject of his role in Bison Gap’s future. “I’m been wondering if you want to return with me to the Triple-G.” He put it this way, “In Bison Gap, you’re half-owner of the hotel and a member of the town council. In Lamar County, you’re just a ranch hand on a cattle ranch.”

  “I reckon that is somethin’ to think about,” Rooster remarked. There was no doubt in Perley’s mind that Rooster would love to have Possum stay.

  “Every time we come down here, you try to ride off and leave me,” Possum said. “Truth of the matter is, in Bison Gap, I’m just a ranch hand tryin’ to act like a council member. Back at the Triple-G, I’m an honest-to-God ranch hand, actin’ like a ranch hand.”

  “Does that mean you’re goin’ with me?” Perley asked.

  “I reckon,” Possum answered.

  “We’ll pack up in the mornin’ after breakfast,” Perley said, “and ride half a day tomorrow.”

  “I swear, I hate to see you fellers leavin’ town again,” Rooster confessed. “If I didn’t have my place and my livestock, I’d pack up and go with you.”

  “It just rests my mind knowin’ you’re here to take care of Emma and Rachael,” Possum told him. “Takes care of a lot of my worryin’.”

  “Well, there’s that, all right,” Rooster allowed. “I do keep an eye on ’em.”

  “And they appreciate it,” Perley offered. Then it seemed like a good place to call it a night and look forward to breakfast in the morning.

  CHAPTER 22

  Perley and Possum went down to the stable before breakfast the following morning, planning to pick up their packhorse as well as their saddled horses. Horace Brooks met them at the door to the stable. “Mornin’, Horace,” Perley greeted him. “We’ll be checkin’ ’em out for good this time. How much do I owe you?”

  “Not a dime,” Horace answered. “Listen, Perley, I wasn’t invited to that meetin’ Ralph Wheeler had yesterday. I didn’t have no part in this business of askin’ you to leave town. I want you to know that.”

  “We never thought you did, did we, Possum?” Perley assured him. “It doesn’t make a lot of difference. Possum and I woulda been leavin’ in the next couple of days, anyway. The summer will be over before you know it, and we’ll start getting back to work again.”

  “Well, I wanna personally thank you for what you did for Bison Gap, both of you. It was you that got the rest of us out of our holes and gave us enough gumption to take our town back.”

  “ ’Preciate you sayin’ that, Horace,” Possum said. “Never can tell, we might be back this way sometime. We wish you folks a whole lotta luck, don’t we, Perley?”

  “That we do,” Perley said. They shook hands and led the horses out of the stable. “Looks like we’ll have to wait to go to the store,” he said as they rode by Wheeler’s. “He ain’t open yet. We’ll hit him after breakfast.”

  As expected, breakfast was calmer than usual at the big table Rachael had set up again, so that everyone could eat with Perley and Possum, and everyone was there. Emma made it a point to be there early, and Rooster stayed over the night just past. The conversation was low key with questions about what they expected to be their total days in the saddle before reaching the Triple-G. Even Alice and Melva sensed an underlying feeling of a sad farewell and were well-behaved for a change. Afterward, the good-byes were brief but warm. Emma gave Possum a hug and promised to write him from time to time to let him know how the hotel was doing, still unaware that he couldn’t read. Perley got hugs from both girls, and this time Melva told him that she would marry him if Alice changed her mind. “I ’preciate that, honey,” he said. “I’m gonna hold you to that promise.”

  Eager to get going then, they got their belongings out of the hotel rooms and loaded them on the packhorse, then headed to Wheeler’s store to buy supplies needed for the trip home. When they showed up at the door, Ralph opened up for them, still a little wary in case Perley had a change of he
art and decided to defy the council’s request. “Mornin’, Mayor,” Perley offered when he walked in. “We’ve got a few supplies we’re gonna need for the trip home.”

  Wheeler was relieved by his friendly tone, but surprised when Perley said “we,” for he hadn’t thought of the possibility that Possum was leaving as well. As much as he hated mentioning the subject again, he felt he should make it clear to Possum. “You know, Possum, you are certainly welcome to stay here in Bison Gap. It’s not quite the same as with Perley.”

  Possum puffed up, and Perley knew he was getting ready to let the mayor know what he could do with his welcome. So he quickly cut him off. “Possum knows that, Mr. Mayor, but he’s got responsibilities back home.” He then started reading off a list of things they would need for their trip.

  When they had finished, Wheeler totaled the bill, and when Perley started to pay, Wheeler said, “I’m takin’ two dollars off of that total, and we’ll just settle for twelve dollars even.”

  “I swear, if you ain’t all heart,” Possum couldn’t help commenting.

  “’Preciate it, Mayor,” Perley said. “Every little bit helps. Let’s get this stuff loaded on the packhorse, Possum.”

  “I’ll help,” Wheeler volunteered and picked up a sack of flour. Perley and Possum each picked up an armful and followed him out the door.

  Perley stepped off the boardwalk right behind Wheeler when the bullet struck the bag of flour Wheeler was carrying. Not waiting to hear the sound of the rifle, Perley dropped his packages and dived into Wheeler’s legs, driving him to the ground. No sooner did they land when another shot ripped up a spray of dirt under the packhorse’s belly. “Get on the other side of the walk!” Perley yelled. “Crawl!” He urged Wheeler. “Possum! You all right?”

  “Get by the corner of the store!” Possum yelled as another shot zipped by close enough to the packhorse to make the sorrel buck and pull away.

  “Where they comin’ from?” Perley yelled.

  “Yonder way!” Possum answered and pointed to the north, so Perley jumped up and grabbed the reins for Buck and for Possum’s gray, then led them around to the side of the store while Possum bellowed at him to get down. The sorrel packhorse naturally followed the other two.