The glare from Lefty’s good eye didn’t intimidate Matt, but he still felt compelled to add, “That’s a damned sight more than you’ll make sitting around here drinking it away. If you don’t want the money, I’ll find some men who can. But I need to know right now because we ride right now.”
Lefty picked up the leather strap covering his eye and showed him the empty socket beneath it. “Know how I got that, mister?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Got thrown out of the Lilly one night by Trammel, but I wasn’t done with my drink yet. That big galoot hit me so hard, it cost me my eye. So we’ll take your lousy five hundred dollars, and gladly. But I personally would’ve done it for free.”
Lefty stood first, then the four others got to their feet. The man was more than a head taller than Matt and his cousin. He had heard of how big Buck Trammel was, but hadn’t appreciated just how big until he saw what he had done to a man of Lefty Hanover’s size.
Hanover said, “Skinner, you settle up with the barkeep, and let’s be on our way. We got ourselves a couple of killers to catch.” He slapped Hooch on the back and laughed. “Looks like we’re in the law business now, boys!”
The four men laughed with Lefty laughing loudest; a high-pitched cackle Matt hadn’t expected from such a stern-looking man.
As they walked out of the Winter Star, Matt said to his cousin, “I hope you’re right about these boys, Walt.”
“I might not be much good at ranching, Matt, but I’m plenty good at this.”
“Drinking and whoring doesn’t require talent, boy. Just money.”
“Tell that to Tyler and Will.”
Matt couldn’t argue with his cousin on that score.
CHAPTER 9
Trammel woke with a start.
He had been bone tired and realized the sun was already high in the sky by the time he awakened. They had picked up even more ground than they had the first day out of Wichita, and the journey had taken a lot more out of the big man than he had expected. He had no idea how close they were to Dodge City, but he imagined they must be close.
It took him a moment to recognize what had woken him. It was the smell of coffee. And bacon. And biscuits. But he hadn’t brought along the fixings for biscuits, so he wondered if they had found themselves closer to a farmhouse or even Dodge City than he had expected.
When he lifted his head, he saw Adam Hagen over the cook fire. A pot of coffee sat on the stone next to it and a pan of biscuits and bacon over the fire.
“Morning,” Hagen said. “You seemed awfully tired come sunup, so I decided to let you sleep. Hope you don’t mind.”
It took Trammel a moment to recognize Hagen. He remembered the gambler had changed out of his fancier clothes the previous day and had taken the gear from Baxter, the man he had knifed to death when they tried to ambush them. He no longer looked like a cardsharp but like any other man on the trail. His brown duster and floppy brown hat were more convincing than the bowler he had sported at The Gilded Lilly. He had also liberated the dead men of their money and weapons, which Trammel remembered had amounted to ten dollars, two Walker Colts, and two Winchesters with comparable ammunition.
He remembered arguing with Hagen about burying the bodies to keep them from being discovered, but with no shovels or stones about, they had no choice but to leave them to the elements.
His stomach made him forget about the dead men they had left behind. “Where the hell’d you get biscuits?”
“Same place I got that burro over there.” He gestured to where they had hobbled their horses and saw a mule loaded down with sacks. “I rode into town while you were sleeping.”
Trammel was fully awake now. “You rode into Dodge City?”
“It’s not that far to town,” Hagen said. “I told you we were close.”
“But you rode in alone?”
“I’ve been traveling alone most of my life, Trammel,” Hagen said. “Besides, it’s a hell of a lot easier for a man like me to go into town than you. In case you haven’t noticed yet, you don’t exactly blend in, even in Dodge City. Speaking of which, I took the liberty of buying you some shaving cream and a straight razor.” He ran his hands over his face. “I availed myself of a bath and a shave while I was in town, but the stream down the hill will do you just as good. Maybe even better.” He frowned at the biscuits. “The girl I selected to help me was homely to say the least. But, at such an early hour, one can’t be too choosy when seeking companionship.”
Trammel felt his face for the first time in days. He had always had a heavy beard, but rarely let it grow this long. He hadn’t seen his reflection since they had left Wichita, but imagined he was quite a sight. “Guess I could stand a little cleaning up. But why’d you go ahead and get all of those provisions for? I thought we’d part ways in Dodge City.”
“You’re certainly free to do that if you choose.” Hagen held out the pan to him. “Here, take a biscuit. But mind that it’s hot.”
He plucked a biscuit from the pan and it was, indeed, hot. He dropped it on his blanket, where he decided to let it set while it cooled. Hagen surprised him by handing him a cup of coffee. “That’s hot, too, but at least it has a handle.”
Trammel grew suspicious. “Why the fancy treatment all of a sudden?”
“Think of it as my way of thanking you for getting me out of town and saving my life. Now, I’d like the opportunity to save yours, if you’ll be kind enough to let me do it.”
“From who? The Bowman family? They’ll head straight on to Newton if they don’t think we headed south. You said so yourself. They’ll be played out after that. I don’t think they’ll track us all the way to Dodge.”
“Matt Bowman will track us to the end of the earth as long as his money holds out.” Hagen blew on the biscuit before he took one from the pan himself. “I’ve played a lot of poker with a lot of people who know him well. He’s got a reputation for stubbornness, and he won’t let the death of his nephews go unanswered. He’s a proud and ruthless man when the occasion calls for it, and I’d say the death of his kin calls for it.”
Hagen poured himself a cup of coffee. “Besides, he lives to impress his father, and Old Man Bowman will be mighty disappointed in his oldest son if he just lets this go.”
Trammel didn’t know anything about the Bowman clan except for the two he’d killed. He remembered Earp seemed to hold them in some regard, so he believed Hagen might know what he was talking about. “Think he’ll come alone?”
Hagen shook his head. “My money’s on him bringing his cousin Walt along. That’ll be a mark in our favor. Walt Bowman is an idiot. Maybe a few others, too.”
Hagen would get no argument from Trammel on that score. He’d heard of Matt, but had never met the man. He’d had a few run-ins with Walt after the boy had too much whiskey for his own good. He was the kind of drunk who thought he was more of a handful than he really was. Trammel had expected Walt to come back at him after he’d thrown him out of The Gilded Lilly, but the young man never had. He didn’t know if it was because he’d found another place to drink or had found his senses floating in all that whiskey. He wished his cousins had been that smart two nights ago.
“How many do you think Matt will bring with him?”
Hagen leaned back against his saddle as he thought it over. “Between ten and twenty. Probably ten. The old man needs men to tend to the herds, so he won’t spare more than that. Matt and Walt will probably hire the rest. You got many enemies in Wichita, Mr. Trammel?”
The big man sipped his coffee. “Plenty.”
“Then he’ll have no trouble finding a few men to follow him, especially if he pays for it, and I imagine he’ll pay handsomely.” He looked over at Trammel. “Still want to split up? Head out on your own?”
Trammel suddenly wasn’t so sure, but he was still absorbing what Hagen had said. “I’m considering my options.”
“Let me help you with that,” Hagen said. “Dodge City is closest, so let’s say you go there. It’s a rough town, and a m
an like you probably won’t have trouble finding a job as a bouncer or a lookout man in a saloon or house of ill repute. But it’ll make you noticeable, and that’ll get you killed when Bowman and his men eventually find out where you are. They’re likely to have plenty of help once they get there, and as big as you are, you’re not big enough to take on ten or more armed men alone.”
“So I guess this really is where we part ways,” Trammel said. “Me being a burden to you and all.”
“Nonsense!” Hagen exclaimed. “For I have every intention of inviting you to accompany me to my family home in Wyoming.”
Trammel almost spilled his coffee. “Wyoming! Hell, I can barely make the two-hundred-mile ride from Wichita to Dodge City and you want me to go all the way to Wyoming? Why the hell don’t we just ride clear on up to the Yukon while we’re at it?”
“It’s only one hundred and fifty miles from Wichita and, besides, Wyoming is much closer and far more hospitable, especially at my family’s place in Blackstone. An ominous name, don’t you think? It’s actually quite tranquil. Gets its name from an outcropping of black rock that bottlenecks the main road to town from Father’s ranch.”
“I don’t care if it’s called Eden,” Trammel said. “It’s still way up in Wyoming.”
“The journey will take us a month, perhaps less.” Hagen pointed his cup toward the burro. “I’ve made sure we have enough provisions. We have the horses of our assailants to use as fresh mounts when we need them and the will to proceed at a rapid pace. Since we’re not going to Dodge City, our trail will end for them there and they’ll think we most likely headed south. No one in Wichita knows I’m from Wyoming, so Bowman and his men will assume we headed back south to different climes. Maybe to Denver or New Orleans. If we keep moving and stay clear of people, we should be able to slip into Wyoming unnoticed. Once there, word of our arrival will take a year or more to reach them, if ever.”
It sounded like a reasonable plan to Trammel. Maybe too reasonable. “And your father will just greet you with open arms?”
Hagen sipped his coffee. “Hopefully.”
“Wyoming’s a hell of a long way to ride on the promise of ‘hopefully.’” Trammel may not have been a lawman for quite a while, but he still had the same instincts. Something about Hagen’s story didn’t fit. “He doesn’t like you, does he? If he did, you wouldn’t be in a place like Wichita, would you?”
“We haven’t always seen eye to eye, but my brothers were young when I left, so I doubt they bear the same resentment toward me as my father does. Though Father has had an awful long time to poison their minds against me. That would be unfortunate, wouldn’t it?”
“Unfortunate? Riding over a thousand miles to have a door slammed in my face isn’t unfortunate. It’s crazy!”
“It’s barely over seven hundred miles from here,” Hagen pointed out.
Trammel knew he had lived a city man’s life, but seven hundred miles was a pretty long distance for a man who had almost been killed by riding about one hundred and fifty miles.
Hagen continued. “And I doubt my brothers could hold on to a grudge as long as Father has. Charles Hagen is the only man I know who can raise holding a grudge to an art form.”
“Remind me to introduce you to some of my family sometime.” Trammel drank more coffee. “You’d be surprised.”
Hagen made no sign of hearing as he ate his biscuit. “Besides, you don’t have to come with me, you know. There’s something to be said for us splitting up right here and now, though I still wouldn’t recommend you go to Dodge City for all of the reasons I mentioned earlier. If you want to go your own way, I would suggest you ride to Denver. I’m sure you’ve picked up enough from me to manage the journey by yourself in relative comfort. I’ll even stake you to half of my provisions, free of charge, and you can head out after we finish breakfast.”
Trammel had never considered himself to be a smart man, but he’d never been anybody’s fool, either. He knew the trip to the outskirts of Dodge City would have been much worse if it hadn’t been for Hagen’s direction. And if they had gone straight on to Newton, they may have been tracked down and killed once they got there. Trammel may have gotten Hagen out of Wichita alive, but it was Hagen who had kept him alive.
A journey to Wyoming with Hagen would be much more than Trammel had bargained for, but it was better than taking his chances of being spotted in Dodge City, much less riding alone to Denver.
And both of them knew it.
Trammel looked over at his companion, who seemed to be grinning as he thoroughly enjoyed a biscuit. “You’re a real mean-spirited rattlesnake, you know that Hagen?”
“One of my finer qualities.” He held out the pan to him. “Here. Have some bacon.”
CHAPTER 10
Lefty Hanover ignored Matt Bowman as he led the men north to Newton.
But that didn’t prevent the rancher from talking anyway. “I don’t know why we’re headed north like this. The boy at the livery said Trammel and Hagen were headed south toward Texas.”
“Liverymen ain’t known for always being reliable,” Lefty said. “It’s all that time they spend in the stables, see? Makes ’em loco. Besides, these here tracks we’ve been following say otherwise. Chico says otherwise, too. Best tracker I ever seen, and I’ve seen a bunch.”
But Matt persisted. “I had two men tracking them as they left town, but I don’t know where they went. I think we should split up and at least take a look.”
“Chico took a look at the tracks from The Gilded Lilly. They headed north, not south. Neither Trammel nor the gambler’s got any call to head south along the cattle trail because neither of them are cowpunchers. They’d stick out in that crowd. Too many stragglers could see us comin’ and tell us where they went. They headed north, and so are we.”
But Lefty’s logic failed to reach Bowman, and the old cowhand tuned him out. He and his bunch had dealt with men like Matt Bowman their entire lives; men accustomed to giving orders and not taking them. Men who thought the purse strings they held were like reins to the men they paid.
Men like Bowman just couldn’t understand that they only held power for as long as the men who worked for them gave it to them. Lefty and the others hadn’t ridden back down to Texas with the rest of the boys because they didn’t want to, not because they didn’t have a place with any of the cattle companies. They were top hands, every one of them, and better than the three Bowman had brought with him from the BF. Tending horses and cattle in a field was one thing. Driving them hundreds of miles to market took a special sort. The sort of man that Bowman thought he was, but wasn’t.
And even though he hadn’t been paying attention to what Bowman was saying, the noise was beginning to bother him. He could tell it was beginning to bother Skinner and the others, too, so he decided to put an end to it.
“If you want to head south, Mr. Bowman, feel free to do so, but me and mine’ll continue north the way the tracks lead us. Chico’s got a good bead on them, and I’m given to trusting his instinct. But before you go, you’ll pay us that money you claim to have.”
“Like hell I will,” Bowman said. “If we split up, you’ll get paid when you bring back Trammel and Hagen to the BF. Dead or alive makes no difference to us, so long as we can see they’re dead with our own eyes.”
Lefty looked behind him at his men. They were riding in one group, while the three BF hands brought up the rear. Walt the cousin was in between the two groups.
His men looked at him, silently telling him they’d back his play no matter what. The only one missing was Chico, who’d ridden ahead of the group a few miles to scout for them. He knew Chico wasn’t the independent sort. He’d support Lefty whatever he decided to do.
“If we split,” Lefty said, “we’ll need money for expenses. For outfitting, see? We’re out here on your dime and your say-so. You’ve told us you’ve got the money, but we ain’t seen a cent of it yet. Layin’ eyes on it could go a long way to settling our nerves.”
> “Settlin’ nerves,” Parrot said. “Long way.”
Matt Bowman brought his horse alongside Lefty’s. “Are you calling me a liar, sir?”
Lefty wouldn’t look at the man and kept his pace. “Just said we ain’t seen the money you claim to have is all. Layin’ eyes on it would go a long way to puttin’ my men at ease, not to mention makin’ your talkin’ that much easier to tolerate on as long a trail as this one’s turning out to be.”
“I’ve got the money, by God,” Bowman said. “Right here with me. No man has ever questioned my word before and I’ll be damned if I’ll allow the likes of a saddle tramp like you to question it now.”
Lefty had heard just about as much as he could stand of the rancher. “Then be damned.”
He drew his Colt from his belly holster and fired into Matt Bowman’s chest at point-blank range.
The rancher tumbled backward off his horse, his shirt aflame, and landed on the ground.
The three Bowman ranch hands at the rear of the pack bolted back down the trail, leaving the packhorses behind. Hooch, Skinner, and Parrot took off after the fleeing men without Lefty having to say a word.
Only Walt Bowman remained; man and horse frozen where they stood on the trail.
Walt said, “You shot him.”
“He deserved it.” Lefty turned his mount and aimed the Colt at Walt. “And so will you if you lied to us about that money, boy.”
“He’s got it on him,” Walt said. “In his saddlebags. Saw my grandpa give it to him the night before we hired you boys.”
“Unbuckle your gun belt and drop it over the left side.” Lefty aimed the pistol at his head. “Do it real slow.”
Walt never took his eyes off his cousin’s body as he obeyed Lefty’s commands, then held his hands up high. “I don’t want no trouble, Lefty.”
North of Laramie Page 6
