Cas City Forum Hall & CAS-L
GENERAL TOPICS => Saddlebag Tales => Topic started by: kennith on June 06, 2008, 03:57:43 AM
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I thought I might try my hand at some interactive fiction as long as I am here. I like writing, and it will be interesting to see where you take this story, should you decide to play along. Write what you will, and see where my beginning comes to end.
The rain was cold, and sharp. Mist and drops fell hastily from the brim of his hat. It had been a long night, and the mud was deepening, the air cooling, and no end was yet in sight.
He had been on the trail for longer than he could remember. "On the trail", they say. The phrase meant nothing to him, and trail was as foreign a word as his feet had stumbled across in years. Once, there had been towns, people. Women. There had been life before the chase, but it all seemed pointless to him now. As the sloppy gravel and mud crunched beneath his boots, he could smell the energy in the air as the brunt of a storm filled the night sky across the valley. He liked it this way, despite the aches that came with rain these days. The water came in torrents, as it was apt to do in this country, came and washed down the hills, scrubbing the land of it's dusty heat. The heavy sky swelled with cloud, and it's depths were dimly illuminated by lightning.
He was a fellow who, without hope, had turned again to the old ways, shunned the world of man for what it had done to him. Greed was a terrible thing in those days, and there was plenty of it, and as he now understood, pennance was eternal.
Another night of quiet, then, until he reached his destination. A small mining town, or at least it had been there in the past. He detested the thought, but they had pushed him, lately, hadn't they? Years of solitude were interrupted by the call of a wanted man found still alive. What he needed now was a horse.
What he wanted, however, was a gun. It would give him something to spend the money on anyway. It'd be a shame to die without having spent any of it. He laughed.
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A young soldier (deserter was the word, wan't it) hunkered down in the remains of a forgotten livery in hopes of riding out this harsh storm without detection. His first thought was to check his leg. The kerchief tied tightly around his left thigh was deeply stained a ruddy brown color--it was blood, but at least now it was dry. His next inclination was to check the loads in his pistol, praying that the powder had stayed dry. He knew they'd be looking for him.
As if some unknown force had just read his thoughts, he heard the sound of footfalls outside in the road. Who on earth would be out there tonight on foot?. Of course it could be another drifter, but these days even a one percent chance of having the owner of those boots belonging to someone looking for him was enough to put him on his highest gaurd.
The sound of muddy steps approached the old stable and the young man braced himself, pistol in hand. He was always good with the guns, but each time he had proved his proficiency with them since leaving the war, he was brought one step closer to hanging.
The sound of the approacing man came to the opening where the unhinged doors now stood propped against one another. His heart beat fast as a severly trail ragged figgure stepped through the small gap between them...
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"Got a smoke?"
The words rang hollow in the stale air, and silence filled the aftermath as mist curled around the figure who now cast his shadow across the mouldy hay.
"Here, boy, you can shoot me if you like, but you've brought me no suprise." The traveler spit the words out quickly and plainly. "I've no design on your death, nor your life. Shall we not, then, share a bit of tobacco? Perhaps afterword, when you have decided a bit more of me, you may kill me then."
Again, the world itself seemed to hesitate. The humidity in the room was stifling, and it drew sweat upon the travelers face as the silence filled his ears.
Carefully, as if exploring the option for the first time, the young man stepped away from his place amongst the shadows, a single barrel staring squarely at the traveler. There was a mate to the gun, tucked neatly in it's holster, and his free hand was braced on a rotten bale of hay. He was a shaken, injured man, but his hand was steady, and his eye sharp. He stood for a minute there, bleeding, thinking. At once he reached a decision. The traveler was unarmed, and to all effect looked like no man of action to him. He holstered his weapon and slowly, achingly slowly, fell forward into the night.
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The soldier, Leonard was the name his mother had given him, had squinted at the apparition in the shambled doorway. His mind had begun it's calculations but it took more effort than usual. The stranger (no more a stranger than he, he supposed) had only a knife on his belt. He was not one of the men from the last town, and, thank God, he wore not a uniform of any color. These cloudy thoughts, brought an unexpected feeling to the young man--relief. Sweet relief for the first time in memory. The man had asked for tobacco and no more. Leonard had some, wet as it may be, and his last thought before losing his faculties was that a smoke sounded like a wonderful idea.
First there was nothing but blackness. Then he began to dream--the stranger in the stable all but forgotten to him. He dreamt of the last battlefield on which he had been engaged, the sound of the cannon, the close whistling of lead balls flying past his ears, but mostly the screaming. comrads or enemies, it didn't matter, it was the sound of hell. And then the mounted officer in grey who had ridden down upon him and the others, the bright flash leaping from the muzzel of his pistol as he did so with saber held high in his other gloved hand. Then there was the pain, an explosion of it and the recounting of this moment in his subconcious shocked Leonard out of his feverd and exhausted state.
His eyes fluttered open slowly. Where was he? This was not the blood drenched earth of that swampy place. No, he was in the old livery. There had been what might have amounted to a threat in the man who now sat watching him from his makeshift bed of rotten hay, but despite his golden opportunity to do what he would while the boy lay defenseless, he did nothing. Nothing but keep watch. He had requested tobacco but apparently had not even helped himself to that. A glimmer of trust sparked in Leonards tired mind--was that possible, it'd been so long. "A smoke" he exhaled the word more than spoke it, "Sounds like a helluva idea"...
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The rock outcropping provided a natural shelter from the storm for both the Marshal and his horse. His quarry lay somewhere ahead, but he didn't worry about losing ground. The torrential rain had turned the very ground underfoot into a boot sucking mud that impeded all progress.
He had untacked his horse and rubbed him down good, picketing him so he could eat some grass. The big bay gelding had been his steady mount for several years and had saved his life on at least two occassions by alerting him to a waiting ambush. He wouldn't risk lighting a fire, even a small one, since there was no way to know who might see it. He settled his grumbling stomach with a cold hard biscuit and some jerky, washing it down with a few swallows from his canteen.
He untied his bedroll and settled down to get some rest. In the morning he would head for the mining town marked on his map, even if he couldn't get any new information on the men he sought, he might be able to get a bath and some hot food.
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Leonard rolled over onto his back and accepted the outstreached hand of the newcomer. Sitting upright, he carefully pulled a paper from his tobacco pouch and began rolling the first cigarette. It had to be just right--it was always that way for him. When he had finished, he made it dance between his knuckles back and forth before handing it over.
"That's a neat trick" the man said with a raised eyebrow.
"An old habit, ya know what they say about those. Ya coulda ended me right here" Leonard said. "I'm sure ya didn't think I was playin possum". He began rolling his own smoke with fixed concentration. "Coulda made handy work a me with that knife and got my pistols, my tobacco an whatever else I got jinglin' in my pockets." He looked up at nothing in particular, and then, "I had a feelin' someone was comin', just didn't 'spect em ta be friendly".
"You talk in your sleep, you know" Was all his new companion had for a reply.
Lenard looked at him startled. His friend Lex had said the same thing in the camp they had made the night after a large battle had been fought. His unit had been ordered to assist with dragging the wounded off the field that evening and he had slept uneasy that night.
He didn't like sharing his thoughts much in his waking hours, but to know he was babbling on while he was in no control of his speach made him uneasy. "Don't concern youself with that" he said. "I won't ask you your business, all I know is that there's a friendly place for me just up ahead. Friends back home told me I could get some doctorin' with no questions." Leonard watched the ember glow at the end of his cigarette. "Lest of course your in the mood to talk--looks like we got some time ta kill"
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The sky slowly grew to a dull gray as dawn approached. The remnants of the previous night's storm clouds still skudded across the sky. Joints cracked, and tendons popped as Cyrus Evans pushed off the blanket and stretched. He looked at his horse and muttered, "I'm getting to old for this kind of work."
The Bay just pricked his ears forward and then went back to grazing. Cyrus sat and watched as the sun slowly crested a rise and brought bright splashes of color to the landscape. This had always been his favourite part of the day, it always felt to him like God's hand was rendering beauty to a new canvass just for his enjoyment.
He pulled a long glass from his pack and surveyed the surrounding area. Satisfied that there were no signs of movement or indications of others camped nearby he decided to risk a small sheltered fire to heat some coffee and warm some food for breakfast. He fixed beans and bacon and warmed a couple of biscuits, that and the coffee warmed his insides. He lit a smoke, put out the fire and began to break camp. Within half an hour he was back on the trail.
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The traveler reclined into the hay, appearing to give careful consideration to the words he had heard. Eventually, he sat forward and spoke again.
"We may have time, and we may have time to kill. You mentioned your doctor."
Leonard gave a cautious nod.
"Though he may not have many questions of his own, others will." Spoke the traveler again. "What he himself might have... Are answers."
He seemed pleased with his reply, and reclined again, taking a long, slow drag of his tobacco.
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Leonard laughed. The sound jumped out of his throat and was completely unexpected. In a way it shocked him, to hear that again.
"Oh, there'll be answers there" and Leonard couldn't help the dry twist of a smile on his face.
The stranger looked at him oddly.
"One thing ta git straight is that I said 'doctorin' but not ever did I mention 'doctor'". At this he was asked to explain just what he was saying by the man he shared these humble accomodations with.
"Ya see...where I've been directed is as far from a doc's office as ya could imagine, though the nursing staff is never in short supply. It's above a saloon." Leonard's smile remained on his lips. The stranger looked as if he were to question but then deferred to the hand that said "let me continue" that was raised by this young veteran of God knew what battlefields.
"See, story is they got a few southern girls who learned a thing or two about patchin up the wounded back near their homes when the fightin' got really bad. They didn't care what side you was on, they just used all the sewin skills they knew ta do their best. Them plantation girls is said ta have saved more men then Hooker's Army." Leonard paused and caught the last drag before it could burn his fingers.
"Lot of them gals moved on west when all went ta riot an ruin. Up ahead is that saloon I mentioned, an if I can walk like nuthin worse happened ta me than fallin off a horse, I'll blend right in. Just another lonely tramp lookin fer sone comp'ny." Another pause as Leonard threw the last of his smoke to the ground. "A lot of folks come out this way ta find sumthin, others come ta leave things behind." He stood then and addressed the stranger gravely. "My name is Leonard James Tanner, but I suppose you can call me Leo. Cross me and you'll see hell, but I don't get the feeling you will..."
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The trail was still used on occassion so Cyrus made good time. The scenery was pretty much the same as any other trail. As he got closer to his destination he noticed an old weed choked side path, and in the distance was the remains of an old livery. Once it had probably been a Stage or freight wagon depot, before the days when the mine ran dry. Nowadays the only folks that came this way were the ones running away from something or the ones looking for them.
He topped a final rise and his destination came into view, it looked much the worse for wear since the last time he had visited. At least two of the old abandoned store fronts had collapsed. The saloon, Sheriff's office, a small general store, still stood and showed signs of life as did a few other random buildings that served as shelter for those who still sought an unfound rich vein of ore as their ticket to a better life. The cemetary showed a few freshly dug graves and the wind lazily blew the rope hanging from a post that had once held a school bell in better days.
Well if luck was with him he could get a hot bath and a drink at the saloon, then he would see the Sheriff about the men he sought.
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Lenoard regarded his bunkmate and placed his right hand on the butt of the pistol that was strapped to the simmilar leg. "This one is mine. It's served me well since the beginning. It's my best friend." He then crossed his hand across his midsection and put it on the reversed butt of the gun that was attached to his left hip. "This one belonged to a man who is now dead. Said ta be bad luck ta carry such a thing". Leonard looked into the man's eyes to be sure he was paying attention. "Looks like yer luck is about as bad as can be right now, 'ceptin fer ya don't have any holes in ya s'far as I can see. I got business ta tend to, so I'll tell ya what" Leo began to unbuckle the gunbelt that was rigged to cross-draw.
"What?" the stranger asked, wondering what the hell was happening here.
"I'll make ya a deal" Leonard spoke, "I'll leave this cursed thing with you so mebbe you'll have a chance ta get where ever ya need ta go. In return, ya gotta promise that ya won't use it against anyone who don't deserve it. If ya do and I hear of it, I'll find ya and take it back". He threw the rig at the feet of the stunned man and said, "A dead man's gun is better than no gun. Now I have ta start movin again. This hip aint gonna fix it's self and I aint seein fireflys in front of me anymore. Time for me ta move on".
The wounded ex-soldier limped out of the old stable and greeted the sun...
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Cyrus rode slowly into the old town. There was a small livery attached to the saloon, Cyrus rode up untacked his horse and rubbed him down good, then he paid the stablehand to put him in a stall and give him some feed. Cyrus draped his saddlebags across his shoulder and walked around front to the doors of the Saloon.
Cyrus felt quite a few eyes on him during that short walk, this rundown town wasn't fond of visitors, even less so if they wore a badge.
He stepped through the batwings and allowed his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim interior. He didn't show a hint of surprise when he noticed that the Sheriff was seated at one of the tables, and was already one fourth of the way through a bottle of whiskey. The look the Sheriff gave him wasn't any more cordial than the looks he got from the other occupants of the Saloon.
Cyrus walked over to the table and put his saddlebags in a chair, "Mind if I join you Lou?"
Louis Horton had once been a fine lawman, but that was back in the days when this had been a fine town. Once things had taken a downturn so had his investment in the town. Now he was like the others just trying to eek out an existence for his remaining days living on the paltry monies this town still managed to generate.
Lou looked up with bloodshot eyes and said, "Cyrus, you're going to sit down and bother me whether I agree or not, so you might as well pull up a chair and order something, so I can at least profit from your visit."
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Leonard set upon the trail that soon turned into a broad street. Walking was easier without the extra gun pressing against his left hip. He realized he didn't miss the brass bodied pistol one bit, but he did miss the confidant feeling of having a rifle slung over his shoulder. He tripped a few times but always manged to recover and look like nothing more than a man who had been given a swift kick.
The saloon was up ahead, and if the stories were true, this would be his salvation. He surveyed the horses hitched along the decreped boardwalk and recognized none of them. This was wonderful news. One of them looked to have traveld a far distance, but what of it? It wasn't swaybacked like the few others and most likely belonged to a rancher or speculator that had come in to this wasted town on business.
Leonard made his way to the doors of the establishment and paused a moment to offer a prayer. "Dear God, if what I've come all this way for isn't really here, strike me dead where I stand." He stood there for another moment and saw that nothing was going to happen. He walked in.
The first thing he noticed were two lawmen sitting together at a table in the back. One of them looked good and drunk, but the other seemed very aware of his suroundings. This was not good, but it was somewhat expected. He made his way to the barkeep and said, "wiskey fer starters, then a little comfort if there's any ta spare".
Langley,the barkeep nodded his head and threw a glance at his town sheriff wondering who the other one sitting with him was. Two new strangers in one day was a bit much.
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Cyrus watched the man walk in. He was doing a decent job of trying to hide a limp, anyone less observant would not have noticed. Since the man was trying to conceal the limp it was obviously not natural to him, it was possible a horse had thrown him, but more likely that a bullet was the cause of his problem.
Cyrus had known for years that Lou provided lodgings and doctoring, for a price, that was why Cyrus always looked here for men on the run who had seemed to drop out of sight. He opened his saddlebags and thumbed through the small stack of wanted posters he carried with him, none of them resembled the man who stood at the bar.
One of Lou's girls stepped up to the table with a tin plate of beef and beans, and a couple of warm tortillas, obviously Lou had given her some sort of signal to bring the food. As Cyrus watched her walk away the barkeep turned and said something to the girl and gestured toward the fellow standing at the bar. Cyrus watched her walk over and say something to the man and then she led him up the stairs. As he watched them go the man stumbled once, but quickly recovered. That stumble caused his coat to shift and for a moment his pistol came into view. Cyrus had suspected that the man was armed, now it was a certainty.
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As Leonard sat at the bar, a comely woman, who was making a good attempt at appearing much younger than she truly was approached him and spoke quietly in his ear. "I think we have a girl here that would suit ya well, sugar. Follow me an we'll see what we can't do for ya".
Leonard threw a quick glance over his shoulder at the law dogs and rose from his seat. He strolled fine to the staircase, just another man heading upstairs, but stumbled once on the third step. Something had moved just wrong and his brain swam for a second, but then he had sucked in a deep breath and continued upward.
The dark haired woman accompanied him to the top of the steps and said, "room number 7 sugar, but be polite and give a knock first. Don't wanna get her upset before y've properly introduced yourself."
The tired man headed down the hall and counted the numbers until he reached lucky 7...
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Looking reminiscently at her face in the mirror she wondered, how did I get here?
My life began in proper fashion. I was raised on a beautiful horse ranch in the glorious State of Georgia . Of course we all had to be taught our manors and fit with the nicest clothes. My mother, Savannah had intended for me to become a southern lady who was to have a life of relative ease with parties to attend and handsome young men to court, and eventually marry one of them if he found to be a good fit. Then the war came.
One at a time, my father and all three brothers said their goodbyes and left to do their duty. Thankfully, they instructed the folks that served them to watch over the two of us.
Then suddenly one day Ruby, the main housekeeper ran up to me and said, “ Chile , we got ta get you outta here. The Yankees is comin an you got ta get someplace safe. They’s burnin everytin down here, so I’s told.” She grabbed my hand an pulled me out of sight of the oncoming soldiers. There was no time to get to mother, and as we ran we could see the house burning. Crawling through bushes for a few miles, and running through trees the rest, we had made it to an outward bound freight train.
At first the conductor pointed at Ruby and said that she couldn’t go because she had no ticket (due to the fact that she was a black lady) I got so mad at that man cause I know there are no tickets on a freight, so my anger took the best of me and I lit a match and threw it on the feed car. As he stomped out the fire he looked at me and said “go on with ya’ll, I can’t stand the sight of ya anyhow” So we got on the cattle car and closed the door. The miserable ride had seemed to last forever, and that was just the trip to Chattanooga . Everything after that had become a blur. Once we got to Oklahoma and Ruby decided she would be better off in the North and that since I wanted to go West we reluctantly parted ways. I was completely on my own for the first time in my entire life.
And I finally ended up here, in this dried up old Arizona town. Living a life I had never expected but at least I was holding my own, on the second floor of the Grey Goose Saloon in a dying town. I’m hoping my mother doesn’t look down on me now. I’m surviving the only way I can until somethin’ better comes along.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door that awoke Lily from her daydream, thank God! Who is it? The strong yet shaky voice called out “They told me to come to meet you” so she carefully opened the door and looked upon the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes upon. He introduced himself as Leonard James Tanner and she followed suit and introduced herself as Lily Lockwood. He painfully leaned onto her delicate shoulder, it was then that she noticed he was badly wounded, so she carefully helped him to the bed and told him not to worry.
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Cyrus saw the fellow reach the top of the stairs. The girl said something to him and Cyrus heard footsteps go down the hall, then there waas a knock and the sound of a door opening and closing. He could worry about that later, it wasn't part of the business he had come here for.
Cyrus went through his stack and pulled out two posters and placed them in front of Lou. "Seen or heard anything about these two?" Both men were wanted for bank robbery, horse stealing, and pistol whipping a stable hand. Lou glanced quickly at the posters and said, "Nope, they aint around here." Cyrus noticed Lou's eyes quickly cut to Langley and then back to the table, an obvious queue to the barman to keep silent also. Cyrus simply replied, "It's a shame, there's a hundred dollar reward for anyone who aids in their capture." "You won't mind if I have a look around town will you Lou?"
Lou just grunted and returned to his bottle. As Cyrus walked out he noticed the barman eye him as if the offered reward had perhaps jogged his memory. As he stepped outside he noticed somone duck into a building about a block further down, Cyrus cautiously moved in that direction.
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The sight of the woman who answered the door was enough to make Leonard’s head swim again. She spoke to him with a soft southern lilt, telling him everything would be fine. He was hypnotized by her soft blonde hair and brilliant green eyes. He decided then and there that everything would be fine. He laid down on the cushy bed Lily had led him to and felt for a moment that he had died and somehow had managed to slip through the gates of Heaven.
He shook himself out of his reverie and remembered his business here. Leonard then removed his coat and unbuckled his gun belt. He set it on a table next to the bed and positioned it so his old friend would be within easy reach. How long had it been since he had taken it off? It seemed like forever. He then went to removing his trousers.
The woman regarded him as he did this and asked in that angelic voice, “were you with those other men? The ones that got up to all that trouble? The ones who took the money?”
Leonard gave her a puzzled look and replied, “Miss, the only ‘others’ I’ve been with recently were busy fightin’ a war and dyin’. They didn’t have time ta be getting inta mischief. Ran across one fella up the road but he didn’t even have a gun. As fer me, I got my own trouble, but money’s got nothing ta do with it.” With that he exposed his left hip and she saw the wound that had begun to ooze once more.
Her eyes widened and he asked, “can you get it out? Please say you can ‘cause I don’t think I can take it another day.” Leonard collapsed on the frilly bed.
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“I’ll have ta clean it up before I can say”, Lily spoke quietly, ”I’ll be right back” She then went on to gather all of the supplies she needed to begin cleaning the wounds.
As Lou watched Cyrus leave the saloon and wonder down the street he noticed Lily coming down the stairs rather quickly and head straight towards the backroom. “What er ya up to in such an all fired hurry darlin”, he asked. Lily replied, “Just getting some hot water for the gentleman Lou, you know how picky I am about havin dusty visitors up in my room.” After all she didn’t want to let on that Leonard was shot just yet, something was telling her to be protective of this one. All of the supplies she needed were hidden under her dress when she carried the pot of hot water back up to the room.
As she walked passed Lou he grabbed her wrist and told her to take better care of this man. After all, yesterday he sent one of the two men that Cyrus was looking for up to her for company and she kicked him out complaining that he was discourteous and foul. “We need the customers to come back and bring their friends, this is a business ya know and you are the star attraction I pay for. By the way, that lawman is askin questions and you best not know nothing, right Lily?” “Yea, I know my place Lou you don’t have to remind me”, and she scurried back upstairs.
She gave a light tap as she walked back through the door as to notify the man that it was just her. “It’ll hurt some but I’ll be as gentle as I can, your wounds are mighty bad and infected so it’s gonna take some time but I’ll do what I can so don’t you worry, I’ve been told I’m pretty good at fixin people up. Oh and by the way, I didn’t let on about your injury to anyone, you can trust me.”
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Leonard felt the pain as the beautiful girl began her work. He immediately blacked out as he had in the old stable. Then another one of those damn vivid dreams of the past came.
The last town.
He would never forget riding into that town. The poor animal beneath him had been ridden in a manor it was neither accustom to nor deserved. But the man had been riding for his life. He figured that the horse could take a rest here and he might get some decent food even though his stomach was cramped with apprehension.
Just beyond the outskirts of town was a watering trough and it seemed a good place to hitch up. From here he could dismount and survey the town without making a grand entrance. He checked to be sure his weapons weren’t too obvious beneath his coat and started walking.
His walking is what had started it, because as of recent times Leonard didn’t walk without a pronounced limp. He chose to stay on the road rather than the boardwalk so that he wouldn’t have to brush too closely past any folk he might encounter. Two men were sitting lazily on the side rail up ahead. They didn’t show any signs of being lawmen so he proceeded. He gave them an unconscious salute as he passed them, and then heard,
“Hey gimp” Leonard realized what an easy target he must appear to be. The men knew where he had left the horse and he was obviously unstable on his feet. He stopped walking but kept his back to them. And he just stood there waiting. "Why do people have to do this" he thought. He had seen enough in the time leading up to now.
“Are ya deaf too gimp? Or is ya just touched? Why don’t me an Willy here just come an see what all you’s bringin ta town.”
He heard them jump down into the street and the sound of their boots crunching in the dirt toward him. He had managed to get along with the Indians he had met along the way, and had dealt handily with the Mexicans that had tried to take him, but these two men were going to haunt him the rest of his life. They were too cocky to not be important in some kind of small town way. Never the less, Leonard James Tanner did not take a liking to being called “gimp” and knowing that he was most likely about to be robbed.
He stood there, still with his back to them in a gesture of defiance. “Ya wanna let this go and me as well” he said in a commanding tone. They laughed, and the tired soldier heard the distinct sound of a Colt revolver’s hammer being drawn back.
He spun suddenly and neither of the men’s eyes even had time to widen before the lead hit them. The name caller was dead on the spot and the one called Willy was crawling out of the street on one arm, clutching his shoulder with the other. He was an easy target, but Leonard was no murderer. "Guess I aint getting that meal" he thought and made quick time back to the worn, overused horse.
Leonard jumped as a suture was pulled snug and realized where he was. He was glad to be here.
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Cyrus caught the movement of a curtain out of the corner of his eye. Some one in that room oer the Saloon was interested in what he was doing. He doubted that it was either of the men he was looking for, lou would have acted worried if he had been hiding them in the Saloon itself. It was probably the stranger he had seen at the bar earlier, he would have to see what he could find out about this man before he left town.
He continued to move cautiously down the old wooden walkway, avoiding spots where the boards looked weak. He came to the alley between two of the boarded up buildings where he had briefly seen someones shadow disappear. He slowly eased down the alley at a crouch, easing the loop of the hammer of his pistol just in case. The alley ran for about 50 feet and was blocked by a fence across the back half, it was clogged with old wooden packing cases and assorted junk. Almost at the back of the alley Cyrus found Arthur Trent, once the owner of the town's Tonsorial Palace, nowadays his references ran more to town drunk.
"What are you running from Artie, you know I'm not after you?"
"I don't want any trouble Marshal."
"I don't want any trouble either Artie, I'm just doing my job." Cyrus pulled out the two posters and handed them to Arty, "Seen either of these fellows?"
Arty took the posters with trembling hands and said, "No!" without really looking at them. "I told you I don't want any trouble."
Cyrus pulled a bottle of liquor out of his other saddlebag and offered it to Arty. "You can keep it if you have any information."
Artie licked his dry lips and and looked longingly at the bottle in Cyrus' hand. He glanced down the alley, and then looked at the two posters in his hands. In a croacking voice he said, "They visited Lou's place two days ago, and they are staying somewhere nearby. They bought a couple of bottles of whiskey and said they would be back for more. One of em caused a ruckus with one a Lou's girls." As he finished he dropped the posters and snatched the bottle out Cyrus' hand.
He took a long pull on the bottle and slid a little deeper into the shadow of the alley. Cyrus picked up the posters and placed them back in his saddlebag. He had the information he needed now, he just had to figure out how capture the two men he sought. It was unlikely that anyone in town would assist him in bringing these two to justice, in fact most would warn the men he hunted and might even help them to take him down. He would have to find a way to surprise the two, and disarm them if he hoped to bring them back alive, and if he couldn't surprise might be the only way he would survive the confrontation.
Cyrus visited the remaining businesses in the town, and a few of the shacks that were inhabited by those still working the mine. No one provided ay information or professed to having seen either of the men, or any strangers around town recently. As he went back to the Saloon a plan began to form in his mind. If Artie had been right then these men would be paying a visit to Lou within a day or two, he would have to be waiting when they returned. He stopped at what still passed for a General store and bought some supplies. Then went back to the Saloon and saw Lou again. "Well Lou no one in town has seen these fellows so I guess I'll head out and try to pick up their trail, I'll stop back through in a week if I don't find them to see if anyone has any new information." Lou didn't even respond, he just gave Cyrus a look that said he would be glad to see him gone.
Cyrus exited the Saloon and went around back he got his horse, tacked him up and slowly rode out of town so curious eyes would note his departure. The plan was fairly simple, he would make his way back to the run down barn he had seen outside of town. He would make sure there was enough grass and water and then would hide his horse inside. Under cover of darkness he would sneak back into town and take up station in one of the deserted buildings across from the Saloon. If needed he could return to feed and water his horse again, but if things went right it wouldn't be more than a day before his quarry returned.
-
After cleaning him up, Lily knew not to ask too many questions of the injured man in her bed. She figured he would tell what he wanted in what he felt would be the right time. However a bit of information was needed about his deepest wounds so she could give the correct treatment. Lily treaded very lightly.
Leonard informed her that the bullet that lay in his hip had been there about seven months since late September when he had began his journey west. The skin had already healed over while the infection was full blown deep down inside. “Sugar, you’re gonna just have to trust me, now you just go on and take a big swig while I get started, and just you relax and let Lil take good care of you.” So he did just that and handed the bottle back so she could sterilize the tools and the skin before cutting into his hip. Leonard promptly passed out.
Lily had seen quite a number of injured men at this point but none of the surgeries she had performed were comparable to this. First she tended to his lesser wounds like a burn with a hole in the middle of it in the palm of his hand, among many other similar injuries. Then to the hard job, the one that looked as if it was well on the way to killing him or at least, crippling him.
As soon as she cut him open, the stench of the infection about knocked her over, she cut and drained the wound searching for the path of the bullet until she reached all the way to the hip bone. She tried to pry it out but it was just too deep. Like in a stubborn, hard, old oak tree the lead had embedded itself, it wasn’t going anywhere, no matter what, she worked harder to get it out than anything she had ever put her mind to. It made her feel terrible not being able to give Leonard good news when he woke up.
Lily pulled the stitches tightly which woke her patient in extreme pain. Softly, with that beautiful Georgian drawl, she said to Leonard “ It’s alright darling, if you need to yell, I’ll hand you my pillow to muffle the sound so as no one will hear you.” He took one look at his angel and remembered where he was and realized that the hard part was over. “you’ll just have to lie still for quite a while but rest assured I’ll make sure you are comfortable and very well taken care of. until you are well enough to do for yourself. I figure it will be least five days or up to a week, we’ll just have to see how quickly you heal.”
At that moment Leonard might have been in pain but it didn’t matter, after all he hadn’t felt a decent bed, enjoyed a hot meal or spoken to a pretty lady since before the war began so this time he would enjoy no matter what. As long as he remained a secret stranger to anyone else in town but Lily, he had to trust her, his life depended upon it. For the next few days Leonard and Lily spent every minute together getting to know each other in every way, intimately, as they were falling in love. They told each other stories of their lives and travels as well as details about themselves that they had never shared with anyone before.
Every time he would sleep she would be by his side, night or day. The only time she left the room was to visit the privy or gather food, water or supplies. She slept once she new everything would be safe for him but until that moment she would lay with him just looking at him. Everything she had dreamed about in a man she saw in him. He was tall with a strong muscular build, dark hair, with green sultry eyes. But this young man had had a rough time of it, you could tell that his body had aged quickly in the last few years. As she noticed every scar, bullet wound, and burn she wondered about each and every story of each and every wound and hoped she had many years to spend hearing all of these stories from him.
Eventually Lily told him about the man who tried to come into her room the night before Leonard had showed up and how disrespectful and mean he was, that he had tried to hurt her and she had to forcibly make him leave. Leonard quietly became very angry when he heard this and knew the man was still around. He didn’t let on to her what he was planning to do but he had to make sure the crude man got what he deserved for hurting his sweet southern angel. He kept his plan to himself and enjoyed the rest of the evening with his new love.
-
Cyrus had been waiting for 5 days and there had been no sign of the two men, perhaps Artie had lied to get the whiskey, or maybe the two had somehow gotten word he had been here and took off. He had moved his horse to another structure closer in on the second night so he could better care for him. He would give it two more days and then he would have to head out and try to pick up their trail.
At dusk on the sixth evening they rode up to the Saloon. Cyrus watched as they walked inside and he slowly crossed the street as the shadows lengthened, cocking his rifle as he moved. One of the outlaws had gathered Lou, Langley, two patrons, and one of Lou's girls over at a corner table. He had guns in both hands and he was watching them, the other was heading up the stairs. There was no way Cyrus could take the one with his guns on the group without alerting the man that had gone upstairs. Any thoughts of trying to rush the man were ended when he cocked the hammers of both the guns he was holding and asked Lou where he kept the cash. Cyrus trained his rifle on the man and prepared to fire, if luck was with him, the other man would think it was his partner's shot and it might draw him back downstairs, if not, God help anyone the other came into contact with.
-
Leonard had laid in that woman’s bed for what seemed like an eternity. In his waking hours they would talk, and he learned many things about her. She told him of a strange day in which she had inadvertently run into an older Confederate officer who was very kind to her. She found that he had known her family and held a deep regard for her mother. He had taken her to buy a new hat and shoes, and then to eat. Then he had given her every penny he had. He had done all of this in a fatherly fashion and clearly wanted nothing in return other than a sense that Lily would be alright. She asked him why, and he had only replied that the war was all around them and that it was his duty to see victory. Lunch with a pretty young gal would make him remember what he was fighting for.
She also told Leonard (she was addressing him as Leo now) about the man who had treated her poorly the night before he had arrived. This did not set well with him. It was time to get back on his feet and come back to reality. His Mama had always said that God suits every man with a purpose, and so far as he could tell he was good at making people die.
Lily had taken his pistol while he slept a day or two before and used it to shoot bottles in the alley out back. He had heard the gunfire and had jumped up reaching for his old friend and found it missing. His legs had worked fine. She was down there outside the window giggling as she found her aim. He wanted to be angry but just couldn’t, the sight of her killing old whiskey bottles made him smile ear to ear. And she had placed the gun back in it’s proper position when she was done.
Now, as he lay here the sounds of footsteps on the stairs brought him out of his drifting, recent memories. Well, it was a brothel after all. In the time Leonard had spent here there had been several men walking up those stairs, but something felt wrong this time. The foot falls Had a hesitant, rather than eagar sound.
Leonard grabbed his old friend and began checking the loads.
-
Time seemed to hang suspended in the air as Cyrus sighted down the barrel of the rifle.
Suddenly there was the sound of a door being kicked open upstairs and everything began to accelerate in rapid fire succession.
At the sound of the door breaking Lou started to stand up, crying out "Lily!" This move proved fatal as the gunman fired in that instance at Lou's sudden movement. In the next few heartbeats Cyrus fired as Langley moved and the outlaw fired his second pistol.
Lou dropped back into his chair with a large red stain spreading across his shirt. The gunman collapsed onto the table which broke under his weight as Langley staggered backwards, clutching his stomach, coming to rest against one of the timbers supporting the stairs.
Cyrus stepped quickly through the batwings drawing his pistol as he moved. Before he could cross to the table a pair of gunshots cracked from upstairs.
-
As Lily noticed Leo quickly reaching for his pistol and checking the loads while at the same time hearing someone coming up the stairs, she felt that something was a little off. Slowly stepping back away from the bed to check the window was the first thing that came to her mind. Suddenly, there was the loud abrupt sound of someone breaking the door down to her right and at the same moment she could hear Lou yelling “Lily look out!” Instantly she dropped to the ground, all she heard was two shots being fired from right over her head and a loud thud as the man at the door fell to the ground. It all seemed to be in slow motion.
When she realized what was happening, Leo was jumping up from on top of her where his instincts put him as her protector, and went running for the door and down the hallway.
She could hear more gunfire, yelling and banging sounds coming from downstairs before Leo was even out of the door. All she knew was that something very bad was happening everywhere around her and her first thoughts were to her new love, God wouldn’t play such a cruel joke on her and take this man from her life so soon!
-
Cyrus crossed the space to the table, Lou was dead and from the looks of his wound Langley wouldn't last out the night. One of the girls was holding a cloth pressed over the wound and blood trickled from Langley's mouth as he tried to talk to her.
Cyrus had heard the two shots from upstairs and now could hear the sound of boots in the hallway. He quickly told the bewildered men and the girls to get behind the bar for safety as he trained his pistol on the stairs, the one girl refused to leave Langley's side. Cyrus listened as the footfalls stoppped at the top of the landing as whoever was coming switched to a more cautious approach to come down the stairs.
Shouting and the sound of people running came from outside. Suddenly half a dozen armed men crowded through the batwing doors of the Saloon. Their apparent leader trained his gun on Cyrus and said, "Looks like this Tin Star has shot Lou and Langley, let's show im what we think of outside lawmen messing in our town."
Cyrus turned to face the new threat remaining calm while realizing that his days were numbered, he couldn't watch the stairs and these new threats at the same time.
-
For Leonard everything happened quickly, as it always did just like on the battlefield. He saw Lily jump up anxiously and go to the window. There was a shout from the lower floor and the door crashed in. He had fired and then rolled atop the lady while firing again. One of the shots had hit it’s mark.
“Why does it always have to be this way” he wondered. He got up and proceeded to the stairs quickly. A stitch in his hip popped as he made a long stride over the body of the intruder. It hurt like hell, but his instincts had taken over. The girl was safe, and he was going to insure things remained that way.
Leonard bolted down the hallway, then got a hold of himself at the top of the stairs.
“Time to move easy” he thought to himself. He walked slowly down the stairs as his eyes darted back and forth surveying the situation. Two men obviously ready to ride the handsome, and another who looked to be on his way. One of the dead men was the sheriff he had seen upon his entrance. Strange thing was that the federal man who had been with him that day was surrounded by several men bearing arms.
All eyes went to the foyer and looked upon the man with the drawn six gun. It was then that he remembered an old trick that came in handy when being outgunned.
Leonard spoke, “everybody’s gotta die some time, question is who’s it gonna be?” He exchanged a glance with the marshal, who in one look pervayed the message that he was in a fix and had no intention of doing anything other than getting this settled. The townsmen shuffled nervously, after all when a man thinks he may die, he reorganizes his thoughts.
A young fellow, who looked to be all of 16, showed no fear and kept his gun fixed on the marshal. He was looking forward to seeing his first hanging. His eyes moved back and forth between the lawman and the stranger.
Suddenly Leonard heard the double click of a shotgun being hammered back behind him. “End of the line” he thought. “Had ta come sooner er later”. Then he heard the voice. This time it was commanding and direct, but the sweet accent’s undertones were unmistakable. “Ya’all wanna join these other poor souls this evening, I think it can be arranged”. It was Lily, and she meant business.
Leonard smiled and waited for the outcome.
-
"This here Marshal killed Lou, and that stranger from the looks of it Miss Lily!", said one of the older men.
"Yea, it looks like he got Langley and he's in pretty bad shape too, I say we hang im.", replied the young man who looked ready to shoot.
Several others in the crowd drew strength from the young man and said, " Yea, hang im."
"The man face down on the collapsed table shot Lou and Langley, I shot him to prevent him from killing the others.", said Cyrus
"A likely story.", said the anxious boy, "You're just trying to cover your butt."
Hearing familiar voices the two townies stood up from behind the bar along with one of Lou's girls, Lily noticed them first, and then saw Clara, the other girl cradling Langley.
Lily looked at Clara and the others and started to speak.
-
"Everyone jus settle down right now so I can get hold of this and don't nobody move a muscle! Johnny, you need to put down that gun so as no one else gets hurt." Then Lily, still holding her shotgun steady at Cyrus and the crowd, with Leo right beside her, she looks down and to her left at the girl and Langley. "Clara, you need to take a deep breath and quickly tell us exactly what happened. And Joe, you run and get the doc right quick for Langly."
Clara did take that deep breath, just as Miss Lily had instructed, and began. "Lily it was som'in awful allright, that there dead man and his friend came to rob us. This one here," as she pointed to the man lying lifeless on the floor, "well he put his gun at us and made us go over to the table and wait while he told his friend to go get the money. But instead the other one went up the stairs to'rds your room and thats when we herd the rucus. When Lou yelled out for you, this man shot him and then Langley. That's when this here marshall busted through the door and took him down. He saved the rest of us, "looking back at he crowd she yelled, "Let him go!"
"Lily where's the other one?" Clara began to cry. Lily put down her gun, looked at Leo who was still holding his pistol and then back to Cyrus and said, "I believe the other one yer lookin fer is in my doorway upstairs."
-
At hearing Lily’s words, the townsmen lowered their weapons and began to mill out of the Grey Goose. The young one looked disappointed and had grudgingly followed suit. The only guns that remained drawn were those of Leonard and the tin star. They studied each other closely, Leonard checked for any signs of recognition in the law man’s eyes and saw none. This relaxed him considerably.
“I had to protect the girl” he said. “I don’t want any more trouble”. The pain in his hip was flaring again. He spoke, “the barkeep seems to be having some trouble with his gut, guess that makes it self-serve” and motioned to the bar. “Let’s put these away and have a drink.”
The marshal regarded him and felt no immediate danger from the man with the limp. He could tell from the gunner’s eyes there was something to hide (years of experience had made him proficient at this), but tonight was not the time to investigate. After all, the man and the prostitute had saved his life. “That’s an awful cold thing ta say”, Cyrus said as he holstered his pistol and looked over at Langley.
“Mister, I seen lots of men die. It’s always horrible an it’s always cold. He’s gut shot, you and me both know there’s nothing ta be done fer him. Fella upstairs got it in the head, so I’m sure his worries are over, at least in this life. I could use a drink, and I’m sure your nerves could use a little relaxing too.” Leonard tucked his pistol into the waist band of his long pants and walked behind the bar, grabbing a decent bottle of whiskey. He poured two shots while the lady called Clara wailed in the background and Lily looked over Langley’s wound. “Decent thing ta do would be ta just put him out of his misery, but I guess we’re all a little too civilized ta do it.” Leonard handed the marshal a shot glass then held his own up and said, “what kind of idiot shoots the bartender?”
-
Cyrus tossed down the whiskey and spoke, "That face down idiot over there. His name is Samuel Hopkins, his partner was Dave Hopkins. The two brothers started out as bullies when they were younger and found that life was easier when they forced other people to submit to their will."
"They have been in and out of jail a dozen times, mostly for fighting, intimidation and strong arm schemes. They graduated to bank robbery, horse stealing, and beating a man to death about two months ago. I have been trailing them since that time. They are suspects in two other robberies that occurred in towns they travelled through."
"I was looking for information on them and to see if they were hiding around here when I arrived almost a week ago. Artie the town drunk tipped me off that they were in the area and would most likely come back here. I promised $100 to anyone who could provide information that would help me apprehend them."
"You've done more than that,and both were wanted dead or alive, if you help me bring them back your share of the reward would be $500. I have the authority to temporarily deputize you to assist me in that task"
Cyrus looked the man over again, "I would be interested in knowing your name, and your story if you've a mind to share it. It's always good to know something about a man you consider riding with. First though you might might want to have Lily take a look at your hip, it looks like you are bleeding."
-
Leonard looked down at his leg. “It has a tendency ta do that lately” he said. He looked over to Lily as she did her best for Langley. It was obvious at this point that she was doing nothing more than comforting the man. He was mumbling something to her, but it was inaudible from the bar.
500 dollars. That would be enough to get Lily out of here and start a new life. After the time he had spent with her, he couldn’t bear the idea of another man putting his hands on her. Of course he’d have to leave her to retrieve the reward, but the idea was extremely tempting. Here he was sharing a drink with a law man who had no idea about Leonard’s past. He had spent so much time avoiding men like him, and now he was considering riding with one.
“I’m not much on tellin’ stories. Ain’t much on listenen’ to ‘em either”, he said in response to the marshal’s request. “You can call me Leo. I been ta the war, and now I’m here. I sure could use that money sir”
At this point, Lily was hugging Langley tightly, but his head was lolling to and fro as she rocked him. Leonard had seen it before. The man was lucky, being gut shot could leave you in agony for several hours. The town doctor came in and relieved the woman from her station by the stairs.
Leonard thought a moment, and asked his potential new partner, “Where we gotta go? Some places I just assume not visit. Old ghosts an all that”. He cracked a smile to portray the idea that his troubles had to do with nothing more than some ill planned romantic interlude with a spoken for woman. The man he was speaking to was no dummy, but hopefully he’d buy it and let it go.
-
“Quickly bring me a bottle for Langley, ” Lily called out to Clara who was now standing behind the bar. She tried to comfort her friend as he lay dying, she spoke as sweetly as possible “I’ve got you sugar an’ I aint leavin’ ya till the doc comes. Now, don’t you worry about a thing, he’ll have ya’ fixed up in no time.”
By the time Lily got the bottle to Langley he was glad to have a swig to wet his whistle. “Gettin’ gutshot tends to make a mans mouth rather dry,” Langley quietly spoke with a kind of smirky laugh, “Lil you gotta listen to me” he said, “Lou’s papers are in the root cellar in a burlap sack behind the taters, you be sure an git em yerself an don’t let on to anyone else before ya got em. Yer the boss now so be watchin’ yer back sister.” He winced in pain as he coughed up some blood then went on to say, “It’s been my pleasure in knowin’ ya, ya take good care of our girls now” and he passed out. That’s when the doc and his men finally showed up and carefully took Langley to his office.
Lily rushed over to the bar to Leo and asked, “how many stitches do ya think are left?” Leo replied with “ probably one or two if I’m lucky, I may have to aquire yer services once again if’n ya don’t mind.” As he poured a shot for her he went on to say, “I’m guessin’ ya need this bout as much as we do” and he handed the glass to her bloody but still delicate hand. She accepted gratefully and said, “you got that right, it’s been quite excitin’ round here today.”
“Darlin why don’t ya let me help you back upstairs before you lose any more blood?” Lily said with concern. Leo replied by telling her to go ahead and get cleaned up while he spoke to the marshal for just a bit. He assured her that he would keep an eye out on the bar until she returned. First Lily insisted on placing a thick, clean cloth on Leo’s ripped stitches and told him to hold it tightly to stop the bleeding until she could tend to him once again. Then she took him up on his offer to go upstairs to wash up and put on a clean dress, but not before she scooted on down to the cellar to get Lou’s papers to take up with her.
As quickly as she could, Lily changed and took the papers out of the sack that Langley had told her about and began to look them over. {Even though she was worried about Leos leg she knew he’d be alright for another few minutes, heck, he and Cyrus had the whole bar in front of them.}
“These sure look legal enough” she thought to herself, “good ol’ Lou, always planning ahead I guess it’s all up to me now, I’m finally gonna be done pleasin’ customers and start servin’ em instead!” Lily was up for the challenge, she hated having someone always telling her what to do. Now she was the boss, the owner. That’s when it all hit her, “I’ve got a lot to think about, but first I’d better get back downstairs.”
The men were just finishing up their talk at the bar when she walked down. Looking over at Sadie, another one of the girls that worked here, Lily asked if she would go and find the bar back Lenny to come and help clean up the blood. Then she was instructed to come on back for a meeting of all the employees that were left still living after such a brutal day. Lily then took up her position behind the bar, and wondered how long it would take to hire a new trustworthy bartender. Leo and Cyrus were very impressed by Lily and how she stayed so calm throughout this ordeal and Leo told her he would stay with her downstairs until everything was settled with the employees. He didn’t want his girl to be hassled by anyone even though he could see how tough this dainty little southern gal really was.
-
Cyrus and Leo continued to talk while Lily went upstairs. " Originally I had planned to take the two men to Fort Whipple." Something could be seen in Leo's face, it wasn't fear it would take a lot to scare this man, it was worry. Something about going to a Fort made Leo nervous. The rumors coming from back East seemed to indicate that the war was almost over, and Cyrus hadn't seen a wanted poster on a desserter or renegade in months. Cyrus figured he could pursue that another day.
"Since both men are dead the command at the Fort would just as soon not deal with it. The expense of burial and is something they would rather not deal with, and paperwork takes longer to process for reward at the Fort. The Commondant would prefer outlaws he can put on trial, and hang, looks better on his fitness reports. It would be closer to take the bodies to Prescott, it's the Capital, they have the authority to certify that these are the wanted men, and I would be able to get your reward, in cash, right away if we arrive early enough in the day since the local bank handles the reward accounts." Leo seemed too be much more at ease with this solution than with the previous suggestion.
"The first thing we need to do is to get you sewed back up and determine how soon you wil be ready to ride."
At this point Lily came downstairs, Cyrus heard her tell one of the girls to get everyone together for a meeting and wondered what was going to happen next. He poured himself another shot from the bottle on the bar and sat back.
-
Lily brushed up against Leonard as she took over at the bar. She was getting direct to business, and Leonard couldn’t recall seeing the likes of anyone like her before. Leaving her was going to be hard. He let his mind drift briefly to picture a life wherein he stayed right here, and the two of them ran the place together. But that wasn’t realistic.
He nodded his head at Cyrus, and said, “Prescott sounds fine. I have ta go upstairs now an look at somethin’.”
“I’ll be with ya once I’m done here” Lily said. Leonard would have loved to have stuck around to overhear the meeting, but he was starting to have trouble standing. The whiskey had helped, but the adrenaline rush had worn off. He felt pale and clammy. He looked over at Lily and said, “I’m goin’ up ta the room now. The marshal here should listen ta what ya have ta say, he might have some suggestions about how ta make things right around here again”.
She looked down to where he was holding the cloth. It was white a moment ago, but now it was red. “We’ll take any help we can get darlin’, you go on now. I’ll be quick down here.” Leonard surveyed the room again to be sure all assembled would be safe. He wasn’t too concerned because the federal man was there (part of the reason he put the idea of Cyrus’ staying to the others), but it was a habit he had picked up in the Army. A man can never be too careful.
He poured himself another slug, thought better of it, then just headed toward the stairs with the whole bottle in his hand. Again he asked himself, Why does it always have to be this way.
-
"Sadie would you please make sure Leo gets up them stairs in one peice for me and give him a clean cloth for his leg, then you come right back down here and join us." At this time Lily also looked over at Leo and with great affection said, "if'n you don't mind darlin' please let Miss Sadie walk up with you, I want you to be in one piece when I join you. Oh, and I'll get all the supplies once again to fix you right up."
After she watched the two head up to her room she leaned over to Cyrus and said, "before e'eryone gets here I want very much for you to take a look at these papers. You are the only lawman around here now so before theres any trouble about this place I would like Lou's wishes to be known." Lily poured Cyrus one more shot as he looked over the will, and as he handed them back to her he told her "these all seem to be legal enough, congratulations Miss Lily you've got yerself one heck of a mess with this place." Lily looked him dead in the eye with all the confidence in the world and said "mister, you have no idea what I am capable of. You just sit back and watch."
She pointed down the street to the sodhouse in the hillside and told the lawman that he could put the two deceased men into the icehouse until Leo was ready to travel in a day or two. Then she rushed to gather the supplies needed to begin stitching Leo's leg once again and waited for the water to heat on the stove.
When all of the girls and Lenny had come back as Lily requested she wasted no time to begin the meeting.
drawing in a deep breath Lily asked everyone to have a seat as she began. "Ya all know what's happened here today and that we have lost Lou. It looks like Langley is sure to follow and thats a pity cause he was 'bout the best bartender and friend we had round here. Now, before anyone else should try and cause any trouble I need ya' all to know that Lou left the place to me." She took another deep breath and continued. "This here Marshal has already read the will and agreed. So with that out of the way I need to ask ya'll if you'll be so enclined as to stay on here workin' fer me, I'll give ya'll a dollar raise. I want you to know I intend on keepin the same rules as Lou about our customers. How they are treated as well as their discretions are all respected just like before." At this time, Lily looked very hard at each of her employees one at a time and nodded in a way as they knew what she meant without speakig the words outloud in front of the lawman. Cyrus noticed but did't say anything, he knew this was a brothel and that they had their own ways of doing business. If he could try and trust Miss Lily maybe he would have a new connection in these parts. Maybe he could also earn her trust providing he refrain from asking any questions.
Everyone knew that she was no pushover and that Lily was smart, fair and would do right by them so they did whatever she told them to do with all the respect in the world. She instructed everyone to put out the word that they needed to hire a new bartender and that she was going to be very careful in her selection. Then she looked a Cyrus and reminded him that Lou was also the sherrif and that she was in no rush to find just anyone to fill the position. "We need to know who were gettin' and all agree on the candidate. So don't you come back with someone from Prescott, we'll do our own decidin' If you please, and thank ya kindly." After instructing each person to go back to work, she asked Lenny if he could tend the bar and he agreed. As she tipped her head to the marshal Lily gracefully excused herself.
Now that the business was being looked after properly, she could put all of her attentions on making sure that her new love was alright and not bleeding to death in her bed. Luckily, Leo was waiting patietly for her, with a new cloth on his leg he had slowed down most of the bleeding and had been laying there just resting and keeping still. Lily didn't want to show it but she was exhausted and as soon as she made her way up to her room she joined him on the bed. He wanted to help relax her. He was proud and wanted to take care of her for a change.
-
Cyrus was able to get a couple of townsfolk to help him move the bodies of the two men to the location Lily had indicated. After that he sought out Artie.
"Since you helped me bring these two to justice you deserve the reward I promised for anyone aiding me in apprehending them, so I have a paper good for one hundred dollars."
Artie's eyes got real big at the mention of such a large sum. "What do I need to do to get it Marshal?"
"You need to go to Prescott, or have someone you trust go to Prescott to claim the money. I have signed it, and it is a bearer paper so they will pay whoever presents it at the bank in Prescott. Don't go waving it around or bragging about it either Artie, men in these parts have been killed for much smaller amounts."
"I don't really like big towns Marshal, but I don't know who I can trust."
"Well the fellow, named Leo, helped me out of a tight spot when we had to kill the Hopkins brothers, and when the town was ready to string me up for it because they thought I had killed Lou in during the fight, he's helping me take the bodies back to Prescott. I am pretty sure he will come back here afterwards, he seems to be taken with Lily. Lily seems to think very highly of him and I know everyone in town respects her opinion, so I think you should ask her if you can trust him to bring you the reward."
"I guess I will talk to her Marshal, when do you leave?"
"Just as soon as Leo can ride, probably in a couple of days. Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to the bar to attend a meeting that Miss Lily has called."
"Oh, Artie, thanks for not tipping off the Hopkins brothers that I was looking for them."
Cyrus headed back to the Saloon to see what Lily was going to do, and to find out how his temporary partner was faring.
-
“How’d it go down there?” Leonard asked Lily once she had set down on the bed.
“Not bad. Everyone seems ta have there heads on straight” was her reply.
The woman looked worn down and the man with the freshly opened wound felt a pang in his heart and forgot his pain. He wanted nothing more than to make her feel better. Not just now, but forever. And he would be leaving. Dragging two carcasses up to the capitol for the money it would take to make sure she could leave this life.
“Well you take it easy now”, he said. “I been months on end like this, and a good night of rest fer you ain’t gonna kill me. Let me get ya a drink an’ a cold damp towel.”
Her first instinct was to object, but one look in the man’s eyes told her that would be useless. What a pair they made. Both hard as nails and set in their ways. Now they were here with no other desire than to help one another.
Lily accepted the drink from the bottle Leonard had brought upstairs and the towel he had dipped in the bowl by the vanity. She thanked him and said, “We gonna have ta fix that up”
“ Soon enough, I don’t need shaky hands workin’ on me.” He smiled as he said this and the woman looked down to see that her hands were indeed trembling. Her nerves were half past shot and this was the first time she had allowed it to show. “I hate to say it Lil, but when I’m a little better, I have ta go up ta Prescott with that lawman. I promise you I’m comin’ back, and was kind a hopin’ you’d wait fer me, if ya know what I mean.” As he said this he shuffled around and had put his eyes down. He looked at that moment like an eleven year old boy attempting to ask a girl if he could walk her home for the first time.
“I’ll do ma best an try, Sugar. I’m gonna be plenty busy around here. Will that do ya well enough?” Leonard wasn’t quite sure what to make of this response, but when she motioned for him to come closer, he let it out of his mind.
-
After Lily and Leo relaxed long enough for the tension to be released from the early portion of the day she told him that she needed to go and check on things downstairs. His leg had stopped bleeding for now and he was doing well for the time being. So Lil quietly excused herself and said she would be back after a while to sew him up again.
Walking down the stairs slowly, the new proprietor scanned the room with an eagle eye to get a hold on exactly where her people were, as well as, what exactly the customers were up to. This was how she needed to be from now on, she thought to herself, so as no one could get anything over on her. She knew she had to be on her toes now as there would be plenty of times to come where she would have to prove herself and her abilities to any challenger that might think that she was not up to the task of running a so-called “gentlemen’s business”.
After saying hello to the patrons and making sure the bar was well stocked and the money was coming in Lily gave a trusting subtle glance to the girls. She walked up to Clara who had always been the most loyal employee she knew and asked her if she would keep an eye on the place at times that she herself could not be present, at least until other arrangements could be made. Clara happily agreed knowing that Lily was going to be in need of a new manager, if not for the bar then perhaps over the girls. Little did she know, the new boss would not trust anyone but herself to be in that position at this particular time. Lily was very fair minded and she knew exactly what changes needed to be made with the way companionship was dealt with around here. As well as she knew that the wolves were to begin circling for any weakness she may show so she has to be very careful now.
At this time Artie walked up to her and asked, “Miss Lily, that there new marshal tol me to be askin’ you ‘bout the stranger”. Lily pulled him aside and said “Sugar, from now on I hope ya don’ mind but I would generally like to discuss business ‘n private” she leaned in a little closer to speak more quietly now, “anytime we speak of a stranger from now on I would indeed appreciate a bit of discretion if’n ya know what I mean” and she gave him a smile and a wink. Artie, who had a slight crush on Miss Lily shyly smiled back with a half drunken semi-toothless grin and said, “of course Miss Lily anything you say. But do you suppose I could trust the stranger to collect my reward money when he goes to Prescott? Cause, I just can’t be makin’ a trip like that and I ain’ got no horse anyhow.” Lily nodded as she said she would ask Leo for him and told Artie to come back first thing in the morning for the answer and told the bartender to give him a drink on the house..
She spent a while longer in the bar associating with patrons and personnel attempting to put her authority in line at the same time as reminding everyone why they all loved her as a polite lady who gets along with everyone. She knew that she needed to keep the faith of the townspeople on her side to keep the transition smooth here at the Grey Goose after such a full and tragic day. Later, after she was completely confident with her progress she made a graceful exit and went back upstairs to her room.
Although he did get some much needed rest, Leo was very glad to see her. She got right to business fixing him up one more time so that when she was done they could relax together the rest of the night. He looked at her adoringly and she knew she was falling in love with him. She could hardly contain herself and even though he had made it very clear that he wanted her to himself, she tried very hard not to seem to eager. She could remember her mother telling her that all good things are worth waiting for and that a lady always keeps the man guessing until she is sure he is truly the one she was destined for. She felt she was sure, but didn’t want to let on quite yet. After dressing Leo’s wound once again they stayed awake for hours talking and laughing until they fell asleep in each others arms.
-
Leonard and the girl had exchanged stories well into the night, most of them humorous, but rekindled old memories none the less. When he was nodding off he thought he would have a good nights rest with her here lying next to him. But the dreams came just the same.
Not the war this time. Tonight he dreamt about the Mexicans.
He had been riding for a long time and had entered the hardpan of the desert. It was a trail on which one could see everything for miles. This gave him great comfort, especially after his encounter with the amateur bounty hunter. The idiot would pick up drifters he had no poster on and try his luck at seeing if he had caught anyone worth money when he got to the next town. His luck had ended with Leonard. The man had ended up insane and wandering for the rest of his days.
Now in this place he felt he was alone and secure. But suddenly they were there. Five of them, all carrying hardware. He must have let his mind drift a bit too far to have missed them. He had heard the words “bandito” and “highwaymen” but until this point had never concerned himself with them as a real obstacle. He was focused on going to where his friends had told him he could get well.
He looked over the men who were now facing him, it was if they had sprung from the ground. The apparent leader of this band had spoken then. “Jour horse, he look tired. Maybe we can take care of him for jou.” The greasy man had spat and continued with, ”An’ those things you carry, certainly they will be to heavy for jou without the horse. We take care of them for jou too”.
So there he had been, out gunned and grossly over numbered. He had begun to reach for his service pistol with his right hand with his left hand on the reigns trying to figure out how he would grab the second gun if it were necessary. But he saw it was no use. He knew immediately that these were not reasonable men. He put his hands in air in a sign of surrender and glared at all of them.
His eyes passed over one of the bunch, a chubby man who looked distinctly out of place with the rest. The fat man’s eyes widened and he whispered, “Es El Muerte”. The leader looked over at him and said, “Shut up you fool, this is just another worthless gringo lost in our desert. And jou”, he said to Leonard, “ I don’t like the way jou looked at me. I think we teach jou some manners now”.
They had tied his hands behind his back and his feet to a length of rope that was attached to the saddle horn of the horse that Leonard had only ever referred to as “Boy”. The horse was whipped in the hindquarters and began to run. The ex-soldier did his best to keep his left hip from contacting the swiftly moving ground but after awhile he had lost conciseness. He hated losing time, but this time when he came to, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there.
He was indoors and his hands were still tied. He was now shirtless. If the one he had been wearing was ripped off during the dragging or removed by one of the men, he did not know. Leonard was still trying to get his bearings when the first lash came. That had been a pain that was almost as bad, if not equal to, the feeling of the bullet entering his hip on the battlefield. His captors were laughing. This is when he had spoke his first words since encountering the group. “Yer all gonna die. I promise you that.” Another bite from the whip came. It didn’t seem to sting as bad as the first. It was either the joys of becoming numb or just blind hate and fury. The leader spoke again.
“My name is Hector Morales and nobody says these things to me or my brothers.” The leather tore into Leonard’s back once again. “Hey”, Hector continued, “jou see my new pistolas?” Leonard saw that his gun belts were now being worn by the man who was speaking. “Maybe jou like to see my silver coins?” Now Hector was holding out the leather purse that the soldier had carried with him since leaving for the war. “I’d show jou my new horse but he is being watered and having the hay. I take much better care of him then his old owner.” Leo kept his gaze on the revolvers the man was now wearing. Mostly the steel one, the one that was his since the beginning. Morales saw this and said, “Jou like shooting these things, don’t you? Bet you are good at it too. What if you could never shoot one again?” The Mexican had laughed at this and motioned to two of the others. Those members of the gang lifted Leonard up and walked him to the fireplace and turned him so his back was to the hearth. “Do it!” was the next command given.
He had felt one of the banitos grabbing his right hand which was still firmly tied and prying his index finger straight. The other pushed back on him until he could feel the fire licking at his hand. And then his finger had been pressed onto the cast iron pot and held there until the smell of his burning flesh became too much for the others to bear. He now had a useless trigger finger. For the time being that was.
He lay on the floor of that old place for what must have been days wondering why they hadn’t just killed him. He figured Hector was using him to assert his role as the lead man of the group. He would come in every day and kick Leonard, then spit in his face. The truth was that each night as Hector Morales lay down to sleep, his fat brother’s words came back to him as well as the look in the gringo’s eyes and the way he had sounded when he had said they were all to die. “Es El Muerte” Pablo had whispered that first day.
What Morales didn’t know was that when he had ordered Leonard’s finger burned, the rope that tied his wrists had been compromised by the flame. Relentless work with overgrown finger nails for hours on end (all but the right index finger) wore the hemp down eventually. When it finally gave way, there was nothing to listen to but five snoring banditos. Leonard hated the sound of snoring.
Actually one of the men had not been snoring. Of course it was Hector. He was muttering, but defiantly out. Too risky to approach him though. Leonard crawled quietly towards one of the men who had left his rig within his arms reach and was able to procure the gun without making a sound. He desperately wanted to check the chambers, but did not dare make any noise. He had to take a chance.
He took a deep breath and pulled the hammer back. Highwaymen do not become highwaymen without learning certain reflexes, and Leo had expected this. The clicking of the old Colt being cocked brought all of them to life. Then the room lit up with gunfire.
This part of the dream (memory, that’s the right word) jolted Leonard out of his sleep. He was here with Lily lying next to him. He heard her soft breathing, but did not know that she had remained awake and had listened closely while he talked in his sleep.
-
Cyrus came back into the Saloon and took a seat at one of the tables. When the girl came over he asked for a whiskey and if they had anything to eat. The girl returned a few minutes later with his whiskey and a bowl of stew with some bread on the side. Cyrus tried it and found it to be quite good, at least the food was improving under the Saloon's new ownership.
Cyrus took his time enjoying the meal, and as he was finishing Sadie came from behind the bar and approached him. "Miss Lily said to tell you that Room # 4 is yours for the evening if you want it."
Cyrus thought that it would be nice to sleep in a bed for a change, he had been on the trail for quite a while now.
Cyrus handed Sadie a Double Eagle and she said she would be right back with his change.
Sadie brought back the change and a key for Cyrus' room. He slowly climbed the stairs and and found the door with the number 4 on it and let himself in, locking the door behind himself. He setlled in quickly and placed his pistol within easy reach out of habit.
HIs eyes slowly closed and he drifted off. The images came to him, as they always did. Visions of the victims of senseless crimes, some horribly brutilized. Most of them ended with with a scene of a man, or woman being hanged for their crimes. In some cases his mind would replay a gun battle that spelled the end for another criminal. Then the dream, the memory that always haunted him came,
It had been a warm summer, and a hint of Fall was finally in the air. There was no hint of gray in Cyrus' hair and he had a much more youth ful step. He was simply a Deputy then, and Prescott was just another mining town. He and the Sheriff had finished arresting the last of a band of outlaws that had been preying on the local miners, or so they thought. Two had been killed in a gun battle, three were in jail, and one was over at Doc Taylor's under guard. That was when little Timmy Nesbitt had come running up. Panting he gasped out, "Deputy they sent me to find you, there's smoke coming from your house."
Cyrus quickly mounted his horse, which had been tied outside the jail, and brought him to a gallop. His house lay just outside of town, and in the couple of minutes it had taken him to reach it flames could be seen through one of the windows. Some townsfolk were already there and were setting up a bucket brigade. As Cyrus dismounted he hollered to Horace Atkins, owner of the General Store, "Have you seen Magaret and Jacob?" Horace shook his head no, Cyrus looked around and raced toward the house. He kicked open the front door and tried to find his wife and son in the rolling smoke. The fire had been started in the kitchen and was spreading quickly, he could smell lantern oil and knew the fire and its quick development was no accident. He called for his wife and son coughing out their names while choking on the smoke. He was met by silence. He found the door to the bedroom and pulled it open, the cross ventillation of air fueled the fire. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. His wife was tied to the bed and his son was tied to a chair next to. It was apparent that she had been raped and the boy had been forced to watch, both had been shot in the head. At this point Sheriff Hobson and another of the Deputies stepped in behind him, they had to drag him from the house before the fire claimed him as a victim.
The fire spread quickly and the bucket brigade fought a losing battle. A few days later the remains of his family were buried. Only one thing was on Cyrus' mind then "Vengance." The morning following the funeral he left his badge on the Sheriff's desk and set out to find those that had taken his family from him. It was 18 months before he was seen in Prescott again, he never talked about what had transpired during the time he had been gone. He was hired back as a Deputy, and later when Prescott became the the Capital the Government asked him to become a Marshal.
When he came out of the dream it was daylight. He got up, washed his face, pulled out his kit and got his razor. He scraped away the stubble that had grown on his chin and trimmed his moustache. Next he put on fresh clothes and went downstairs to see if he could scare up some breakfast. The demons that had haunted his sleep were pushed deep again.
-
Greeting the new day usually meant waking to a somewhat lonely feeling but today was much different. Lily looked beside her and saw Leo sleeping peacefully, finally, he had had a rough night of bad dreams that caught her attention. It's hard to believe that a man could have lived through the terrors and triumphs that he had been through and still be as kind, handsome and compassionate as he obviously was she thought to herself. She didn't have the heart to wake him so she quietly slid out of bed, dressed and quietly went downstairs.
"The coffee smells mighty strong today, thank goodness an good mornin' to ya George, ya sure missed all the excitement yesterday. I spose you know whats been going on don't ya? Lily said in a happy voice. "Ya, Miss Sadie filled me in, would ya like a cup?" He held up a mug and smiled at Lily. "If'n it's alright with you I just assume keep on here Miss Lily. The folks put up with my cookin an it keeps me away from the ol gal at home if ya know what I mean!" Old George snickered and looked over at her and awaited the answer. "I'd love a cup, and how about you fixin' up a nice hearty breakfast for our two newest guests and an egg and toast for me. Could you please inform me when It's ready, I'll have mine with the gentleman in my room and I'd like to take it up myself if ya don't mind servin the marshall. Then, you can keep yer job. Oh, and thank you." Lily looked at George with respect and admiration. And with a sigh of reiief the cook poured the coffee and went back to the kitchen.
"Well Good Mornin to ya miss" Cyrus said coming downstairs as he saw Lily turn his way. "Good Morning to you as well Mr. Cyrus. I sure hope your accomodations suited your needs." Lily pointed to a table and chair, "Ya sit right on down, the cook should be bringing out your breakfast soon, how about some coffee fer now? Cyrus nodded and sat downand asked, "how's his leg look this morning?" and Lily replied, " I didn't have the heart to wake him yet, I got it stitched back up again but it needs a little time to take to the stiches this time. I spect he'd be ready to ride soon, we'll know more later today."
"Here ya are Miss Lily", George said as he handed the breakfast tray over to her. She thanked him and excused herself and carefully walked the nourishment upstairs to her room. As she entered, she noticed that Leo was just lying back looking her way with a smile on his face. He couldn't remember ever enjoying breakfast in bed before, this was especially welcome because it was brought in by such a kind and thoughtful lady. He thought to himself, this is finally going to be a better day.
Later that morning, while the two were still up in the room, Lily asked Leo about the trip to Prescott. She wanted him to know that when and if he decided to go, he wouldn't have to worry about her, she informed him that she was no longer a lady for hire and that she did care for him enough to let him know that she thought he was worth waiting for. This made Leo feel happier than he could ever remember. He was worried in fact, no matter what he couldn't help it, he would have to leave her alone for a short time in a place that had no lawman and hardly anyone to fend for her in case of retalliation for the killings of yesterday. He had to make sure she was safe before he felt comfortable going. But, at the same time, all he wanted to do was stay in this room like it was the only place left on earth with his angel. He assured her that he would always love and protect her.
-
Leonard said, “Let’s just lay in a bit taday, so long as things are covered downstairs. Got some things I want ta show ya. Then maybe when the Marshal comes fer his evein’ meal you could show him up here so’s we can talk a bit before our little trip”. He was finishing up his breakfast and had taken on a serious tone after indulging himself in the meal.
“Why Leonard James, I thought ya were only speakin’ with me these days”, Lily said with an exaggerated drawl.
“For the most part ma dear lady, but I been thinkin’ an I really need ta speak with him fer his own good. I guess ya could say it’s been buggin’ me.”
“Oh, that reminds me”, Lily said as if she had forgotten something important. “He has a question for you too. Wanted me ta ask ya this mornin’”.
Leo looked at her and said, “Well since I need ta talk ta him, we might as well let him ask it himself”. Lily looked a bit put off by this, but she didn’t understand that questions asked by a law man could easily be lost in translation. The way the words were spoke, the expression on their faces and every “hmm” and “I see” could mean something. He had no idea what the Marshal was wanting, but he just assumed to find out from the horses mouth. “It’s nothing against you darling’,” he said. “Just figured you an’ I had better ways ta spend our time, an’ like I said, I’ll be getting ta know him a bit better later”.
Lily looked at him with a crafty smile and replied, “I’m sure ya got things figured just right Sugar. So what was it ya’ll wanted ta show me?”
“Well, as ya know” Leonard spoke, “Yer gonna be here holdin’ yer own fer a spell. I wanna make sure yer prepared as best as can be. Bring over that side ba side an let’s see how ya load it.” This isn’t what Lily had expected, but did as he asked. She picked up the old shotgun and held it straight out then broke the barrels toward the floor over her wrist. “That’ll do ya fine fer shootin crows, but not when yer in trouble,” he said. “And there ain’t many crows around here.” He then showed her a quicker method of clearing the barrels and reloading. “Practice that when ya get bored,” he smiled and handed it back.
“Now ta another thing,” he went on, “I would have had another pistol ta give ya, but I gave it ta another man just outside this town. At the old busted up livery back aways”.
Lily listened close now and asked, “Who, why?”.
“When we met I was in a bad way. He had every chance ta rob me, kill me er turn me in. He didn’t do any of that. He looked desperate himself an just watched over me through the night, all I’d done fer him was give him a smoke. I have no idea where he was headed but he knows my name.” Lily looked at him, not sure of where Leonard was headed with this. “What’s important is that you keep an eye out fer a man carrying a brass Confederate issue pistol. He looks like…” Then Leonard recounted what he remembered he saw the night in the old stable outside of town. “Now don’t go dropping ma name ta every new stranger that comes ta town, fer God sake please, but if ya see a man who fits the description, tell him you’re waitin’ on me and tell him I haven’t fergot the promise I made him swear when I gave him that gun.”
Lily nodded. Again she asked, “Why?”
“Cause if it turns out I’m a bad judge of character, those words should keep ya safe until I get back.” Then he smiled at her and added, “He’s lookin’ fer a horse”.
Lily smiled back and said, “But he’s got no money”. This was not a question. She was sharp.
The rest of the day floated by in that dreamy way some days do. Leonard forgot about his impending meeting with Cyrus for the time being and Lily Lockwood forgot about her new responsibilities. She knew just how to handle the wounded man while making him feel like a whole man none the less. Nobody bothered them. At last they watched evening fall over the desert sky out the double hung sash that was positioned next to the bed.
“ I imagine your new friend will be about soon looking for his supper,” Lily finally said.
“Yes, I s’pose he will,” Leo responded, “Better prepare ta greet him”.
Lily raised herself from the down mattress and said quietly, “Thank you Leonard James”.
He was already thinking about just what to tell the Marshall.
Not long after, he couldn’t be sure how long, Lily peeped into the door and said, “Leo you have a visitor”. Leonard motioned with his hand and Lily opened the door wide and let Cyrus in. “Have ta check on things downstairs”, she said. “You two have a nice talk”. And then she was gone leaving the men alone.
Leonard had gone over his speech in his head several times. He even had considered placing his pistol under the sheets, but he knew the tin star was sharp enough to notice the empty rig on the night stand. He also knew that this town was behind the new owner of the Grey Goose, and anyone who did anything that hurt her in any way would never make it out alive. Leonard hated being so cynical but it was second nature by now. “Evenin’ Marshal” he said.
“How ya feelin’?” Cyrus asked.
“Fit as a fiddle, I got the strings ta prove it.” Leonard gently patted his left hip, “but we need ta talk before we go off on any grand adventure”
Cyrus said, “That’s what the lady was sayin’. Said it sounded like you were worried about me”. The old lawman smirked when he said this.
Leonard came back at him with, “It just seems fair fer me ta give ya some details that might make a difference out there”.
“I thought you didn’t like to tell stories, son.”
“Some who want me will have no problem with you at all, so we don’t need ta talk about them. Some, on the other hand, won’t care who you are if we should cross paths. Before I start, I’d like ta know what it is that you wanted ta ask me”.
“Oh,” Cyrus said, “she didn’t already tell you? I thought maybe she would have mentioned it”.
“She was going ta, but I figured since we had other matters, I’d hear it from you. She’s got enough on her mind right now.”
“Well it’s fairly simple,” the Marshal said. “ A man here in town tipped me off that the men we shot were coming back here. I offered him a reward if it was true. It was. I would have left if it hadn’t been for him. He is due one hundred dollars for steering me right. I don’t have any reason for coming back here, and thought you might and was wondering…”.
“You was wonderin’ if I’d bring this man his money”.
“Well yes, that’s the long and short of it”, Cyrus replied. “He’s an end of the line drunk and not fit for travel. If Lily trusts you, he’ll trust you. His name is Arthur Trent, I’ll introduce you before we leave, he’s not hard to find”.
“OK,” Leonard said. “Guess it’s perty clear I have every intention a comin’ back here. I’ll do it so long as you take what I have ta tell ya about me an don’t ask about anything else. Also, if need be, ya use that badge a yers ta keep me outta trouble”.
“So you are wanted?” Cyrus asked. “I haven’t seen any posters with your face on them.”
“Not so far as I know, but that’s the part I’m gonna leave out, ‘cause like I said, it won’t cause you any trouble other than having ta collect the whole reward yerself. The reason I wanted ta talk ta ya has ta do with other folks I may have gotten a little riled along my trip out west. I’m not talkin’ about lawmen with posters, I’m talkin’ about some very bad men.”
The Marshall was now showing genuine interest. “Go ahead Leo. It seems you have my well being at heart.”
Leonard started, “Ya ever hear of kid called Max Ryemoor from back in the plains? Featured himself a bounty hunter?”
Cyrus thought and said, “I heard a story once, thought it was a joke. The kid was an amature and caused enough trouble that a group of professionals got together to put a price on him to get him out of the way. Trouble was no one thought he was worth more than two dollars,” the Marshall laughed at this. “Last I heard, something happened to him and he went off his rocker. I guess he hasn’t been much trouble since.”
“I happened ta him” Leonard said. “And if he ever gets his mind right again, I’ll be the first person he goes after,” Leonard held up his left hand palm out and touched his thumb to his middle finger about half way down. “Ya ever see a scar like this?”. He then used his right hand to point out another scar two thirds the way up his palm, “Or this?” Leonard then closed his left fist and Cyrus could see that the two marks would be perfectly lined up in this position.
“It looks like you grabbed a hold of something very hot, but it also looks like there was some other damage as well. What is it?”
“Marshall, it’s a reminder of the luckiest day of ma life. One of them things that never should have happened. A story usually not worth tellin’ cause nobody but little kids would believe it. Max was the only witness an’ it turned him inta a raving loon. I figgued that when he ran off the first thing he’d do was get religion. I certainly was tempted to.”
“Go on,” Cyrus said.
“Well we run inta each other somewhere before the desert. I was havin’ a rest an’ I saw him ride up. Thought maybe I was on his land. Trails out there aren’t marked very well. I didn’t want ta get him excited so I stood up ta greet him. He had a rifle and it was already pointed at me. He stopped about ten yards away an I put ma hands up an tried ta smile. He didn’t. He said he had an idea of who I was an that he was gonna take me in ta find out fer sure. I told him he was makin’ a mistake an he said that I was the one makin’ the mistake. Said I should be worth just as much dead as alive. Said the town he was takin’ me to wouldn’t fuss none if he had the wrong man so long as he didn’t expect them ta deal with me. He woulda kept my things an dumped me out in the prairie fer whatever critters were hungry.” Leonard paused a moment and studied the scars on his hand.
“That’s when it happened. I had no choices. Max had me point blank an his finger on the trigger. All I had was the idea that if he missed I could gun him down before he could reload. That er a misfire, but there was nothing else ta hope for.” He looked at Marshall now instead of his hand. “So I reached. He fired the rifle instantly. Without even knowin’ it I did this,” and Leonard made a side sweeping motion with his left hand as if he were swatting a fly. “Instead of ma chest caving in, ma arm was yanked back and took the rest of me with it. I went ass over tea kettle an ended up laid down on ma face. Ma hand hurt so bad, I almost wished I was dead. He came over and rolled me with his boot. I looked at him an he seemed confused. He was expectin’ a hole that weren’t there. That’s when I forced the fingers of this hand open. We both saw it at the same time. I caught it.” Cyrus raised an eyebrow.
Leonard allowed, “I figure it was one part weak charge an 10 parts er more of blind luck. I just looked at it an started laughin’ the way ya do when there’s nothin’ else ta do. The kid just said, ‘No no no,’ I reached fer ma gun again an he had no time ta reload. Even if he’d been carryin’ a pistol he’d a been dead. He turned an ran fer his horse, tripped in a chuck hole an went down. His rifle flew outta his hand. He tried ta get up an one of his boots got stuck in the mud. He yanked his foot out without it an managed his way to the nag he was ridin. Meanwhiles, I’m laughin’ even harder between watchin him ride off half barefoot an lookin’ at ma hand. He started yellin’ an hollerin’ that, ‘No no no!’ an then, ‘It ain’t right!’. I let him go an took his rifle. I traded it some time later fer supplies. I imagine if Max can put one straight thought tagether after that, it’ll be ta come get even. I’m sure it’s nothin’ ta worry about but ya never know.”
The Marshall said, “That’s quite a story son”.
“I reckon it is. That’s the first time I ever told it out loud. There may be some others ta worry about too.” Lenard then told Cyrus the account of the Mexican bandits. Hearing this story made him wince several times. It was terrible.
“Well Leonard concluded, I don’t know what the final score was on that one. Some of them may very well still be alive. I only had one bullet each and it was dark. I know the leader is dead cause I drug him out of there and took him with me until I could stop and get ma things off him. Wouldn’t be surprised if some of the others weren’t hit by their own men tryin’ fer me. But then again, ya never know, it happened fast.”
Leonard quit talking then and just looked at the Marshall. When Cyrus was sure that was the end for now, he said, “I think we’ll be OK, you’ll just have to be twice as careful coming back alone”.
The ex-soldier nodded and said, “It’ll be worth it”.
-
Cyrus went downstairs to have his evening meal. As he ate he mulled over the converation with Leo. He had learned a good deal about the man during that short period of time, as much from what Leo didn't say as in what he did.
Cyrus had stayed alive by reading men and discerning their intent. He was certain there was a great deal of Leo's story that had gone unsaid, but every man had the demons he preferred to keep hidden, Lord knew he had his own. His instincts told him that Leo was basically a good man who followed a set of standards, violate those standards or cross him and he could be deadly. In time he might gain more of the man's trust and learn greater detail about his past. For now he knew enough to trust Leo as a partner on the trail back to Prescott. The trip should be uneventful, but Cyrus had papers on several other men who were known to be in this area. Those men would have gone to ground after the shootout in the Saloon. None of them should have been riding with the two that were killed and even if they had it was doubtful they would be looking to settle any scores, still it would be comforting to have another person backing him on the trip back.
Cyrus enjoyed the rest of his meal, and George brought him a healthy slice of apple pie to go with his second cup of coffee. He finished it off and left enough to cover his meal plus a bit extra for the staff. Pushing slowly away from the table he went over to the bar to have a glass of whiskey before he settled in for the night, he knew he would be up early making preperations for the trip to Prescott.
-
As the morning sun began to rise and the aroma of coffee was all around the townspeople began to scurry about preparing for another day. Monday always seemed to be a day to begin life over again even though there wasn't a church nearby or a day off for most in these parts. The miners and hunters and of course people just passin through were all about to be on the go. So George showed up to work a bit early this morning. Good thing too because Leonard wanted to do something nice for his new gal before she awoke.
He quietly pulled his boots up after carefully getting dressed and hurried downstairs to the kitchen before Lily opened her pretty green eyes. He hurried back to the room as fast as he could and opened the door very carefully not to wake her. As he pushed the door open with his boot he made it all the way to the table before he noticed Lily lying in bed looking over at him with the biggest smile her face had ever known. She said, "and what do ya think yer doin' out of bed?" and Leo replied "just testin' this leg out. I figure if these stitches hold well enough today I'll be heading out tonight or first thing in the morning depending on what the Marshal says. But for now, I reconed you might have an appitite and you sure needed a bit of pampering after the last couple of days, don't ya think?"
"I never had a man be so kind to me since I made it out west, thank you kindly. Leo, you are about the best man a girl could ever ask for." Lily was amazed at this man, she didn't really know if he was for real until this moment. After all in her line of work lots of men say things they don't really mean, but now she knew for sure he was the one. Lily was completely smitten. The next thing she needed to speak with him about was her concerns about protection while he was gone, especially since the sherrif was dead and he and the marshal were both leaving for Prescott soon. But first she wanted to enjoy this lovely breakfast with her man in peace.
-
Leonard looked up at the ceiling and asked, “Lily, them men who come ta hang the Marshall the other night…”
“Oh, they ain’t bad men, things just looked a certain way,” she jumped in, “at the time. You haven’t a worry about them Dear.”
Leonard laughed, “ I know that. If I was concerned they wouldn’t be here anymore”. She waited for him to go on realizing that despite the chuckle he wasn’t joking. “Do ya think any of em have the wherewithal ta act as sheriff? Without the hot headed posse? How well do ya know each one a them?”
“Well, she said with her head down, “some better than others”.
Leonard realized what was going through her head. He was being too calculating again instead of broaching the topic with compassion. “Don’t worry about yer past business,” he said, “I need ta know if any of them are fit ta keep peace around here fer a short while. I can cover their salary when I get back so long as know I’m leaving you in hands I can trust. I think the federal man cares too. I got a fair ta middlin’ read on him last night an I think he’s more than just a bounty hunter with a badge. It’s all in the eyes Lil, remember that. Whatever a man has ta show ya, pay most attention ta his eyes…”
Lily looked up at him startled and said, “Someone else said those very words to me once. A complete stranger at that. You may not have cared for him much, he was a Confederate officer, but I can tell you he was a good man, an older gentleman who took me for a cause one afternoon as I was making my way out to this grand frontier,” she rolled her eyes and spread out her arms as she said this. They hadn’t schooled the sarcasm out of this southern belle. “ He approached me after I had stepped off the train in a Tennessee jerk water and invited me to lunch with him. We ate, spoke of Georgia, and he said he had met my mother. He gave me money to continue my travels in a manner he said was fit for me. Then he said what you just did, about looking at the eyes. I tried it right there an then with him and saw exactly what he was talking about. That gentleman had no other desire in his heart than to help me. Me of all people,” Lily looked off to the side and seemed to be still trying to understand. “I still wonder what compelled him to do so. Maybe he thought he was fit to die soon and I reminded him of someone he once knew…I imagine I’m just trying to say that I know what you mean.”
She seemed to reflect for a few moments and then went on. “I’ve looked at all the eyes ever since. Came ta see that they weren’t just good or bad, but much of in between. I’ve never seen the likes of that lieutenant’s again until…well very recently.” She looked at Leonard and said, “I do go on. What I’m getting’ to is that Johnny’s father, Bill, seems to have a fair mind about him.”
Leonard interrupted, “Johnny bein’ the excitable kid.”
“Yes, I saw Bill’s eyes close when he asked me a favor for his son.” Lily looked down again. “Bill would do fine so long as he keeps his boy back at home and conducts keeping the law the same way he does his shop.”
Leonard considered this for a bit. “If you think he’s right fer it, I’ll take yer word. I want this settled before I leave. I want to meet him, an I want the Marshall ta be there too. I want his boy’s gun to be given ta you fer now. I don’t want these people ta fear me, but I need them ta damn well respect me while I’m gone as well as lettin’ this Bill do his job. If I come back and this place is a mess, well, try not ta look at my eyes too close then. Ya may not like ‘em.”
They sat there in silence for a while letting the prospects of the near future sink in. Leonard broke the quiet when he looked at her an simply said, “I love you.”
Lily looked in his eyes and saw it was true.
-
The rest of the morning went smoothly, the two took their time to dress and get ready for the rest of what promised to be a busy day. A day filled with preparations for Leo and Cyrus's journey and the Grey Goose's independance. So Lily told Leonard she had to do some business and she would meet up with him in a short while back at the bar. Leonard also wanted to take advantage of his time to scope the town now that his leg was fit for taking a walk. As they walked downstairs togeather, Lily holding onto Leonards arm, they kindly looked at each other fondly and went their separate ways. Leonard headed for the bar to have a drink as he watched Lily walk delicately out the front door.
"Goodmorning" Lily smiled to a passerby as soon as she stepped foot outside. "this surely is a beautiful day, isn't it?" She quietly asked the person. "Why I guess it is Miss Lily!" the man stated on his way passing by. She could make anyone have a good day being as contageously happy as she was. Soon she made her way over to the mercantile. She explained to the shops owner Bill that her new partner (carefully not mentioning Leonards name) and the marshall would need a few supplies for their trip and then asked to give the credit to them and that the bar would be covering the bill if there were any problems. She also mentioned that one of them would be by and wanted to speak to him sometime today about something very important that he was needed for. He had no problem with this in fact it made Bill feel rather good that she had recommened him to the stranger.
Sipping slowely on his drink, Leonard watched the people in and around the bar. He took it all in. Who seemed to be the regulars as well as who were the loud and/or quiet ones. After his glass was empty he sauntered out the front door to explore the street. He noticed that Lily was just leaving the store and headed down to the end of the street. She didn't look his way so she had no idea he might have known what she was up to. He had other arrangements to make so he went on his way as well.
Lily took her time in the stable. being with horses always made her feel good. She looked carefully at every horse in the barn, and even though they all were fine she didn't see just what she was looking for. The stableboy asked her if she needed any help and she asked if these were all of the horses that were available. He told her about two new horses that were out back in the field but he didn't know anything about them yet. So she thanked him and decided to ckeck them out anyway. As she walked down the small hillside to the fence she saw an older Roan with a few spots on his backside which looked like an old trailhorse. Just then she saw him, in all of the years on her fathers horse ranch she never had seen anything like him. The large, tall, pale horse with the neck the size of a tree trunk looking right at her. He had huge black intense eyes. All she could think of was the pictures she had seen as a child in school of a roman chariot horse or statue. He walked right up to her at the fence and put his forhead down onto hers and Lily gave a slight push. Well, he then pushed back against her gently as well. Then he stood up and they looked at each other as she gave him a gentle brush of her hand on his nose. This was the perfect horse he was strong as an ox and smart as a whip! Lily knew what to do.
She eventually made her way down to the bar to meet up with Leo and couldn't wait to tell him about a surprise she had in store for him.
-
Cyrus made his rounds of the small town as he had every day since the gunfight. He noticed Lily walk into the mercantile, and he later noticed her head down to the stable. He had checked the cold house and the bodies had survived reasonably well. He was concerned about what would happen while he and Leo were gone, he still wasn't certain if Lily could trust the townsfolk. This place had been a haven for lawless men for too many years and if some of them appeared seeking refuge they might become hostile finding things had changed now that Lou was gone.
Cyrus thought about the trip, they would leave in the morning and with luck would reach Prescott by midday. If luck was with them Leo could head back the next morning meaning he would only be gone about a day and a half. Bad weather, slower travel, or trouble on the trail could lengthen that to as much as 3 to 4 days. Cyrus was looking forward to talking more with Leo on the trail, he had a good read on this man and knew there was good in his heart. It was Cyrus' intent to check when he got to Prescott to see if there were any papers with descriptions matching Leo, he didn't expect any. Providing that was the outcome he was going to suggest that Leo take the Sheriff's job vacated by Lou's death.
If Leo agreed and Lily and the town were acceptable of the idea, and there was little reason why they wouldn't be since no one in town was much of a gun hand, he intended to get the judge in Prescott to give him the power to travel back with Leo and swear him in. If everything came together Cyrus would gain a reliable ally in cleaning up the area around Prescott and would eliminate another hiding place for the lawless men that preyed on the weak.
Having completed a circuit of the town Cyrus set about checking his tack and cleaning and oiling his guns in preperation for tomorrow's journey.
-
Leonard’s main concern was to get things settled in town as soon as possible. He knew Lily had already paid a visit to the mercantile, so his arrival there should come as no surprise to the owner. Even if it weren’t a surprise, the shop keeper couldn’t hide his apprehension when the bell hanging from the door jingled.
“You Bill?” Leonard asked in a direct tone.
“Yes, you Miss Lily’s new partner?” There was a slight stammer in the reply.
“I guess ya could say that. She’s the reason I’m here. Someone needs ta watch over the town, but most important, someone needs ta watch over her and her place. Thought mebbe you were the man fer the job. She seems ta think so.”
Bill was stunned by this proposal. “Me?” he asked.
“Yeah you. Her only concern was that you keep that boy a yer’s in line and busy at home.” Bill’s eyes widened and Leonard knew why. “It has nothing to do with her previous business with you or yer kid. He just struck me as a problem. Anybody who stands in front and center of a lynch mob strikes me as a problem. Give him a job ta do at home, build a chicken coop er an outhouse er whatever, just keep him busy.” Leo looked at the shopkeeper gravely, “And disarm him. He’s a loose cannon if I ever saw one. Leave that gun with Lily an she’ll take good care of it while I’m gone.” Another pause, then, “do we have an arrangement?”
Bill stood there and nodded. Leonard waited for him to ask what was in it for him. The man didn’t. “OK then” Leo went on, “I’ll ask the Marshall to appoint ya temporary sheriff before we leave. Personally I don’t know if I would have chosen ya, but the girl knows best around here.” There was that calculating stare again, “I’ll be back, just don’t let anything happen ta her in meantime.” With that, Leonard began shopping the rows of shelves for things he knew he would need on the trail.
Leonard walked back out onto the street and the little bell jingled again as he did so. His intention was to find Cyrus and seal this matter. He wasn’t sure about the shop owner, but if Lily said he was the best for the job then so be it. He was surprised when he looked up the street and saw his new love walking toward him. Not surprised to see her out and about, surprised because she was leading the most magnificent horse he had ever seen. It was eighteen hands easy and it was no wonder the lady was on foot rather than riding it, there was no way she could have mounted it herself. Then she saw him and hailed him.
“Leeeee-o, I got sumpthin for ya.” Her southern drawl was as sweet as honey. He didn’t want to make any assumptions about the horse but stood there stunned just the same. He couldn’t see anything else other than the beautiful woman and that majestic pale stud making their way toward him. He looked skyward and wondered how any god could bestow these gifts upon him.
When the distance was finally closed she said, “name him, he hasn’t one sugar.”
“Name who?” Leonard asked.
“The horse you ninny,” Lily teased as she laughed.
“What business do I have namin’ this horse?” Leonard asked in his own teasing manor. Inside he was bursting. He was allowing himself to believe it, that this fine animal was for him.
She answered quick, “Cause it’s yours. Just promise you’ll take care of him. Isn’t he a wonder?”
“Yes he is”, Leonard could not suppress a huge grin. “Hey boy” he said to the animal and scruffed him on the nose. The horse threw it’s head up and whinnied. “Well there’s no way I can thank you for this Miss Lily”, was all the man could say.
Lily looked at him and asked, “Boy? Is that the best you can come up with? Don’t ya think he deserves better?”
“Found a great roan once, always called it Boy. Changed it ta Lucky an he died a few days later. I’ll stick with Boy. It’s just one of those things.” Lily seemed to understand this and handed the reigns to Leonard. She knew it was a good match, this man and this horse.
“Well let’s get a look at him,” Leonard said. “Good posture, good temper, strong.” He examined Boy closer, lifting each hoof and checking. “Gotta loose shoe here,” he said. “I’ll make sure it’s right before I leave.” Lily just looked at him and he realized he was being too analytic again. He caught himself and said, “Thank you Lily. He’s perfect. Hell, the shoe ain’t his fault, and we’ll make sure he’s ready. This is the best horse I have ever laid hands on and the nicest thing anyone’s done fer me”
“It’s my pleasure darling,” she said. “I know you’ll do right by him.” She watched him mount Boy bareback and ride toward the stable. Again, he turned and told her he loved her.
As the ex-soldier approached the livery he was stricken by one of those feelings. The bad ones that had kept him alive for so long. The doors were shut, he could see this clearly. He pulled on Boy’s bit and dismounted. On approaching the stable he could hear sounds coming from within. There was definitely someone in there. Horses didn’t whimper and horses didn’t make shushing sounds either. There were two in there, that was now certain. Here in broad daylight someone was trying to pull a job.
Leonard went around to the back and made his way to the single-wide back door. He stood there for a moment and thought once again, “why does it always have to be this way.” He heard a stern but tired voice say, “stay here, I’m taking it. Keep staying right here ‘til it starts ta get dark, or I can kill you now and still get out of this worthless town.” As ominous as that voice may had seemed to the person on the receiving end, Leonard could hear the unmistakable tone of fear in it as well.
“Horse thief’, he thought. “knows how slow this town is an is gonna risk his neck ta get a pony now of all times.” Leonard drew the old Colt Navy and faced the door. His right foot came up and kicked it in. Then there was nothing but shock.
Of course it shouldn’t have been. He had mentioned this scenario to Lily the night before. There pointed at him was a Confederate issue pistol. The one he had taken from a Lieutenant he had shot on the last battlefield. The man holding it was the one he had rolled a smoke for in that other, abandoned livery. The two men faced each other and the stable boy could only wet his pants.
“Tolt ya if ya used that the wrong way I’d take it back. Did ya ferget me givin’ ya my full Christian name an swearin to it?”
“I need a horse!” the other said.
“Then earn one” was Leonard’s answer. “Or die. This boy owes me a fixed shoe and I ain’t about ta see you get in the way of ma business.” The kid on the floor just moaned something about his mother. Leonard’s old bunkmate from the night of the storm stood fast but his hand was shaking.
Then it happened. The same as always. The lead ball whizzed past Leonard’s ear as he was launching his own. In half a heart beat, the man who had shared rugged quarters with him not three nights ago now lay dead on the straw covered floor. Leonard looked at the boy who had soiled himself and stared at him for a moment. Then the words came easy, “Can ya fix the loose shoe on the pony ya sold ta Miss Lily this morning. I’d be much obliged if ya could.”
-
The pair of gunshots sounded as if they had come from the vicinity of the stable. Cyrus holstered his 58 Remington, that he had just finished cleaning, and put a round in his Sharp's. He ran down the staiars and out into the street heading in the direction of the stable.
He noticed that there was a pale horse tied up out front with no saddle. He also saw Lily running from a side street toward the stable. They both met near the horse, who didn't seemed nervous about the recent gunfire.
"Lily, you stay here and let me check this out!"
She replied, "Leo, rode up here to get a shoe fixed on this horse. He went around the side and then I heard gunshots." She looked scared and worried.
Cyrus cocked the hammed on the Sharps and began to slowly approach the stable doors.
The big doors started to swing open so Cyrus crouched behind a water trough and sighted down the barrel. As the doors swung wider he noticed a very scared looking stableboy and Leo pushing open the doors.
After waiting a moment to make sure that they weren't being held a gunpoint, Cyrus uncocked the Sharps and stood up.
At the sight of Leo, Lily began to run toward him.
-
"LEO !," she cried out as she ran to the entrance of the stable. After slowing down to a mere walking pace and looking back and forth between the boy and Leo she continued, "You two bout scared me ta death, you mind tellin' me what happened here?"
As she asked, Leo pointed over to the body lying on the ground near the rear stalls and said, "guess my timin's still good," and he looked over at the stableboy who quickly went on to say, "this here man saved my life and stopped that there horse theif all at the same time Miss Lily!"
She then looked at Leo and with a smile she nodded and then looked back at the boy. She stepped closely to him to quietly say, "Why don' ya go on, change yer clothes and pull yerself togeather quickly so ya can fix the grey's shoe before it all hits ya, is that alright? I think this gentleman has earned that much don't you?" The boy agreed and told Leo he would be right back to tend to the horse, then ran off.
Leo stood looking at Lily and with a certain feeling of pride for how she handled the boy and waited patiently to explain what had happened. After the boy was gone she went over to him calmly as not to show any weakness, yet in reality she was quivering inside. It was important for her to show not only Leo but the townsfolk that she could handle any situation so she didn't get taken for granted as the owner of a business that saw it's share of roughness and at the same time she didn't want anyone thinking she was gonna be soft while the men were gone.
Cyrus was now beside her ready to here what had transpired from Leo and then he meant to look over at the dead man to see if he could recognize anything about him. Leo told them as well as others that had gathered exactly what had gone on. When he was finished Cyrus said to Leo "I'm glad were on the same side, this town sure has it's share of excitement!" and he walked to the back of the stable.
-
Cyrus walked to the back of the stable and stood his rifle against a post. He then squatted down and examined the body.
He knew the man wasn't on one of the wanted posters he carried, but something about the crescent shaped scar on the man's left cheek tugged at somthing in Cyrus' memory. There was a single wound in the man's chest and it appeared the bullet either hit the heart or a major artery since there was a large pool of blood that had formed around the body in the short time it had lain there.
The flies were already becoming a major problem, so he quickly finished his examination and then found a peice of canvas to wrap around the body. He paid two townsfolk to help him and then to move the body to the cool house, he would bring it back to Prescott for an attempt at proper identification, and to see if the death resolved any known crimes. The pistol was a Harrington and Richardson model, it appeared that one round had been fired. Following Leo's description of what had happened he found the lead ball stuck in the doorframe where Leo had entered. Judging the height of the bullet in the frame and looking over at Leo had the shot been a couple of feet to the right it would have caught Leo in the belly. Leo was either damned quick or extremely lucky, maybe both.
When the stableboy returned Cyrus asked him a few questions and made some notes for thr report he would make upon his return to Prescott. Leo was seeing that his new horse was attended too, so Cyrus took the moment to speak with Lily alone. He quickly set forth his idea that Leo would be the logical choice for the new Town Sheriff. He asked Lily if she could speak to whoever the decision makers in the town were and give him an answer before he and Leo left for Prescott in the morning.
-
Leonard turned away from the livery with his head down and began walking back towards the hotel. “I need a bath” he said to no one in particular. He did not like killing. Cyrus called to him, but he just kept walking. Lily ran up to him and wanted to hold him, but Leonard brushed her off and kept walking. He needed to feel clean. He didn’t like doing this to the girl, but it was time to be alone. He thought of the story his mother had told him about the man who saw a spot of blood on his hand every time he looked at it and couldn’t scrub it out no matter how hard he tried. “Out dern spot” she would say, not to cuss in front of her son or anyone else. As silly as it seemed, he missed his mother and those simpler days.
Lily Lockwood was not one to be put off. She caught up with Leonard and grabbed the back of his overgrown hair. “Hey!” she said.
He turned and looked at her and replied, “you don’t know how it feels”. She saw the look in his eyes and let it go. She wanted to tell him that she knew all about death, but he was right, she didn’t know how it felt to deal it.
He spoke again as he walked, “ask that marshal if there’s any way I can get that gun the man had. It was mine once”. Lily nodded.
“Kind of a prize I guess you could say” he continued, “from awhile ago. I never should’ve let it go I guess.” As Leonard approached the hotel, he felt like he was marching again and heard the dry beat of the drum in his head. There was a word for that his mother had taught him, but he couldn’t bring it to mind at the moment. Thrap thrap thrappa tat a tat. A bath would be good now, and some time with the lady, if she could forgive him. He had been callous.
-
"I believe this town has a bit too much excitement lately, don't you Sadie?" Lily asked as she walked back into the Goose after her slow walk back from the livery. Suddenly, she was bombarded by all of the gals speaking at the same time in quite a titter to find out what had transpired down the street, Sadie shushed them harshly. "Ladies! hush now and lets remember our manners, I believe I was being addressed, I'm sure everythin’s alright and you'll know in a moment." She then motioned to Lily to sit at the table with her and said. "Now take you a breath and tell me what in blazes got you so upset."
Lily wasn't usually riled up easily so she knew it was personal. "I'm fine thank you Sadie" she spoke quietly "Leo just had a run in with a horse thief and had to shoot him dead down at the livery. When I heard the gunshot I felt my heart drop right out a my body. I mean It ain't nothin' new a course seein’ death and all but this time was different.”
“I do believe ya got it fer this man Leo” Sadie stated. Lily nodded and finished telling her what had happened and when she was finished she went upstairs to collect herself.
When she came back downstairs she ran into Cyrus. He told her his plans about the Sheriff position and she mentioned to him that she wasn’t going to talk to anyone about Leo until she had asked him if he was interested first. But, not to throw suspicion his way she added that it was the proper thing to do in her eyes but that if he agreed, she would gladly go to talk to the townspeople. Then she remembered what Leo had requested. “Cyrus may I talk to ya bout somthin’ else?” He said that would be alright so she went on to say, “I wanted you to know something about our friend Leo. Right before he came into town he spent the night in a broken down old barn. It had been a long while since he’d been under a roof in the rain, you know how it is at times like that don’t ya?” Lily wanted Cyrus to get a feel for the situation, after all she did know how to handle men by this point. And Cyrus answered “oh I have had my share of evenins like that.” And Lily went on to tell him the story of the two men who met up that night and that they seemed to part on good terms. And of the promise that Leo made to the man if he did anything bad with the gun he so kindly gave to him. She made it a point to clearly state that this was the first and last meeting between Leo and the stranger until the livery stable. Then she ever-so-gently finished the conversation with the fact of how sentimental this gun and belt was to Leo from his harsh past. That is when she informed Cyrus that Leo wanted to have it back, in keeping with his promise he had made to this underestimated man. Lily also told Cyrus that Leo could describe the gun and the belt to him in detail if he wanted to be sure he was telling the truth. She knew how much time Leo had spent with his firearms and he would know every scratch or dent they may have had. Cyrus then told Lily that he appreciated her coming to him and that he would speak to Leo about it as soon as he saw him next. And he excused himself.
Lily told the bartender to give him one more drink on the house as she went back to the kitchen. She had just thought of the perfect afternoon and evening for her new beau after such a long day. She couldn’t wait to see him walk through the doors, she was worried but knew he just needed his own time, then he would come back to her. No matter how long it took, she would be waiting for him.
-
Leonard walked past the entrance to the Grey Goose and proceeded to the adjoining bath house. He had seen the attendant duck back in as he began walking up the road. Upon entering the man asked, “can I help ya?” He was another nervous one.
“Do ya keep water on the boil or is there gonna be a wait?” Leonard asked.
“Oh, the boss always insists that it be available fer the ladies”. He said this with pride and then his face cringed as he looked at the floor. It was apparent this man was still having trouble accepting that “the boss” was dead.
“Good then”, Leonard replied, “I sure could use a warm soak.” The attendant reached under the counter and procured a towel, a brush, a dipper and a well worn hunk of lye soap.
“That’s fer men folk” he said. “Save the parfumed stuff fer the ladies. Lest ya want it that is” The man threw in that last as if he had just realized he had made a grievous error.
Leonard regarded him with a patient stare and said, “no, that’ll be fine”.
“Well then come right on through here an we’ll getcha takin care of”. Leonard stepped through a curtain and began to disrobe while the attendant fetched after the water. The little man returned and dumped the first pot into the cold bath. He started ta speak, “ That’ll get ya goin…” then he saw the wound on Leonard’s hip. “Mister, I don’t know if ya wanna be soakin that just yet. Least ways not submersifyin’ it.” Leonard couldn’t help a chuckle, “I’ll take good care of it. Thanks”. The attendant ducked out of the room and the tired ex soldier proceeded to place himself into the tub on his knees. Not comfortable, but it would keep the stitched hole in his leg above the water line. The warm water felt good as he splashed it on his face. In less than 30 seconds the water was almost black. He looked down at it and out of nowhere he looked up and said, “tattoo”.
The attendant poked his head in through the curtain and said “beg pardon sir?”
“Tattoo”, Leonard repeated. “That was the word Mother used fer the sound a the drums.” He seemed lost in thought. “Couldn’t bring it ta mind a bit ago, just remembered.”
The little man nodded and pulled his head back out of the room muttering to himself.
-
Cyrus finished his talk with Lily and decided now would be a good time for a bath, in the morning he and Leo would be on the trail and there was no way of knowing how hectic things would be back in Prescott.
Cyrus walked out of the Grey Goose and went next door to the bathhouse, as he entered he heard the word "Tattoo". A moment later a very nervous man stepped through a cutain from the back, when he saw the Marshal he became even more nervous, if that was possible.
"I'd like to get a hot bath." he said to the fidgiting clerk.
"There's another feller back there right now an I'm not sure if he wants company, elseways i'd be offering ya one of the other tubs."
"Well your mouth doesn't appear to be broken, why don't you ask this other feller if he minds having someone else back there?"
The clerks eyes got even larger than they had been as he replied, "Y-y-y-yes S-sir!"
At that point he disappeared through the curtain again and Cyrus could hear muffled voices from the back.
-
The attendant walked back into the tub room, completely this time. Leonard said, “need ta change the water. Kneelin’ in this is makin’ me dirtier than when I come in.”
“Yes sir, of course… but there’s somethin’ else…”
“There always is” was the dry reply.
“Well” an now he lowered his voice, “there’s another feller out there that would like a bath too.” Leonard looked at the other two tubs in the room.
“And?”
“He’s that” his voice got even quieter to where he was almost mouthing the words, “he’s that marshal”.
The man kneeling in the tub couldn’t hold back a one cornered grin at this. He spoke. “That man prolly needs a bath worse than me.” He doubted it, but it was amusing to see the change of expression on the attendants face. “Change ma water an set ‘im up” Leonard pulled the drain. The confused little man handed him his towel as he stood up and felt the desert air. The attendant poked his out of the curtain, this time facing the counter and told Cyrus, “be ready fer ya in a jiffy marshal”. He worked the pump on each tub until they were half full and said, “I’ll run an git the hot stuff now”. Leonard nodded and the man hurried out. He stood there with his back to the doorway looking at the cold water thinking it might be nice to just get in it that way. While he was contemplating this, the attendant and the marshal came in.
The first thing Cyrus saw was a man’s back covered in an array of scars. It was like looking at one of the territory maps that had been drawn up by the government. He said, “Hope we didn’t startle you Leo.”
Leonard turned his head and replied, “I wasn’t worried, I knew it was you out there. Just waitin’ on that hot water.”
“You takin’ care of that hip. We need it to be fit.”
The little clerk chimed in out of turn, “He’s takin his bath on his knees, ya can ask me I saw him, he…” Cyrus’ glare was not lost on the man. He silenced himself and went back to the counter.
“I’m lookin’ out fer it,” That was all that needed to be said.
“Good, we really shouldn’t put this off any longer. Riding across the desert with those bodies is not going to be pretty.” The attendant returned with the water and was very quiet on this trip. After he had spilled it in and left, the two men settled into their respective baths, Leonard again in that penitent kneel. He began splashing off the dirty water that had started to dry on his face.
Cyrus, looking up at the ceiling tried to open conversation, “Looks like ya seen some hard times Leo”. Now, with a sideways glance he caught a hint of the scars on the man’s chest that were at least enough to match the ones on his back. “ I know ya already told me about some of ‘em, an I just saw some proof.” He waited for a response. Nothing but the sound of splashing.
-
Before he had settled into the water Leonard had noticed a long pale scar that ran from Cyrus' left hip up to a point just below his right shoulder. Near the end of that scar was a scar that appeared to be a bullethole, and two more lower on his back. All of the scars showed signs of doctoring.
"I've suggested to Lily that you would be a good candidate for Sheriff. You are quick and accurate with a gun, but you are also level headed enough to know when not to pull it. There aren't many in Town that can handle a gun and most of them would likely be killed within the first month on the job."
"Being a lawman is more than just being a gun hand. Leanord you seem to have sense enough to know when it's better to diffuse a situation than to just pull a gun and to try forcing people to obey. You also seem to have the respect for people that's required of the job. When you faced down the mob in the Grey Goose I could see that you were sizing up the crowd to determine who was most dangerous and which ones were likely to just throw down their guns and run if shooting started. You kept your voice at a steady even tone and you made it clear that you were not going to back down from a situation that appeared to be wrong."
"This Town needs someone strong to stand up for them, you are in a part of the Territory that makes this a good place to hide. It's easy for a man to get lost in an area where men come and go trying to strike it rich. It didn't hurt that Lou turned a blind eye toward men on the run, as long as they didn't harm his girls, or the the townsfolk."
With that Cyrus grew silent and began to liberally apply the soap, then settled back in the warm water letting it soak into his aching joints.
-
In the meantime Lily was back at the bar taking care of the business at hand. New and old customers all gathering, talking, bragging like people do while relaxing after a good long work week at the mines.
Tomorrow will be Langley and Lou’s burial day. “I s’pose they’re all comin’ in fer the funeral don’t ya think Clara” Lily spoke in a whisper.
“I speck so, I heard the old preacher man from down yonder way will do their presentin.'” Clara answered while pointing to the outskirts on the side of town. “Seems he was a friend of the both of em’ when they all started this here settlement.”
“I think it only fittin’ to invite the people to come back to the Goose for a drink in honor of those two fine men. It’d be the way they woulda like best fer a send off I reckon.” Lily felt good about her decision as she and Clara finished making the plans. They then made sure the rest of the staff were prepared to work a long day and be ready for anything.
Business will be very good for the next couple of days, thank goodness, Lily thought to herself. She knew that keeping busy will make the time go by faster while Leo was gone. Life is much different and it was easy to get used to not being a “working girl” any longer. It was about time she began to earn back her self respect, and there was no doubt that this was the right time for it. Although she knew there would be some people who would try and keep her the way she was, she knew she had to be stronger than ever to make it work.
Now, knowing that Leo has had a bitter-sweet day, and that there was just a few hours of daylight left, she thought of just the thing to help him feel better if he were up to it. It would be special and not too time consuming so as he could still finish getting ready for his trip. After changing into some riding clothes she made her way down to the kitchen to put together a beautiful picnic for two. It had been a long time since she had attempted to make her mothers fried chicken but it all seemed to come together well. She had fresh biscuits and of course a nice blanket to set it all on.
Her plan went off without a hitch. She had asked the boy at the livery to have her horse Lucky and Leo’s horse Boy saddled and ready to go and he agreed. He had even offered his own saddle to Leo to use until he returned from Prescott. Lily knew that this young man was a good boy and that he would always look up to Leo with nothing but respect from now on.
Just then she noticed a georgeous man resembling Leo coming out of the bathhouse and walking toward the bar. She rubbed her eyes and looked harder and walked faster now to catch up to him. “Oh My! It is you,” she tried not to stare but couldn’t help herself and with a big loving grin on her face she said, “I hope ya don’t mind me sayin’ ya sure do clean up handsome. I’m a very lucky gal.” As she gave him a peck on his newely shaved soft cheek.
All Leo could do was give her a sly happy grin as she took his arm. “Would you like to go somewhere with me away from town for just a short while, I have a special place I’d like to show ya.” Lily asked in a sweet voice.
“I’d like that very much, you just show me the way, darlin’ and I’ll follow you anywhere.” Leo replied happily.
She picked up the small picnic basket and blanket from just inside the doors of the Goose and said, “right this way”. Leo took the basket from her and they strolled down to the livery and he saw that the horses were all ready. He noticed the saddle, spoke to the young man and thanked him as he succured the basket on his horse. Looking over at his girl he said, "you sure did think of everything Lil."
They mounted and rode off to the west of town, down a beautiful trail for a few miles until they came to an absolutely beautiful large brook with a slender waterfall pouring over large rocks surrounded by gently swaying trees and grass. There was the perfect spot to set out the food under a tree near the water. The horses were very content with fresh greens to nibble on. Lily broke out the food and they shared the next two hours in their own world. They spoke of their future and how the life they planned could be, as husband and wife. Soon enough sunset came and it was time to go back, It couldn’t have been a more perfect afternoon.
-
While Lily unpacked the food Leonard told her about his meeting up with Cyrus in the bath house. “Did he want to question you?” she asked.
“Na, he just wanted ta clean up before we set out. He did say he wanted me ta sheriff the town after this business in Prescott is over.”
“What did you tell him?” was her next question.
“Didn’t say nothing at first. He leant me his shaving kit,” here Leonard rubbed at one of his bare cheeks and chuckled, “and while I was usin’ it I told him I had plenny a time ta think on it tamarra. Then he asked me about that Reb gun the other feller had.”
“I mentioned it to him after you walked off” Lily said. “Just like you asked.”
“Thank ya,” he thought for a moment, “I told him I’d made a bad desision, but it was important that I get it back. As far as he knows, I just want all the help I can get on our ride. He offered ta bring it ta me when we meet in the morning but I told him I needed it tanight and why.”
Lily gave him an odd look at this. “You don’t think you’re going to need it so soon?” The concern was obvious.
“Yeah, I am.”
“But whatever for?” She looked half passed panicked now.
“Cause it’s gonna take a little time ta show ya how ta load it, silly.”
The look on her face changed when what he had said sunk in. Now it was mock anger. “You!” she began, “I do declare Lenard James Tanner, why do you do that to me.” She swatted at him in very lady like fashion. He caught her wrist and stole a kiss.
“Let’s eat some of this fine cookin’,” he said. And fine it was. It was similar to the food he had grown up with on the farm, but it seemed that it been made for pure enjoyment and not just to fuel a long day of work. This was true southern cooking. He had heard about it, but the only food that had entered his mouth during his time across the Mason Dixon line had been salt pork, beans and hard biscuits. Leonard made an oath to himself right then and there that he would return safely to this woman no matter what odds he might encounter on his impending journey.
-
Cyrus was finishing up the last of his packing, he want ed to get an early supper and a good night's rest. He had seen Leo and Lily leave on their picnic and hoped they had a good time, the next few days would be a little rougher on the trail.
Cyrus heard a commotion downstairs, and he moved quietly to the railing. Down in the Saloon a trail dirty man had Clara by the arm hollering, "Wher'es Lou, he owes me money and I want it now." Clara was trying not to cry as she told him Lou was dead.
The man hollered louder, "Well then who's goign to get me my money?"
Cyrus had his pistol out and cocked, and fortunately the man was making enough noise that he hadn't heard Cyrus on the stairs.
Cyrus nodded to Clara who kept her head long enough to reply, "I can see if it's behind the bar."
The man pushed her away and said, "More 'n likely you're gonna pull out a scattergun. Ya aint gonna pull a trick like that on me."
At this point the man went for his gun, Cyrus had no other option than to fire. The ball caught the man in his right shoulder with enough force to spin him so he was now facing Cyrus.
The man moved his left hand across his body like he was reaching for another weapon, but by then Cyrus had closed the distance between them and hit the man in the head with the butt of his pistol. The man crumpled to the floor.
Cyrus looked at Clara and asked if she was alright, whe she replied in the affirmative he said, "Please go fetch the Doc, and see if you can get someone to go upstairs and bring me some manacles from my saddlebags. Oh and please ask them to fetch the rolled up wanted posters that are with them. "
Cyrus removed the man's gunbelt and quickly searched him. He found a small holdout pistol in the lining of the man's duster and a throwing knife in a sheath under his arm, one of these was what the man had been going for. He also found a Bowie knife on his belt and another throwing knife in the man's left boot. He put all these behind the bar and then removed the man's duster and propped him up in a chair, by this time one of the girls he didn't know by name had brought him his saddlebags.
He placed the manacle on one wrist and wove the cuff and chain through the chair slats and then locked it to his other arm.
The man was slowly coming around as the Doc showed up.
After examining the wound the Doc said, "I need to bring him over to my office, the bullet in his shoulder didn't go deep, but it shattered the bone. He won't have much use of that arm in the future."
Cyrus looked up from the posters he had been reviewing, "His name is Lyle Johnson, he is wanted for three murders! One of those was a child, I only need him well enough to take back to Prescott to be hanged!"
The probing from the doctor and the mention of his name brought Lyle around enough to hear the marshal's statement.
"You have to live long enough to get me to Prescott lawman." Cyrus watched as Lyle's left hand slid into his boottop, then smiled as his eyes widened.
"I took the liberty of checking you for weapons while you were out." A string of curses followed the proclamation from Cyrus.
Cyrus escorted the doctor and Lyle back to the doc's office and stood guard while the doctor treated the wound. Lyle passed out during the process, but the doctor managed to extract the lead ball and several slivers of bone, "he'll probably be out for several hours Marshal." The doctor then dressed the wound and strapped Lyle's right arm and shoulder in place to his side. When the doc was done Cyrus shackled both of Lyle's legs to the bottom of the bed and his left wrist to the upper part.
"I'll be back to check on him later, and I will most likely spend the night here if you don't mind."
The doctor said he didn't mind and would be in during the night to check on his patient.
Cyrus headed back over to the Grey Goose to get his gear and some supper before he settled in to watch his prisoner.
-
The afternoon seemed to slip by quickly especially after the long first half of the day. On the ride back they watched as the sun was just beginning to set over the hills. The first colors were beautiful shades of pink, then oranges, but then along with the cloud cover thickening the sky earily turned into a thick blood red. It brought a chill with it that felt as though something was wrong. Leo and Lily didn't have to say anything, they just gave each other the same look of wonder.
When they entered the goose they noticed Clara and Sylvia cleaning what seemed to be blood off of the floor. Leo looked at the girls and back at Lily and nodded his head. "This place always this lively?" he stated in a quiet tone. Then he noticed Cyrus at the bar so he joined him for a drink and to hear the details.
While Clara told Lily all that had transpired Sylvia finished straightening up the room. "Thanks be that I wasn't here this time round I just don't think I could have taken any more today. My goodness Clara, I jus couldn't be more proud of how ya handle thin's round here when I'm gone. I sure come to depend on you quite a bit lately, I hope ya don mind?"
"Thank ya Lil" Clara stated with pride. "We have to look after one 'nother in this here town. I know'd you'd do it fer me"
"Well since everythin's back to normal here I do believe we'd best be gettin ready for tonights crowd, business ought to be pretty good tonight with all these people in town. Watch out fer the newcomers after a day like today ya never know whats gonna happen." And the girls went upstairs to change.
-
Cyrus quickly briefed Leo on the incident with Lyle and apprised him of the fact that now they had a live prisoner to bring back with them.
Cyrus looked at Leo, "One more thing, Lyle has been known to have accomplises on most of his jobs, most likely he was here to meet up with them!" "We could very well run into them on the trail, or it's possible they could show up here after we are gone." "Tell Lily to be careful while we are gone, and to be very wary of strangers, oh and have her tell Bill not to confront these men. They will most likely be hardened outlaws that will kill if provoked." "If they find out we are headed for Prescott with Lyle in custody they will most likely pursue us."
Cyrus then sat down to eat, when he had finished he asked the cook for another meal, and asked for it to be cut up. He took the plate of food, two cups of coffee, and headed off for the Doc's office.
Once in the Doc's office he put the food ond one cup of coffee on a small table next to the bed. He unshacked Lyle's good arm and told him, "Eat!"
Cyrus moved to the doctor's desk a good ways from the bed and sipped his coffee while he covered Lyle with his pistol. When Lyle finished Cyrus instructed him to extend his arm and then reattached the shackle.
Lyle looked at him with hate in his eyes and said, "You know my boys will never let you get to Prescott!"
Cyrus looked back at him with a cold stare and replied, "That may be so, but before they get to me I'll carry out the sentence the judge won't be able to by putting a bullet between your eyes."
Lyle just laughed, "You don't scare me Marshal, I aint afraid to die. How about you?"
Cyrus just let it go, with the nearly useless arm Lyle's days of intimidating people were pretty much over. Even if the men that rode with him were able to free him from the Marshal and Leo, Lyle would only live long enough to show them where he had put the gold or whatever other items they had stolen. Crippled up men were a liablity to wanted men on the run.
-
Leonard walked into the Grey Goose with Lily and knew something had gone wrong. His shoulders slumped as he saw the girls cleaning up the blood. More trouble. It was starting to feel like there was nothing he could do to avoid it. It seemed like since the war death and violence followed him everywhere. He saw Cyrus at the bar and walked to him, knowing that he was the only one who would know the whole story.
“Another shooting?” Leonard asked.
“Yep”, Cyrus replied, “but this one ain’t dead”. The marshal relayed the story quickly and finished with, “I guess we have our hands full”.
Leonard looked at him gravely and after what seemed to be consideration offered, “So now we don’t just have a pile of buzzard food but a wounded piece of manure to haul back? Why didn’t you just kill ‘im? Never understood the ceremony of a hangin’, dead is dead no matter how ya get there”.
Cyrus took a drink and said, “Leo, that’s the law, I’m the law and if you don’t like it so much you best run down Mexico way and let me do my business”.
“No,” was the quick reply. “It just seems like this little trip is getting more and more complicated by the minute. I swear, if this Lyle Johnson is any trouble getting me back here there won’t be a hanging unless a bunch of folks want to waste their time stringing a dead man. There’s going to be more killing, his people will be looking for us now once we’re out of town an in the big nothin’. I’ll get the drunk his money an get mine but I’m all out of patience.” Leonard looked at the law man with a desperate stare. He was about to say more and then heard a man laughing from one of the card tables. He knew that laugh well enough and excused himself from his company. The marshal saw that something had lightened in Leo and stood up as well, throwing two coins on the bar and headed off to see to his prisoner with no worry that more trouble would occur. As he walked out of the place he heard Leonard say heartily, “Dodson! You mangy dog, what the hell are you doing here?”
The story of Three Fingers Dodson was one of those too strange not to be true. He and Leonard had grown up together in Kansas, and after USA training one had been detached to fight the Rebs, and the other had been sent west to fight the Indians. The two had no illusions of ever seeing each other again. The nights they had spent discussing the mysteries of women while drinking home made rye whiskey were too many to count. The summer the mean dog on Gentry’s spread had terrorized them until Leonard’s father sent him back with a loaded flintlock to deal with cur after it had bitten him (his first kill), The time that Three Fingers became forever known as just that, and the way he would hide his injury by wearing a glove that had two of the fingers stuffed with cattails to mask the truth. The sound of the man’s unmistakable laughter brought it all back.
“Leo? Is that you?” was all the high roller could say.
“Yep. Got business in the morning, but if you plan on stickin’ around a few days I’d love ta talk. Looks like yer havin’ a good time here, I just can’t believe it’s really you.” Leonard regarded his old friend and wondered how they could end up in this place together after all the time gone by.
Dodson looked about ready to fall out his chair. “Well much congratulations on the way THAT war's going. The one with the redskins may take a bit more time.”
“We're winning huh"?
“Don’t you know?” was the startled reply.
“Do now. I kinda left it behind. That’s great ta hear Dod.” The ex soldier thought for a moment and then said, “I’m going to make sure you are comfortable here until I get back, I have an in with the owner. Let me go talk to her.” Dodson’s eyebrows raised at the mention of “her”.
“You’ll see, it’ll work out good fer all of us. My Lord it’s somethin’ ta see you again Dod. Let me straighten things out, and we’ll catch up in a weeks time or so.” With that Leonard headed up the stairs. Nobody had seen him speak so much since he had arrived. The patrons of the Goose that night decided that it might be a good idea to give Three Fingers Dodson a little respect.
.
-
Leo slowly made his way back upstairs stopping at the top of the rail to take a good look at the activity and his old friend down below before going to the room. He grinned and walked on.
There was a slight knock on the door as to simply notify Lil that he was coming in as to not to startle her. "Hey there Sugar" Lily smiled and continued to dress. "Don' mind me, I'm jes finishing up gettin' ready to make my appearance downstairs. I hear theres gonna be quite a few folks comin' to town fer the funerals tomarrow. Some are gettin' here early so I spect this ta be a good chance to promote the New Grey Goose. Hopefully people will feel more comfortable comin' in now that it'll be a site more friendly round here, don't ya think?"
"I magine ya ta do well this weekend" Leo said as he pulled his gun out of it's holster and sat down on the side of the bed.
"Have a drink and relax if'n you like, Theres a bottle on the table with two glasses." As she pointed over to the table, Lily smiled at him once more, "I'll have a sip with you if'n ya don' mind, I'll be right there I'm about done over here." Leo went ahead and poured the drinks. As she finished her primping she joined him at he table to have that drink togeather.
Leo told her about Three Fingers Dodson and filled her in on their history and asked her about making sure he could get a room so he'd be apt to stay till after the trip, he also mentioned how the man liked to drink and play cards so he could be a good customer as well as a trusted friend. Lily could see how glad Leo was to see a familiar face. She could see that this reunion was good for him and he deserved every bit of happiness he could get right about now. Also, she knew it would be one more thing that he'd come back for. "Do you want to do the introductions or should I go on ahead and introduce myself?" Lily asked.
"Well," Leo looked down at the floor for just a moment then back at Lily, "I'd be needin' ta get my things together fer the trip and seein' how yer goin downstairs soon I expect you to see him first and I already told him I'd catch up with him when I got back if he was still here. If ya don mind Lil I'd appreciate it if you'd take good care of him. But I'll warn ya his stories do have a tendancy to run on and don't you believe everything he say's! You'll like the old hound and I know he's gonna get a kick out of you!
"Alright, I'll make sure he stay's put Leo, any friend of yers is welcome here. Plus I think I'd feel a bit safer while yer gone knowing you had someone here to watch out. I know theres a chance for more trouble from the friends or family of the men your takin to Prescott. But I'll pray it stay's calm for the both of us and the time passes quickly. You can count on me Sugar."
Lily gave him a kiss and told him she'd be back after working for a while or if he felt up to it to come down a have a nightcap. It had been a very long and busy day, they both knew they needed to have some time to blow off steam and relax before his leaving in the morning. And with that said Lily made her entrance down the stairs to a busy palace floor.
-
Lyle tried once during the night to use his fork to pick the lock on his shackles, his injured arm would not cooperate. He never noticed that Cyrus had a gun pointed at him the entire time, or that Cyrus had awakened at the first rustling noise on the bed.
Cyrus woke as the sun was just cresting the horizon. Lyle was sleeping soundly after several failed attempts at freeing himself. Cyrus gathered his gear and headed to the livery. He saddled his and Lyle's horses, and then rigged the gear on the mule that would carry the two bodies. He walked the horses and the mule over to the hitching rail outside the Doc's office and then headed to the Grey Goose to get breakfast.
Cyrus had a strong cup of coffee and enjoyed some eggs and bacon, he wouldn't be eating this good for a couple of days. When he finished he asked for a plate for Lyle. He also asked if somebody could arrange to have the bodies moved from the cold house and strapped to the mule. He paid for the meals and left some extra money for whoever would move the bodies. As he was leaving he heard Leo's voice from upstairs, he knew Leo would be ready to move out by the time he had Lyle outside.
When he got back to the Doc's Lyle was still asleep. Cyrus put the cup and plate on the small table by the bed. He unshackled Lyle's legs from the end of the bed then shackled the walking chain to them. Then he unshackled Lyle's good arm and kicked the bed to wake him up.
"Time to eat, then we need to head out."
Lyle didn't have any smart responses this morning he just scowled at Cyrus while he ate. Once Lyle finished, Cyrus backed away and drew his pistol, "Time to go Lyle!"
They headed outside to where the horses were waiting. Leo was already mounted and drew his gun to cover Lyle while Cyrus helped him mount. The bodies had already been strapped to the mule so once Cyrus was mounted he picked up the lead and they turned to head out of Town.
Lyle looked at Leo and said, "If yer siding with the Marshal you are buying into a whole mess of trouble, the best way for you to stay alive is to just leave when my friends show up, or you'll be buzzard bait just like the Marshal."
Leo just smiled at Lyle and then gestured toward the third body strapped to a pack mule that Leo was leading. Leo saw something in Lyle's eyes, at first perhaps a hint of recognition, then a look of cold fear. Lyle knew something of the man on Leo's pack mule, that much was obvious. Leo decided that he would take a little time on the trail to try and learn more about the man he had been forced to kill. A man that Leo had shared a smoke with, and briefly trusted, barely a week past.
Lyle fell silent as the trio moved slowly out of town towing their grim cargo. There were only a few folks out and most didn't even look up as they passed.
Leo glanced over at the Grey Goose as they went by. At one window was Lily, that brought a smile to his face and flooded his mind with warm feelings. At another window stood Three Fingers Dodson, he had kind of a funny look on his face as he watched the procession move by. The sight of him brought back childhood memories and the realization in Leo that he knew very little of the man who looked down on them now.
-
Here was quite the parade. Leonard wondered how he continued to find himself in these odd circumstances. Three dead men who would smell to high heaven by nightfall, a federal marshal and a prisoner who seemed to have no lack for words.
A look up as they passed the Goose showed sweet Lily waving from window. He had wasted the last night he had with her before leaving drilling her on loading the H&R. He wanted her safe. Then there was Dodson three windows to the left. Leonard looked forward to seeing him again, but something had changed about him since they had last met. Then again, much had changed in Leonard since then to.
The man called Lyle began babbling on from the minute they had set out. Something had slipped his nerves. He was quiet as the procession strode through town but became more and more vocal as the structures thinned and the desert opened upon them. As annoying as it was, Leonard thought it was good. The man would talk, and give information after a mere few hours out here. That information could save Cyrus and himself.
The talk went on and on about how Lyle’s friends would come and how they would pay and so on and so forth. Then Lyle made a grievous error. In the middle of his goings on he said, “You two don’t know nothin’ bout death.”
Cyrus and Leonard both brought there mounts to a halt at that. They both regarded the prisoner with a stare no one would ever want to be met with. Cyrus spoke first. “Son, you are gonna swing at the gallows in Prescott and we’ll all know a bit more about death when that happens”. He looked at Leonard who was just setting his horse with a completely blank expression on his face.
He snapped out of it and asked quietly, “You ever been ta the war?” Lyle shook his head and mumbled something about prison and heading west. Leonard looked at him in a way Cyrus had never seen one man look at another before. “So your gonna say a fool thing like that huh?” His revolver was drawn now and the hammer clicked back. The sound was loud out here.
Cyrus instinctively put his hand on the grip of his pistol. “Now Leo, don’t let him get to you” he said.
“He ain’t,” Leonard said absently. Then he continued grilling the prisoner in that mild tone. “You never picked pieces of another man’s bone outta yer hair? Been splashed in blood you couldn’t wash out fer weeks? Been in a turkey shoot where fancy gal’s was sittin’ on a hillside eatin’ cucumber sandwiches while our boys died? And yer here ta tell me about death? Let’s move” Leonard said as he holstered his old friend, “I hate this”.
Lyle was quiet after that, but as the men rode on Cyrus had some questions of his own to ask. It seemed his partner in this expedition had the potential of being a loose cannon.
That could be for the better or the worse.
-
Things remained quite as they rode through the day. After Lyle's initial outburst, and the confrontation with Leo, he took to muttering to himself.
The group stopped briefly at midday for a bite to eat, but when evening set in they were still only slghtly more than halfway to Prescott. Cyrus found them a place to camp near a bluff that protected them on three sides, the only way someone could come at them was straight on. Of course several men with guns could also pin them in this area, and given enough time someone might be able to work their way above them.
The area Cyrus picked was just off of one of the Stage routes so even if they did get pinned down it couldn't be for more than half a day before a Stage passed in one direction or the other. There was a small spring at the back of this small area carved out of the bluff and a few decent boulders to use for cover. As they set up camp Cyrus and Leo discussed setting a watch. Cyrus explained he was always up early to watch the sun rise so if Leo didn't mind he would take the second half of the watch.
One the horses were hobbled and watered Cyrus set to fixing a campfire and cooking up some beans and bacon and coffee.
Leo took responsibility for getting Lyle secure in an area were they could watch him and the area outside the camp. This also provided Leo a chance to talk with Lyle alone, out of the Marshal's hearing.
-
It was starting to rain in Prescott, Arizona, and people who didn't need to work in the fields, mines or streets headed in. It was getting late anyways, the sun was just over the rolling hills and bluffs on the western side, the sunset lighting up Thumb Butte and turning it a beautiful red through the rain. There was a lone rider coming up into the city limits, half asleep but also having one hand on his reigns and the pummel of his cutlass and the other hand resting on his Spencer carbine resting on his lap.
The painted mare appeared to know where she was going. Truth be told, the horse and rider had never been to Prescott, the horse just knew that if it lead the rider to a pub, bar, or tavern, she'd get an apple out of the deal. People in town noticed the smart horse and half asleep rider. He was hard to miss, even though he was only 5'6", he had a broad build and had a sailor's winter frock coat on. The coat also had gold bands around the arms, signaling that whoever was the original wearer was a Lieutenant. A rain drop landed on the horse's back, and causing the horse to slap it with her tail, also hitting the back of her asleep rider.
"Awh, man! Harriet! Why did you do that?" The rider chuckled, as he leaned in to the horses ear and lay down against her neck, rubbing her behind her ears where she liked it. "We aren't near the post yet... I had at least another thirty seconds of rest left."
The rider then leaned back in his saddle and stretched out. The people around really took notice now as the horse hardly moved and kept heading right to the saloon, without reigns, without any prompting.
"Good girl, Harriet." The stranger said as he got out of the saddle and stretched his legs. The horse grabbed onto his hat. "Hey! Give me that, or you don't get your apple!"
The horse conceded and let him have his cream colored Stetson back. "See, now look what you did, you added a bite mark to a sweat stain! What am I going to do with you? Huh?" Then he headed to the back of his saddle and got out the apple and handed it to the horse as he tied a clove hitch around the post.
"Hey stranger, that's some fine mare you got there!" A teenage boy said as the stranger started for the saloon door. "She sure is smart."
"Yes, she is," The newcomer said as he continued for the door, "smart enough that if you try to steal her, she'll just kill you and come running back." It was all he needed to say as he entered the saloon. Luckily no one in the saloon had really taken notice of him, besides the jacket. He casually walked up to the bar to order a drink.
"What can I get you stranger?" The barkeep asked.
"How about some coffee to start with and maybe some rum too?" The stranger asked, causing the barkeep give him a look.
"Rum huh? This here is 'Whiskey Row.' as in we sell 'whiskey.' I can get you the cawfee though no problem, rum huh? What do you think you are, a sailor turned cowboy?" The barkeep asked, testing the strangers calm.
The stranger just chuckled, "Something like that, here, I'd like some rum, please." He then tossed a gold coin over to the barkeep, a doubloon. "Don't worry, it's real. Again, I'd like some rum."
"Not a problem, just thought it was funny is all. Got a thing against whiskey?" The barkeep chuckled.
"No, just like rum." The stranger winked.
"You like rum huh? What are you a foofoo cowboy?" A miner asked at a card table, playing Pharoh.
"Well, I like rum, but I'm not a boy, and I don't like cows, except for eating... so I guess that means I'm not a cowboy though." The stranger replied. "Mind if I join you?"
"Sure, you're more than welcome seeing as what you paid for your drink with. Didn't know that rum was so expensive," then the miner started to chuckle, "or is that for the cawfee."
"Oh don't worry, he just paid himself through the weekend, and that includes boarding too, stranger." The barkeep said after realizing it was a true doubloon.
"Say, my name is Frank, and your name was?" The miner added, while shaking the newcomer's hand as he sat at the table.
"Nice to meet you Frank, and I didn't say my name." The newcomer replied back.
-
Leonard secured the prisoner and threw his bed roll at him. Lyle saw blood in his captor’s eyes and thought franticly of how to turn things in his favor. He knew it wouldn’t be long before he was rescued, and didn’t want there to be any chance of him dying before that could happen.
Lyle ended his silence and voiced, “so is that why ya walk funny?” Leonard was in the process of rolling a smoke when this came and stopped short.
“What?” The response was curt.
“Led me ta believe ya were in the war. Just askin’ if that’s why yer leg is messed up. No harm meant, just conversatin’”
Leonard knew the man was ready to talk. “What’s it ta you?”
Lyle took his chance, “well, you’d fit in right good with ma boys. I’ll give ‘em the signal so when they get rid of the marshal there, they’ll leave ya be. Unless acourse ya get rid of him yerself. Yer a killer, I kin see it.”
Leonard finished rolling and reached for a match. “Why would I do a thing like that fer a piece a trash like you? You said I walk funny, imagine how funny it’ll be when I’m walkin’ around with ma right foot stuck in yer…”
“No, no, no” Lyle tried to regroup. “We’re a good outfit when it comes ta getting rich. Join us an ya can give that whore a yer’s everythin’ she ever wanted.” He suddenly wished he had bitten his tongue off before he said that last bit. It was most certainly the wrong thing to have said. He now knew that he just may well be dead long before his companions arrived for the ambush. He didn’t look over at Leonard, he just waited to here that clicking noise again. The marshal wasn’t here to stop it this time.
Instead of the sound of a revolver, what Lyle heard next was the ex soldiers voice. “You remind of someone. Someone in Texas who is now helpin’ a patch a daisies grow.” The prisoner looked over now and Leonard was alternately studying his cigarette and staring into the horizon. “Funny how there’s things ya just as soon never talk about, then in the right place at the right time ya tell em ta someone who’s mouth ya wouldn’t spit in if their tongue was on fire. But I got a strong notion yer about at the end a yer days Mr. Johnson. Say a prayer fer yer friends too if they do show. See, me an that law dog over there got an important unnerstandin’.”
Lyle’s hopes faded rapidly, but he was fascinated to hear what the cold man had to say.
“So before I fetch you a plate a that hot food over there an most likely spill it in yer lap, I’ll let ya in on something. You can think about it when it’s your turn ta go. And Leonard proceeded to tell a tale that left the prisoner baffled. It was a tale of his weakness, about mid way through, he got the point which disheartened him even more.
“Ya see, I got a condition,” Leonard began, “the doc had a name fer it back home but I can’t remember it. Sometimes, but not much, when I see somethin’ move real fast I go inta a fit. I hit the ground, wave ma arms an try ta swallow ma tongue. Matter of fact it happened ta me once down there in Texas. Worthless little town like the one ya were just in. Stopped there figurin’ I could get a good night’s rest and bleed on some fancy sheets instead of the dirt fer a change.” Lyle did not interrupt; he was starting to believe he was in the presence of a mad man
“The only thing this town had ta say fer it’s self was a man who said he had just returned from the war. He was made out ta be a hero. He talked a lot, an it didn’t take long ta see he was fakin’ the whole thing. Guess I started starin’ at him the way I stare at folks I don’t like. Didn’t realize I was doin’ it, but I musta been.” Leonard cocked his head and looked off in another direction. To the prisoner it looked more like he was looking through something than at it. “After a spell of drinkin’ he come over asked me if I had somethin’ on ma mind. I told him he was a liar. He got mad an’ I left when someone went for the sheriff. He said no one was gonna get away with callin’ him a liar and that he knew Robert E. Lee personally. So I slept with ma horse that night outside of town.”
At this point Lyle had begun quietly muttering to himself again. Leonard pitched his smoke and continued. “Next morning, I headed out. Decided ta go through town and spare ol’ Lucky the nettles as much as possible. Figured I’d just move on with no trouble.” Now the man lowered his head as he went on. “Right there in front of the mercantile was that lyin’ SOB getting a picture made with some of the selectmen. I couldn’t take ma eyes off him, I hated him. There was a big bright poof from the camera an I fell right off Lucky. Had one a them fits ya could say.
Lyle made a minor interruption and asked, “is that Lucky over there?”
Leonard looked at him with an annoyed glance and said, “naw, Lucky’s dead, don’t matter.” And he continued while shifting his attention back to the horizon.
“Laid there jerkin in the street til the toy soldier come upon me. Bastard stuck a broom handle in ma mouth an made it look like he was helpin’. What folks didn’t know is that he was shoving that stick down ma throat, he was tryin’ ta kill me an’ look like a hero doin’ it. Guess he thought I had it in mind ta tell folks he was a fake. That about made me wake up quick.” Now he turned his head directly towards Lyle. “That man was standin’ directly above me an I shot him in a place no man ought ever be shot.” The prisoner winced at this.
“I picked maself up and waited fer hell. Town hero was layin there screamin’ an’ holdin on ta his manly parts. But nothing happened. Just a lot of folks starin’ at me. Thought I had the devil in me er somethin’. Rode outta that town just as perty as ya please. Just a crazy Yank killin’ a Reb off the field I guess. Way them folks looked at me was somethin’ else.”
Lyle spoke again, “Yer gonna talk at me all night so’s I’m tired in the mornin’. I know what yer doin’. I ain’t a fool.”
Leonard spoke quietly, “maybe, but you should consider that the fella I’m draggin around on that mule weren’t tired. He’s dead anyway.
Desert lightening began to flash in the sky followed by the sound of thunder. The prisoner could not recall ever feeling this uncomfortable and did not have a restful evening.
-
The food was ready, not much really, beans and bacon and some biscuits with hot coffee to wash it down.
Cyrus took note of the fact that Lyle was very quiet during the meal and kept glancing over at Leonard as if he thought the man would jump him at any minute.
Leonard made some small talk with Cyrus during the meal, but he mostly kept his eyes on Lyle. It was obvious that something had happened, and Cyrus figured that Leonard would tell him in good time.
Cyrus and Leonard discussed standing watch and Cyrus insisted on taking secong shift as he told Leonard, "I'm up early anyway, I like to watch the sun rise."
Lyle broke his silence by saying, "Enjoy it Lawman, it'll probably be yer last one!" He quickly fell silent again as he saw the look that Leonard was giving him.
Leonard got another cup of coffee and arranged his position so he could watch the prisoner and the area leading up to the camp.
Cyrus settled in to get some shut eye.
About two hours after Cyrus had settled in Leonard noticed him twitching a little in his sleep!
While Cyrus was sleeping the memories came.
He had been riding for two days when he came upon the small town. He decided to stop and get some supplies since he didn't know what direction the trail he had been following would take him. After going to the General Store and getting what he needed he decided to have a drink and see if the bartender had seen anyone come through lately. Covered in dust from the trail, wearing a duster and with his hat pulled low even some of Cyrus' closer friends wouldn't have recognized him. It was early and the bar was failrly deserted, just three rough looking fellows in one corner playing cards. Cyrus ordered a whiskey and slipped the bartender a bit extra as he quitely asked if he had seen any strangers around town, or passing through the last couple of days. The bartender said six men had ridden in a day and a half before, but only five left. The other one said he was going to hang around and try his hand a minig up in the hills, then he said that he was the fella at the back of the card table playing in the corner. Cyrus didn't even act like he had acknowleged the bartender's words, but his eyes rose enough to see the man in the mirror over the bar. Cyrus' eyes got slightly wider, it was Roland Jarrett who had worked doing odd jobs at the livery in Prescott, he heard him drunkenly telling the men that he woudl play a few more hands then he needed to head out to his claim. Cyrus realized that he hadn't showed up for work in the days following the Sheriff rounding up the gang that had caused all trouble in and around Prescott. Cyrus gave no outward sign that he had recognized the man, and it wasn't unusual for a drifter to work for a while in a Town and then wander on to find his fortune elsewhere, still there was something that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck that told him it was no coincidence. Cyrus finished his whiskey and nodded to the bartender than he went out and mounted up, it was already dusk and the shadows were starting to lengthen, all thought of spending the night in a nice warm bed were gone. About an hour later Roland came out and mounted up, it was apparent that he was deep in his cups as he loudly sang a rather racouos song as he rode out. It was dark enough now that Roland never noticed as Cyrus moved his horse out of the alley and began to shadow him. Roland's claim was about an hour and half's ride out of town. Cyrus secured his horse in a copse of trees and slowly crept up to the camp, Roland seemed to be the only one about, then he went into his tent and seemed to be talking to someone Cyrus moved around to where he could see through the tent flap and was quickly filled with anger, as any doubt was dispelled. Hanging on the post in the middle of the tent was one of Margaret's dresses, and Roland was talking to it as if a woman still wore it. What Cyrus heard next chilled his blood, "Hey pretty lady did you enjoy it when me and my buddies had ou rway with you, I bet you did." Cyrus was now in an almost blinding rage, as he burst into the tent and struck Roland with the butt of his pistol knocking him to the ground. Roland rolled on to his back and his hand went for his pistol, Cyrus shot him in the hand, the light within the tent allowed Roland to see the man's features and recognition dawned on him and the sudden chill that coursed through his body di a great deal to sober him up. "Deputy they made me help, and they made me join in, but I didn't kill her or the boy, they would a killed me if I hadn't gone along." "After we rode out they decided to dump me here in this town said I wasn't tough enough to ride with them, n that's tha God's truth too." Cyrus looked at the pathetic man, Who were they?" Roland looked into eye thats glittered like crystals of ice, and yet burned with an all consuming hatred. "Well I don't really know their names." The gun in Cyrus' hand was cocked and he shot Roland in the right knee, "Names" was all he said in a cold dead voice. Roland screamed, "I can't tell you they will kill me if they find out." The hammer was drawn back, the cylinder revolved and when the hammer fell Roland's left knee exploded in shower of blood. Roland passed out. Roland came suddenly to as water was thrown in his face, his hand hurt, and both knees gave force a seering pain. "NAMES!" was all he heard. Roland began to cry, It was Little Billy, Reggie White, Harold Sumner, the Mexican, and the Half Breed, I don't know their names." Roland broke down into a sobbing heap at this point. Cyrus looked at the dress and a tear rolled down his cheek, he screamed out his wife and son's names as the hammer fell a final time and he shot Roland Jarrett in the head.
Leonard had watched the Marshal's dream go on for quite a while, when suddenly Cyrus sat bolt upright and screamed, "MARGARET, JACOB" suddenly Cyrus was wide awake with his gun in his hand. It slowly registered where he was and he noticed Leonard and Lyle looking at him, and from the look on their faces he began to realize that he must have actually called the names out loud at the end of his dream.
Leonard immediately went back to watching the surrounding area, Lyle muttered something about a crazy man, but laid back down. Cyrus got up and stoked the fire, then heated the coffee. He checked his pocketwatch and walked over to Leonard, "Why don't you get some shuteye?" Leonard replied, "You still got about an hour and a half before you're supposed to releive me." Cyrus just shrugged and said, "I'm awake now, might as well let you take advantage of it."
Leonard could see there was no point arguing so he went over to his gear and settled down. Everything remained quiet until shortly before dawn. The slight graying of the sky from the predawn light provided just enough contrast for Cyrus to notice a shadow detatch itself from one outcropping of rock and then move towards another. Cyrus kicked Leonard's booted feet and whispered, "We've got company!"
-
As the men rode out of town all Lily could do was hope the time would go by quickly and while she was still alone in her room peering from the window she whispered a small prayer for the safe return of her beloved.
The town was quickly waking to what would be a busy day. The business owners were preparing to open a bit early today with the anticipation of new customers and old friends all gathering for a double funeral. Bill was busy sweeping off the front walkway of the general store, Joe was bailing hay and cleaning stalls for new arrivals and George already had coffee and breakfast for anyone who was ready.
George, who most people called cook, was a kind hearted older man who always seemed to be the first person in town to be settin’ on the front porch at the of the Goose at the crack of dawn with a hot cup of coffee in his hand. He had to have his own calmness before getting busy with the customers. But today he cut his ritual short and began cooking early. Langley was about the best friend he had ever had and together they both put up with Lou as a boss, tyrant and friend. They had all three lived in this dried up old town since it began. They had watched it grow from the ground up then they watched as the town almost died, yet they stayed, and now that the town was finally coming back to life again both of his long term friends were dead. The morning coffee wasn’t the same without his friends. However, his pride was strong, he would never let anyone see his sorrow, so he dove right into his work.
By late morning the rooms at the Goose were almost all full, only one remaining. Business was good and calm for the moment. Tonight would be a different story since the crowd was to gather here after the funeral as a send off for the departed friends. Lily had planned on attending the funerals with most of her employees so she made arrangements to have Lenny only serve drinks during the hour they were to be gone, no other services were to be rendered. Artie would be there as well holding up the bar as usual. Noticing that he wasn’t in the bag as of yet Lily softly said to him, “I’d appreciate it Artie if you can hold back somewhat until I return I sure could use another set of eyes around here while I’m gone and since you know this business better than most I could sure use yer help. I’ll buy ya a real drink when I return if ya hold back with a draft for now, how’s that sound ta you?” Artie shook his head up and down, “You can depend on me Miss Lily, I promise” “I know I can, and If Lenny needs anything I know you’ll help so I’ll just say Thank ya Sugar” and she smiled and turned away.
After playing meet and greet to many new and old faces in the bar, it was time to get ready so she headed upstairs. It wasn’t long before the girls were ready to go. They all met up on the front porch to go down to the cemetery. They began to walk slowly down the wooded walkways, passing the storefronts and eventually down onto the dirt roadway. As they were coming up to the first houses on the side of town they could smell trouble. Lily looked over at the girls and told them just to keep walking no matter what and not to stop. Well, Mrs. Margaret MacIntire and a couple of her friends from the church were waiting for the girls to walk by. “A bunch of old bitty’s just ignore them, ” Lily said through her teeth. “Where do you think your going? You Whores are not welcome on Gods property, why don’t you just go back to where you belong.” Mrs. MacIntire sneered at the girls and pointed in the direction of the bar.
“We have every right to pay our respects to our friends, however, you may stay home if you feel offended by our presence, I’m sure the Lord won’t mind!” Lily spoke gracefully back at the ladies and kept walking. “Now, you ladies have a nice day” She nodded and smiled as she and the girls passed right on by.
The ladies just scowled and looked at each other in amazement. “You will all have such fates, you heathen devils!!” Mrs. MacIntire yelled out as they continued to walk to the church yard.
The service was lovely and not too long. No one knew there would be so many people there, it was truly wonderful and nerve racking at the same time. After the service was over Lily gathered Clara and the others to walk back together to said on the way, “With all these strangers in town we have to keep our guard up at all times. There are wolves among the sheep and we have to be ready for anything. Until Leonard gets back we are on our own. Let’s get back quickly and everyone works tonight. Sadie, you please pay attention to the man Leo called Mr. Dodson. He is our special guest and I have a feeling if there’s trouble he’ll be a good one to have around. If there’s anyone who looks like trouble or if ya hear anything you tell me quickly, and make sure ya all keep me informed of all going’s on tonight, that’s an order! Do ya all understand?” Swiftly they all agreed and went back to the Goose expecting a long night ahead of them.
-
Leonard had lain there, not sleeping, but allowing himself to rest. It was something he had learned to do in the Army. He kept still and tried not to distract himself with fanciful thoughts. He trusted Cyrus on watch but knew well enough never to put all ones faith in another’s hands. He heard the marshal approach around sunrise and knew it was time. He felt a kick at his feet and heard, “We got company”.
Leonard opened his eyes and let the visions of Lily dissolve. “Hope ya brought a shovel, I’d hate ta leave em fer the buzzards.” They were odd words but sounded natural coming from this man. Cyrus looked at his companion and wondered. He wondered just what type of man he had involved himself with. The thoughts processed quickly and he decided that right now he didn’t care. If Leonard drew on him, Cyrus felt he was still fast enough to take him down. But he didn’t think that would be the case. He assessed that this man’s dark side was reserved only for those who deserved it, even if his dark side was his only side.
Leonard stood and nodded out toward the desert. “One rider ta draw us out”, was all he had to say.
“Looked that way to me too”, Cyrus said. “I think we should wait him out and see if he wants to bargain. It won’t do him any good, but it will buy us some time with the others. I’m guessin’ there’s at least five of them. I think I know who they are.”
“Well now” Leonard said, “I figure we just shoot ol’ Lyle there an draw em all out against their plan.” Lyle Johnson hadn’t exactly been asleep either and turned his head with a start when he heard this.
“You can’t kill me out here! Yer the law!”
Cyrus looked over at his partner. Leonard looked back and asked, “Do ya see this is the only way? They’re boxing us in an’ think they have all the time in the world. Havin’ this one this close ta us adds another danger. They’re just gonna kill ‘im once they hear what he knows.”
“That’s not true!” yelled the prisoner. Those men would all die fer me!”
“No doubt about that Mr. Johnson, that’s what they’re about ta do.” Cyrus noticed that as Leonard said this, he seemed completely in his element. Watching this, the temperature almost seemed to drop ten degrees or more.
The marshal suddenly jerked his head away from the other two and said, “Here comes the first. Let’s see what he has to say.”
Leonard looked up and saw the rider coming. It was a portly Mexican who from this distance bore a striking resemblance to the brother of Hector Morales. Another few paces and he was sure this was the man who had once referred to him as “El Muerte” out there in the Texas desert, not so long ago.
As the fat man known as Chulo (it was a joke in his village) approached, he saw two men facing him. This was how it had been planned. They had weapons pointed at him, but he was holding his pistol as well. Surely these gringos knew better than to fire on him. At least one of them was a lawman and wanted answers more than death. Harold had told him this is how it would be. Crazy Harold always was right, almost as much as Hector had been (Chulo liked the way the two names sounded similar). But then something happened as he drew close to the three men in the bluff. His heart felt as if it had stopped when his eyes connected with one of his prey.
“Dios mio.” Chulo brought his horse to a halt and crossed himself.
Leonard regarded him with cold eyes and raised his voice to cover the distance between the two of them across the desert wind. “Ya mean ta tell me God loves me enough ta give me another crack at killin’ you!” Then the gringo laughed and Chulo began to think that maybe Harold had been wrong about this plan.
-
Cyrus listened to the exchange between Leonard and the rider. The man seemed to have gotten very nevouos when Leonard started talking.
Cyrus watched the rider and the area beyond him knowing that this man was just a decoy while the others moved into position.
The rider spoke, "Senors it would be best if you would give your prisoner over to us, we promise to just ride away, it would be the healthiest option."
Cyrus heard Leonard reply, "Chulo, death is ready to welcome you and your friends."
There was more movement in the rocks, as Chulo seemed to shiver at Leonard's reply.
There was a light whistle from out in the dark and Chulo looked at the two men, "It is a shame you will not listen!"
As if on cue a rider from the left and one from the right rode into view at a fast clip, firing as they came. It was a classic ploy to try and get one of them to stand up to try and draw a bead on the fast moving men.
Chulo also began firing as he backed his horse away. Cyrus brought the Sharps 45-70 up and timed his shot for the point where the two riders would criss-cross. Leonard fired and Chulo slumped and dropped from his horse, seconds later the Sharps spoke and the closest rider was lifted from his saddle, and as Cyrus hoped he struck the other rider knocking him off of his horse as well.
In the confusion someone had grabbed Chulo and pulled him back behind a rock, his pained voice called out a moment later, "Maybe death is not on your side today Senors!"
Cyrus listened to the statement while he loaded the Sharps.
At least one of their opponents was dead, and Chulo was injured, how badly they didn't know, but at least their odds were improving. The other rider appeared to be out cold.
"There's only two of em, come and get em boys", shouted Lyle.
Leonard looked at him and said, "Another word out of you and I'll put a bullet in that loud mouth of yours!"
Lyle could tell from Leonard's eyes that this was no idle promise, he hunkered down silently and prayed that one of his partners would shoot Leonard and remove him as a threat.
Several shots rang out and pinged off of nearby rocks, Cyrus and Leonard being seasoned fighters refrained from returning any shots without a clear target.
Cyrus looked at Leonard, "Well, there is at least one with Chulo, and one in the rocks to the right, did you make out any positions on the others?"
-
~meanwhile, back in Prescott~
Frank looked at the other and just grunted. "Then I guess you aren't playing, no matter what kind of money you gots."
"Really? Do the others coincide with your thoughts? Oh, I am so sorry, apparently your vocabulary only includes up to two syllables and that of what? 'Youngster' grade level?" The sailing cowboy retorted, lifting up his hat.
Funny thing was, that was an insult, which usually gets people upset but besides the barkeep who just smirked, no one else knew what the stranger was saying.
"Judging by your smirk, stranger, I gots'ta'ben thinking you're making fun of me." Frank answered, leaning forward.
"Well, depends on if you get insulted by someone telling you my horse has more brains than you." The white-hat sailor retorted.
Frank then stood up, and everyone behind both him and the stranger got out of the way.
"Look, I dun't gett yor problem, but it's getting on my nerves." Frank added, stuttering.
"Well, stop stuttering and get to work. You notice," just then the stranger lifted up his jacket slowly to reveal no guns, "I'm unarmed, so if you'll be murdering me, then get to it."
Frank just looked shocked, and didn't know what to do, he looked around the bar trying to see what the others opinions were.
"Look Frank, it's simple, I just wanted to play, but if you'll be sending me eight feet down, then get to it."
"Eight, don't you mean six, stranger." One of the other players asked.
"Nope, six isn't nearly deep enough for me to be peaceful." Then the stranger's whole look got fearsome, his mouth showed a smile, but in his eyes was anything but happiness. "Get to work, Frank."
"Well, you're unermed." Frank replied.
"Yes, I am, and if you want to live it better stay that way."
Frank then just got a complete look of fear in his eyes and started to think about drawing his pistol. It was too late. The stranger kicked the table into him, knocking him in the groin area. By the time Frank even knew what was going on, the stranger was up and behind him, bashing his head into the bar, and knocking him out cold.
"See, told you." Was all the stranger said, looking down at the slumped miner. "His pelvic bone is probably broken now, the cartiledge holding it all together probably snapped, that wasn't the table you heard. Get him to a doc and don't let him walk for a week." The stranger said as he was rifling through Franks pockets. "No I'm not stealing nothing, just checking for anything to prove his name was Frank."
"We all knew him as Frank." The barkeep replied.
"Yeah we did, thanks stranger, we all didn't like him either." The second guy at the table said again, getting up and walking over. "No wonder you want eight." He then shook the strangers hand.
"You don't like him huh?" The stranger said as he took the gunbelt off, noticing that there were a pair of badly used and rusted 1858 Remingtons in the holster. "Then let's get rid of him then." Then the stranger, who didn't look that big, picked up Frank over his shoulders, which brought Frank out of unconsciousness and had him wailing because of both his broken cheek and groin.
The stranger went outside the bar, and the others followed behind him. "Well, rumor has it these people don't like you, surprise, surprise." Then he tossed him out into the street. "See, and I thought it was just me." Then the stranger un-holstered one of Frank's pistols. "Damn good thing you didn't try using these, she would have blown up in your face. That's not a nice thing to do to a not-even ten year old pistol. Fine pistols too."
The stranger was walking over to his horse as he did this, drawing up his cutlass scabbard and grabbing his Spencer Carbine. "Now these are in fine order, time for you to leave now." The stranger added, walking up to Frank with his cutlass unsheathed, gleaming in the torch-lights of the street. "Understand?"
-
Leonard had a deep desire to walk over to Chulo’s refuge and shoot him as well as the man that had saved him, but that would be foolish. There were at least three more out there hoping for such a thing. More shots came from the rock that the Mexican had been pulled to. The ricochets sounded like angry wasps flying over head. Leonard could count the men he had known that had died due to stray bullets, and he was getting uneasy. He looked over at Cyrus and asked, “Can you cover me?”
The marshal nodded and prepared to level the buffalo gun. Leo went on, “We got three out there, four if one of ‘em’s tricky. Gotta get the man behind yonder rock, I figure he’s in my range.” Cyrus had already made the same conclusions. He was well seasoned to say the least. Leonard waited for the next shot and as it came he stood and fired. The Sharps followed a second later as the other bandits made their positions known. One of them was knocked back off his horse as if a broom had come down from the heavens and swept him away.
The two leaders of the ugliest funeral procession Leonard had ever seen hunkered back down as a new rain of gun fire came down upon them. They could hear gurgling noises coming from behind Chulo’s posisition and the Mexican swearing in his native language. Cyrus saw Lyle fall back. His eyes were open but so was the large hole in his head. A pair of men left in sight turned and ran as if they were following a cue of some sort.
Things got quiet the way they do after a skirmish. Leonard and the tin star looked over at Lyle whose eyes were staring directly into the sun. Leonard hoped in some way that the dead man was able to feel the burning pain. A ruthless thought, but it felt right. Chulo had quit his sniveling and the man with him had quit making those wet noises. All that was left was the soft groaning of the rider who had taken the secondary blow from the marshal’s rifle after it had passed cleanly through the original target.
Cyrus had reloaded and Leonard asked him to cover him again. Cyrus nodded and Leo left cover to walk over to the rock embankment that Chulo and the other had hidden behind. No gunshots came until the ex-soldier disappeared behind the rock. There were two, and immediately afterward Leonard poked his head up and said, “They’re dead, do we have ta drag them back ta Prescott too?”
Cyrus’ answer was short, “Not just yet, I have some business with that man over there.”
Leonard saw that he and his partner had more in common than he had expected. “You go right ahead, but if there is another one out there an he shoots me, I’ll be a little put off”. Cyrus didn’t laugh, he just said, “now you cover me”.
-
Cyrus moved over to where Leonard was and handed him the Sharps, in case any of those that ran off decided to return. Cyrus didn't expect that to happen, if Lyle knew where the money was he couldn't talk about it now so the others probably figured it wasn't worth their skin to to fight it out.
Cyrus moved out into the rocks, there was one more dead man and the signs where at least three riders had headed out. It looked like the fight was over, but instead of heading over to where Leonard was he went to the two men that had criss crossed earlier at the start of the fight. His initial hope had been to take out one rider and hope that as he went down he would trip up the other horse and cause the other rider to fall maybe breaking his neck.
The bullet had entered the first rider about the middle of his chest, penetrated through and came out at a slightly higher angle. The secong man had a graze mark across his temple where the exiting bullit had struck him. That man's left arm was bent at a strange angle so most likely it had broken in the fall.
Cyrus rolled the unconcious man over and drew in a sharp breath, he knew this man, in fact he had been searching for him for quite some time. Cyrus splashed some water from his canteen itnto the man's face and he began to come around. As the man's eyelids fluttered open the first sight that registered was the gun pointed at his head. His eyes got much wider as he realized who was holding the gun.
"Well should I call you El Tigre as you like your men to call you or Juan Alvarez the name you went by years ago in Prescott?" The man didn't answer he just stared at Cyrus with hatred in his eyes.
"I don't suppose you would like to tell me where the half-breed, Red Hawk, that rode with you back then is, would you?" Alvarez spit at the lawman, "I will never tell you, just take me back to your jail lawman."
"Jail is too good for the likes of you, I was thinking of carving you up piece by piece until you talk." to emphasize this Cyrus pulled his knife from his scabbard and sliced one of Juan's palms.
"Even if I knew where he was I wouldn't tell you", he hissed through clenched teeth.
Cyrus made another cut. "Next I'll see how bad that arm is busted up, looks like it could be painful." to make his point Cyrus put some pressure on it with his boot.
"He hasn't ridden with me in several years, he was loco, he is the one who killed your wife and son!" Juan had already come the the conclusion that he wasn't leaving here alive, and decided on a desperate plan. He looked directly into Cyrus eyes, "Your wife enjoyed our time together, I showed her how it feels to be with a real man."
Cyrus recoiled in shock at the statement and Juan made his play as he reached for the derringer in his boot. Cyrus recovered before Juan's hand had managed to pull the gun free and shot him throught the heart and with tears rolling down his cheeks he emptied the remaining rounds from his revolver into the body.
Leonard had heard part of the conversation and at the gunshots he came around the rock.
Cyrus was standing there with the gun levelled at the man on the ground, pulling back the hammer and letting it fall on the already fired chambers. When he finally stopped he looked up and saw Leonard, "He went for a gun." was all Cyrus said.
As he walked back toward their camp, he looked over his shoulder and said, "None of these have any wanted bills on them, let's put Lyle's body over the mule and head on in to Prescott." "You got any questions to ask you can ask them on the trail."
-
It was like the war all over again, but somewhat different this time. The killing felt the same, but the feelings that remained were different. There was vengeance here. Leonard had his with the fat Mexican and the marshal had his with the other. He stood there wondering just how odd it was that they had all come together in this place, and in a way, had sorted it out. He wondered if this type of occurrence would ever stop happening and how it would affect Lily if it never did.
Leonard considered the marshal closely. He was crying. When a man feels that deeply, it’s best not to ask questions. All he could say to Cyrus was, “The only question I got is how in the hell we pulled that off?” Cyrus broke camp as Leonard looked out at the horizon. No signs of activity out there. He determined that those who had got away would be hunted down by the man who was currently packing his kit. The law was different out here, and it certainly worked to his advantage. He had a glimmer of hope that things just may work out after all.
When the marshal was ready to go and there was no evidence of activity in that expanse of the Arizona desert, he went out into the clearing and went over the bodies. Leonard understood that he was looking for clues, this was not the kind of man that would pick one over for a nice pocket watch or even coins. He was a man obsessed, and from what Leonard had overheard, he had good reason.
Lyle had been thrown over the back of his own horse and the two men continued on their way to Prescott. Even if Cyrus had brought a shovel it didn’t matter, the rest were left to the elements. As they headed out, the old marshal said, “If the Good Lord wants them buried he can blow some dust over ‘em, there’s plenty around.”
-
The bar was full of patrons after the service; they all seemed to be in good spirits having a loud yet friendly celebration of friendship. The stories of Lou and Langley were running rapid one after another with no end in sight. We all thought we knew them well enough but after hearing some of the tales we really didn’t know many sides to these two men and their associations together. It seems they had both lived very colorful, dangerous and full lives. But now as we say goodbye to them a new time is quickly being ushered in rather quickly.
The hooch was flowing, cards were being dealt, the girls were entertaining, and business seemed to be very good.
Just about everyone had wished me well in my new venture and was, for the most part, very supportive. After all it had been a very small town for quite a while now and most everyone looked out for one another. Also, now that the copper mine was doing well again we had all hoped to see this town flourishes once more. New comers were being invited in as regulars and hopefully their loved ones would find our little town and want to call it home. However, along with good fortune, comes greed and temptation as we all have experienced in life.
Lily looked around at all the life in the Grey Goose and tried to take it all in. This was her responsibility now and that prospect was frightening to her, all she could think about was how soon Leo could get back so she could feel safe again.
“Lenny,” she cried out, “ the house is buyin’ a drink for everyone so we can toast our friends and say our last goodbye. So fill em’ up!!” Everyone yelled and whistled at the thought of getting a free drink! “Drink up everyone, cuz’ generosity is bad fer business!!” Everyone laughed and thanked her and carried on.
As the afternoon turned to evening the bar thinned out a bit. The people that were still there were pretty much in the bag. The stories were getting pretty blurry now and some men had fallen asleep at the tables but they were quickly ushered out by their friends. Lily had a few moments to briefly talk to Leo’s old friend so she sat next to him at the bar. “Hello again Mr. Dodson I’m Lily and I sure hope yer havin’ a good time, I’ve heard good things about you from Leonard.”
He looked over at her half drunk, put his had out as to shake hers and said, “I allow my friends to call me Three-fingers and I sure would consider you a friend Ms. Lily. If’n ya don’ mind havin’ another one. Any gal who catches Leo’s eye is sure good enough fer me.”
Lily smiled, shook his hand and said, "always nice to meet a new friend but please call me Lil, and if you need anythin' ya jus need ta ask."
He leaned over to her and said “Everone else can call me Mr. Dodson,” as he began to laugh.
“I sure hope you stay long enough to see Leo when he gets back, I know he’s lookin’ forward to catchin’ up with ya.” Lily stated as she began to stand back up.
“I’d like that, plus I told him I’d look after ya while he was away and I wouldn’t want anythin’ ta happen to ya. Why he’d have my hide!! So don’t ya worry Lil, I’ll be right here.” Lily thanked him and excused herself, “I’ll leave ya with Sadie, that way yer in good hands as well!!” She said as she walked away.
As the night was winding down, Lily noticed a handsome young man walk thru the doors that had just rode into town. He looked as if he’d come a long way and was pretty tired. She walked over to greet him at the bar as he was ordering a drink. He inquired about a room for the night and if there was a bath-house nearby. He was in luck, there was still one room left to rent so she said he could stay. He thanked her and drank his shot. He wasn’t in the mood for conversation which was fine for Lily who was ready to call it a night. She Looked over at Clara and noticed her staring at the newcomer, Lily motioned over to her to come over and maybe talk to the man. Clara looked at Lily and actually began to blush, she checked her self in the mirror and wandered over to him to say hello. By the time she got over to him he grabbed his gear and began walking to the stairs. Lily saw this and called out to him, “why don’t you let Clara show you to your room?” He shyly nodded and said "alright" and she caught up with him.
And with the close of the evening, Lily asked Lenny to lock up and went upstairs, it had been a very long day.
-
Once everything was cleared up and the men were mounted they headed on toward Prescott.
Cyrus and Leonard rode for a while in silence. Cyrus turned the last five years of his life over and over in his mind.
Finally he drew in a long breath and looked over at Leonard. "I owe you some explaination since you have put your life on the line for me several times now."
"I became a deputy to try and uphold law and order when Prescott was just a big mining camp. It gradually grew into a Town over time. Since I had seemed to have put down roots I met a woman and married, and then we had a son. About 3 years ago a gang showed up around the Prescott area. They made a lot of trouble around some of the mines and then began robbing and terrorizing the townsfolk and businesses. They always seemed to know when we were out searching for them and when the mines or businesses were least guarded."
"We finally got a lead on where they were hiding. A drifter who had ridden with them got arrested in another town and offered to trade information for a lighter sentence. He was actually trying to get free of jail before they got word he had murdered a man. We got the information we wanted, and before he could be released they got word about the murder. They hung him the following week."
"Since we were worried about someone in town passing information to the gang the Sheriff made arrangements to get a group of men together in secret, who weren't townsfolk and set up a day and time to meet them outside of town. Sheriff and I rode out leaving three deputies in town, we rode out like it was our normal tour of the mines, so no one would be suspicious. We met up with the Posse that the Sheriff had set up and we caught the gang by surprise. They decided to fight, a couple of the miners who had lost friends to these men had brought dynamite. They began tossing it into the camp and the cabin where the gang was holed up. The men survived the initial blast, ran to a nearby barn, and grabbed their horses and tried breaking through. In the fight that followed only four survived, and one of them was severely wounded. We took them back to Prescott to wait on the Circuit judge."
"The word spread through Prescott like wildfire. What the Sheriff and I didn't know was that there were six more gang members who lived in the town. They worked in the General Store, the Saloon, the Freight Depot, anywhere they could pick up a bit of information or gossip that would help them make their plans. Once they got word that we had brought some of the others in alive they must have gotten worried that they might talk. Even though each of them had met the other gang members outside of town and had been masked they knew that their identities would be eventually found if the prisoners talked."
"They ran, but before they left Prescott for good they decided to exact a little revenge. They raped my wife Margaret, then killed her and my boy Jacob. They set the house on fire hoping it would destroy the evidence, unfortunately for them someone saw the smoke and I made it to the house in time to see what had been done. I would have died right there if the Sheriff and one of the other deputies hadn't pulled me out of the house. I was torn by grief and burned with vengance. I turned in my badge and set out the next morning to hunt those animals. We had general descriptions since they had all disappeared from town the same day. The descriptions were sketchy in nature since they had always worked at common jobs where people don't seem to notice you. They had kept to themselves and didn't socialize among themselves or others in town. The prisoners could only add some information about what there horses looked like and that one was a crazy half breed and another a mexican with a mean streak. I set out and hunted them for a year and a half until the trail went cold. During that time I had my reckoning with four of them. Today you saw me deal with the one they called the Mexican. That only leaves the half breed and I will hunt him until the day I die, or the day he dies, whichever comes first. You can think what you want of me, but this task goes beyond my ability to resolve as a lawman."
At this Cyrus went quiet and began to chew on some jerky! Now at least one other person knew about the pain he carried and the fires of vengance that still burned bright after all these years.
-
Leonard considered the man’s story. He considered how easily the man had come clean. He now felt compelled to do something he had never done before outside of a small farmhouse in Kansas and the confines of Lily’s room at the Goose.
“You say I saved yer hide?”
“Yes” was Cyrus’ response.
“So if I tell you about me, ya won’t make a fuss?”
Cyrus looked at Leonard and wondered how the man could even consider such a thing. He himself had just made a confession of epic proportions. “No Leo, I owe you that much. Whatever you’ve done is none of my business.”
Leonard took a deep breath and said, “Ok, here it is. I’m a deserter from the United States Army. But I’m not a coward Cyrus. It is an offense punishable by hanging. I’ve also killed several men on ma journey out here, but them fellers were tryin’ ta kill me. Well, one of em just had a pert mouth I guess ya could say, but he caught me in a bad frame of mind. I aint raped no women er killed no children, but I got a lot of reasons fer folks ta not know me.”
Cyrus looked at him with lawman’s eyes for a second, then they softened. He only asked, “Why?”
Leonard answered quickly, “If you were there, you’d know. They didn’t have time ta treat wounds proper an were cutting men up in pieces. Didn’t want ta be one of ‘em. No Sir, when I caught that lead I did my duty and left. Went home an no one was there. Went to a neighbor’s home and he an some others told me about the little copper town in Arizona Territory where some southern whores could fix me up. Told me ta get out of Kansas quick. Seemed everywhere I went there was trouble. Seemed like I couldn’t do nothin’ without havin’ any. This is trail talk an all, so I’ll tell ya, some days I feel like I’m here just ta get rid of certain folks. If that sounds strange I unnerstand."
Cyrus tilted his head toward the sky and with a moments thought he said, “No, that doesn’t seem strange at all.”
Leonard continued, “Now all I know is that ya know about me an I know about you. Ya can call me a murderer, but I can call you a liar. There won’t be no protection fer me in Prescott, cause you is just a bounty hunter an aint no marshal no more. That’s ok, just see that I get ma money ta help Lily an pay that old drunk without trouble. I’m startin ta like you, just don’t cross me.”
Cyrus gave this thought and said, “Fair enough, we’ll get the bounties and leave. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.”
Leonard looked over at him and said, “I’m glad you did. Now we can go on bein’ friends.”
-
“Good mornin’ George, is the coffee hot yet?” Clara asked quietly as she wondered downstairs earlier than usual.
“Sure ‘nough Missy, go-on and getcha cup and come have a sit with me out front. But heavens, be quiet not to wake anybody, I can’t start the grub till I’ve had mine.” George replied as he was making his way to the front porch. She quickly made her way out and sat next to him on the bench. “Heavens girl whatcha doin’ up this early, not that I mind of course.”
Clara thought for a moment and answered, “reckon I jus’ woke up feelin’ kinda anxious, all the newcomers round here n’such I spose. It’s excitin’ ta think of who might be movin’ back to our town and how it may begin to grow!”
George just looked over at her and shook his head back-n-forth, “drink yer coffee and enjoy the quiet while ya can little Miss.” She took the hint rather well and did just that.
A short time later people began to come down for breakfast, the room filled up rather fast. The new customers were even walking in from the side of town where some visitors had camped out over night. Business was doing well this morning and as Lily began to walk downstairs she noticed Clara already doing rounds greeting guests. This struck her oddly as Clara was never one to begin her day so early. As Lily sat down at her corner table for a bite and a cup she realized what the girl was up to. The young man who arrived late last night had began to walk down from his room, by the time he reached the bottom step Clara stood up and walked over to him. While trying very hard not to seem anxious she smiled and asked him if he would like a seat in the dining room. He shyly looked at her and said “No thank ya maam, I really jus’ need to know where to find the bath house and then I’ll come on back fer a bite I’fn’ ya don’t mind showin’ me the way?”
Her eyes sparkled as she replied, “Of course I’d be happy to, oh and by the way, my name’s Clara what’s yours?”
“I’m Laney Stevens ma’am and thank you.”
Lily watched them as they walked out the front doors and thought to herself, “There sure is somethin’ in the water around here lately!”
-
As they rode on toward Prescott Cyrus mulled over the words that Leonard had spoken. Finally he broke his silence.
" The only men I hunt without the law behind me are the ones that killed my wife and son. When we get to Prescott we'll turn over these bodies and you will get your reward, and Artie's money for safekeeping. I won't get a share of the reward, the Town and the State will decide how that money gets used. One thing I plan to bring away from Prescott for our return trip is a Writ from the Judge with the power to appoint a new Sheriff in place of Lou. I want that choice to be made by the citizens, but I have already suggested to Lily that you would be a good choice and I think if she supports you the rest of the town will too. You have a good mind, can size up a difficult situation quickly, and know how use a gun when necessary. I think you would be a boon to a place trying to get a new start, and would serve as a deterrant to those that would try to prey on the weaker townsfolk."
As Cyrus finished they began to pass a ranch a few miles from Prescott. A group of Ranch hands were returning from town, one driving a wagon with supplies. Most of them nodded in the men's direction and the lead rider said, "Mornin Marshal, don't look like that group will be running from ya, but they do seem to be getting a mite ripe." They rest of the riders and the wagon driver veered away from Cyrus and Leo to minimize the smell from the bodies.
Cyrus nodded toward Leonard and said, "Buck, this is Leo, he helped me bring these men down and kept a group of townsfolk from lynching me till things could be sorted out. The two draped over the mule back there killed Lou and Langley, but the townsfolk thought it might have been me. Leo kept em off me till everyone calmed down and the story could be told."
Buck looked at Leo and said, "Well that act made you a lot of friends, Cyrus is pretty well thought of in these parts."
-
After the morning rush the bar actually became quiet once again. Most of the visitors that came in for the funeral had begun to pack up for their journey’s home. However the people who had decided to stay longer were wondering about the town, some even inquiring about jobs and places to rent. As he drew in a deep breath Bill happily looked all around. He desperately needed new regular customers. After all he had come very close to losing his mercantile several times during the long slump while the mine was shut down.
“Good Morning!” he said as he nodded at a well dressed woman walking down the sidewalk. “Sure is a nice day for a stroll wouldn’t you say?” He kindly asked the woman in passing.
“Morning” was all the woman replied as she quickly looked down at the ground as she walked by. Bill felt as if maybe he was being a bit too pushy or excitable to the stranger so he took his broom, placed it behind the door and walked inside the store leaving the door open to the public.
“Clara if you’d pay our customers as much attention as you’ve been payin’ to that window we’d all be rich.” Lily smiled as she whispered to Clara. Just then the newcomer Laney came walking out of the bathhouse with his satchel under his arm. It was all Lily could do to gently grab Clara’s elbow and stop her from running out the door to greet the man. “Good things come to those who wait” Lily stated, “you don’t want to seem desperate now so take yer time and let him come to you.”
Clara smiled and nodded, “I will Lil, do ya really think he’ll notice me?”
“Hon, he already has, why do ya think he wanted to clean up first? And with that said Lily walked toward the bar to let nature take over.
As Laney walked through the door and up to the bar to ask if food was still being served. George just happened to be nearby and answered “yep, jus find ya a table and I’ll take yer order.”
After he sat at a table over near the window George came right over. After ordering, Laney looked to Clara and motioned her to come and proceeded to ask her to join him. She was more than happy to oblige and sat down. “Would you like to have a bite to eat with me Miss.? I have some questions and thought you might be able to help, that is If ya don’t mind of course.”
“Well thank ya but I have already had breakfast however I will take ya up on a cup of coffee if that’s allright?” Clara smiled a comfortable smile as they began to talk. He began by asking her if she knew of any work in the area. After that the conversation seemed to continue on until the early afternoon.
-
Leonard saw the respect these men gave Cyrus. He had been rash in his conclusion that the lawman was no longer a lawman. He now understood that the marshal walked a fine line; most days on one side and some others on the dark side. But he was righteous. At least in Leonard’s eyes he was.
“I’m not so sure about this job yer suggestin’. Trouble seems ta find me were ever I go. I don’t want ta make problems in that town.”
Cyrus looked over at his partner and said, “Leo, the job of town sheriff is a good one for the right man. You don’t have to get your hands dirty too often and you don’t have to ride the trail very often. You can go home to your loved one everyday. Pay isn’t too bad either. All you have to do is command respect from the folks and not abuse your power, and from what you just said and from what I’ve seen I don’t think you will.”
Leonard considered this for a few moments and then asked, “Cyrus, do you speak mesican?”
The marshal said, “not unless I have to”.
“But you unnerstand it?” Cyrus nodded.
“Well what that fat feller said ta me back there just before he crossed himself, well he said that ta me before. Had the same look in his eyes both times. I seen fear in men’s eyes plenny a times in the war, but he was differnt”
Cyrus said, “He was scared, lots of bandits have no true metal when it comes down to it.”
“Ya sayin the boys in the war weren’t? He started ta say it again when I shot him behind that rock. I woulda let him bleed ta death once his partner was dead but I just didn’t wanna here it again.”
The old marshal stopped his horse and looked at Leonard. “Leo, he perty much called you the angel of death. That ain’t such a bad reputation ta have when yer the only law in a little town like that. It’s perfect. It will keep bad sorts away and Lily safe, and as long as everyone else feels safe, you will have a good and rewarding life as sheriff. I can make sure no one makes trouble for you until the war blows over. You’ve told enough folks yer name, but I don’t think that will matter much out here.”
Leonard let all this run through his head as the two men sat there with Prescott visible just up ahead. “Cecil”, he said.
“What?”
“My middle name ain’t James, its Cecil. Now you know everything.”
Cyrus just burst out laughing, more so because he now knew their bond was set in its mold rather than just the mention of a silly name. Leonard looked forward at the town and Cyrus curbed his laughter. The two men headed forward.
-
As the sun began to set the crowd was beginning to liven up a bit at the bar. “Looks like some of the new comers stayed in town I suppose to see what life would be like if they moved here.” Lily wondered as she walked down the stairs to greet customers. While making her way across the bar floor she said hello to old friends and introduced herself to the new ones. “Everyone havin’ a good time?” She asked as she smiled at everyone in room. After taking her time and having a few conversations along the way she ended up at the bar and took a stool next to one of Leo’s old friends that she hadn’t yet had the pleasure of getting to know yet. “Mr. Dodson, would ya mind if a lady bought you a drink?”
“Absolutely yes Miss Lil but only if you call me Three Fingers.” was his answer. “I was hoping we would have time to talk soon. I did promise my friend that I would look after ya I hope ya don’ mind.”
“Of course I’d rather appreciate it if’n ya do. But I hope ya don’ mind if I call ya Dod instead, It seems easier to me and Leo told me ya wouldn’t mind.” Dodson nodded that it was alright with him and then Lily continued, “I did have to make sure we had some time to get to know each other better without bein’ interrupted of course.” Would you like to join me at my table, we would have more privacy.” As she motioned over to the side table she stood up and began to walk over and he followed.
Lily ordered the drinks and sat down. She looked over the table at her new friend and mentioned that Leo had told her that she knew they had known each other as youngsters and that Leo had told her that it would be alright to ask him about any stories he might remember. She had hoped that the gentleman would feel comfortable enough to spark a conversation and boy was she right. Little did she know that once Dod had a drink or two he could rattle on till the sun came up!
After the initial getting to know talk he began his first story. He told her that Leo was just a few years younger than he was so he felt like he was older and wiser boy to his friend. Well, they had made their way to the water somewhere and Dodson was teasing Leo about how much better he was at skipping rocks. Well apparently Dodson was relentless in his teasing that Leo couldn’t hit anything. So Leo picked up a rock and with all his might beamed Dodson in the head on the first try, hard enough to cut him open. Right then Dod lifted up his hat and showed her the scar that was still there and began to laugh out loud. Lily looked at him and just nodded her head and said “No wonder why Leo is such a good shot! I guess the old sayin’ is true, boys will be boys.” They ended up talking for hours until Lily thanked him for being so kind to her before excusing herself for the night.
-
The three men rode up to the Grey Goose shortly after dawn. Their dusters were caked with mud and grime and so were the faces under the slouched hats. Bill was in the process of setting up his mercantile for morning business when he saw them. They could have been cowpunchers on their way to their next job but something about them seemed wrong for that line of work. He watched them dismount and then almost in unison they swept their long coats back behind their holsters and loosened the keepers on the hammers so they could draw their guns quickly if needed, they were definitely not just simple cowpokes.
The tallest of the three looked around and led them into the Grey Goose. Bill decided to take some advice that Cyrus had given him and rather than approach these men as temporary Sheriff, he would simply go to the Grey Goose badgeless and observe, trying to note any details that might prove useful later. When he walked through the batwings the men had seated themselves at a table and had ordered a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. Bill went to the bar and got some coffee and ordered breakfast then sat at a table close enough to maybe overhear some conversation.
The men took off the coats and their hats and sat down with the bottle. The apparent leader asked Clara if she could find Lou for him. Clara looked stunned for a moment and then quickly replied that Lou was deceased. The man leaned back in his chair at this news and Bill got his first good look at the man's face. The stranger was at least part indian and had a dark complexion, in the spots where the dust had been rubbed away. There was a scar that ran from just below his left eye down across his lips to the point of his chin. The left eye was a milky orb, but the right one burned with an intensity that indicated that this man was quick to anger. He stared for a moment at Clara and then looked straight at Bill, "Is she telling the truth?"
Bill gave Clara a quick look meant to convey that she should remain quiet, but Clara was already moving away glad to be from under that man's gaze. Bill swallowed and replied, "Yes sir, a few days ago some men came in looking for money and looking to settle a score with one of Lou's girls they killed Lou and Langley. "And where are these men now?" "Well both are dead, there was a Marshal in town and a stranger, they killed the men." "Is this Marshal still in town?", the man inquired. "No sir, he and the stranger rode out day before yesterday with the bodies and a prisoner." The gaze levelled on Bill, "Who was the prisoner?" A feller who come in here claiming Lou owed him some money. The Marshal wouded him when he pulled his gun and then disarmed him, I think he said the man's name was Lyle Thompson." At this point the short man to the half breed's left burst out, "Dag blamed mule headed jackass, couldn't manage to stay out ...." The half breed turned quickly and muttered, "Quiet Cole!" cutting the man off in mid rant. "I would like to speak to the current proprieter since Lou was supposed to have been holding a package for me", he calmly went on looking back at Bill.
-
As Leonard rode toward Prescott in a daze he suddenly snapped upright. He looked over at his partner and said, “Cy, we gotta get this done an get back”. The old marshal regarded him for a moment and spoke.
“Leo, we are almost there. I know the bodies stink, it’s part of the business out here, but we have to finish this”.
Leonard looked back at him and said, “It ain’t the smell of the dead ‘uns, somethin’ is just wrong.”
Cyrus shook his head and said, “You fell in love with a public gal and she won’t leave your mind. I’ve seen this kind of thing before”.
The ex soldier’s hand went strait to the butt of his gun an there was fire in his eyes. The wise old law man laughed and said, “See, I told you you were in love,” Cyrus then went on, “Leo, she is what she is. You knew that all along. Can’t you just be happy knowing that she saved your life and will always take you in?”
Leonard broke his gaze and said, “Look old man, somethin’ is wrong. This feelin’ has saved my ass many times. So many ya couldn’t count em all on yer fingers an’ toes. Fer criminy sake’s the hair on the back of ma neck just stood up. We gotta go back.”
The marshal looked over at Leonard and said, “Son, you got desert fever. Everything will be fine.”
Leonard just said, “Yes Sir” and rode along not speaking anymore.
-
Clara tried hard to act like she wasn't nervous about the newcomers. She kindly said thank you and good-day to her customers who had just finished their breakfast and quickly cleaned up the table. As she went into the kitchen, placed the dishes a the sink and leaned over to George and whispered "keep an eye out front please, I need to speak to Lily for a moment. I promise to be right back" And she made a tray to deliver to Lily.
"Well alright, but don't you leave me to handle the customers, you know I'd rather be stung by bees!" George said quietly with a smirk on his face as he shushed her away.
The three men were still content with their bottle as shw walked upstairs to Lilys room and knocked. The voice inside asked, "who is it?" and Clara answered. Lily asked her in.
"I brought you some coffee Lil" Clara said nervoulsy.
"Thank you so much but what on earth has you in such a stir this early in the mornin'? Lily replied.
"Oh my Lil, three men just came in looking for Lou. So I told them that he was deceased and then the big man got a awful mad look and said that Lou had a package fer him and he wants to speak to the proprietor. Bill is downstairs havin' a bite and I came to worn ya. Oh Miss Lily, please be careful we don' have the marshall or Leonard here this time, what should we do?" Clara was practically in a full panic as she finished talking.
"Don't ya worry," Lily said calmly, men like that have a bigger bark than bite, I'll be down in a few minutes. "Now ya go on back to work and mind yer own self." She slowely walked clara to the door and then finished dressing. Lily was courious and also a little nervous as well about having more trouble while the men were gone. She knew that she had to hold herself togeather and not let the others see her be anything but confident. So she took the Johnny Reb gun that her love had givin her, pulled up her dress bottom and strapped it to her lower leg with the barrell stuck in the top of her boot, just in case talkin wasn't enough. She took a deep breath and out the door she went and carefully began down the stairs.
Now, upon reaching the middle of the staircase she took a good look at the men at th table. She instantly knew who they were and what she was up against. As she reached the bottom two steps the tall one noticed her as well.
As she approached their table she called out in a hospitable yet sturdy southern way. "Mr Price, I hadn't expected you back here so soon"
"Glad to see your still here Lily" he said as he spit on the ground.
"I'd appreciate you not spittin' on my floor, I'd be happy to grab a spittune fer ya if'n youd like." Lily stated with her head held high.
"Your floor! ya sayin' yer the new owner of this place?" said the ugly, tall man as he began to chuckle.
Lily looked him dead in the eye and smiled as she said "I most certainly am and if you'd like ta do business with me you will kindly show me a bit more respect in the future, i would hope."
Now, Stanley Price was a hired killer and she knew this, she also knew what he was after. Lou had business with him and the package was more than likely the same money those others were after. But now she had the upper hand and he knew it. "Why don't you fellas have some breakfast and Stan you and I will meet this afternoon to conduct our business, is that alright with you. I know why yer here and you know I'm not goin' anywhere." They both nodded at each other and Lily walked to the back and into the kitchen.
Stanley looked over at his companions and laughed "She's nothin but a whore, this is too easy!"
-
Bill headed back over to the Mercantile and wrote down everything he could that described the men, just like Cyrus had told him to do. Once he had finished he slipped the paper into a secret drawer behind the counter.
Back in the Grey Goose the three men quietly ate breakfast. Stanley pulled some money from his pocket and gave the money and the list to Cole. "Buy the supplies we need for the trail, they are on that list."
Cole replied, "We could just steal them, aint like there's anyone in this town that could stop us."
Stanley backhanded Cole out of his chair, Cole's hand went toward his gun, but he was already staring down the barrel of Stanley's weapon. Cole eased his hand away from his gun as Stanley growled quietly, "We don't cause trouble here, this is one of the few places a man on the run can find some safety in and I don't expect Lily to change that." "Now do as I said, my business with Lily shouldn't take long, the envelope with the mining payroll schedules should have my name on it." "They probably think we are after money, since Lou would often hide stolen goods in exchange for a small portion of the take."
"Now you and Charlie finish yer grub and then go do as I told ya too."
-
Lily went on with her own chores after having words with Stan, she tried to seem like she wasn't nervous. After all he had been coming into town periodically to meet with Lou since before she ever came out west. He was also one of her regulars. She knew that she needed to make it clear to him that things have changed drastically, not just about the bar but that she no longer was a girl to be had by any men other than Leo. This was going to take some careful planning because Stan was not the kind of man to take no for an answer, Hired guns usually aren't.
"George, I want you to tell anyone who asks for me that I had to go out fer a bit," Lily quietly said while in the back room. "I won't be long and jus so ya know, I need to go on down to the root cellar but no one can know I'm in the building, alright?"
"I'll keep a watch fer ya Mamm, you can count on it." George answred back with a wink and a nod.
She very quickly and quietly went down the old stairs, lite the lantern and shut the door behind her. I have to get those men out of town as quick as possible. She thought to herself But at the same time I need to be smart and conduct this business so they will want to leave. Lily was scared but she knew she had to be level headed. "There it is!" She said outloud. And she took the small bag and sat down on a bench and began to look through it. She already knew that the money was going to pay for the last job that Lou had hired him for, so since she didn't want any trouble she would just give it to him. After all Lou was aware that Lily knew about his dealings with Stan and that she stayed out of his business and never got nosey. She had figured it all out a long time ago that Lou was having people killed to try and close the mines so he could buy them up at a low rate. But now was the time to stop this business and let the miners feel safe again.
Then she noticed something else in the bag, an envelope. She opened it slowely, it only took a few seconds to realize what it was, the payroll schedule for the mines. "Theres no way in hell I will ever let them have this, and I know exactly what to do with it!" Lily said outloud once again, as she placed it in the waistband of her dress.
She knew she needed help. "Leo, where are ya sugar, I need ya right now please hurry back" Lily whispered to herself in hopes that somehow he would feel her calling him. As she blew out the lamp, and shut the door behind her she stopped to say a small prayer for strength and continued back up the stairs. On the way back she glanced over to Clara and gave a signal to have her meet up in Lil's room.
-
Cyrus picked up the pace since Leonard seemed jumpy and kept insisting he needed to get back to Lily. They rode into Prescott an odd little procession towing the dead slung over the mules. Almost eveyone on the streets stopped and watched them pass, a few tipped their hat to the Marshal. One woman in particular kept staring at Leonard.
They hitched their horses outside the jail and went inside, Leonard looked a bit nervous walking into a jailhouse. The Sheriff listened to the story that Cyrus layed out and thanked Leonard for his public service. He then proceeded outside and verified the identities of the wanted men. As he was writing out a validation for the bounties one of his deputies walked up with the woman who had been staring at Leonard while they rode into town. The deputy walked over and whispered something to the Sheriff at which point he turned to the woman and said, "Are you sure it's him?" The woman replaid "Yes, I would never forget that face."
Leonard's hand slid toward his pistol, but Cyrus checked his arm's movement. "Wait and hear them out", was all he said.
The Sheriff squared up and looked Leonard in the eyes, "According to the woman you killed a man and wounded his partner." "The two of them had been terrorizing the townfolk and had stolen from them and threatened to kill anyone who spoke up." "Their Sherrif was oof hunting a horse theif and wasn't in town at the time, whne you killed him the man was on his way to kill her husband for refusing to pay him so no harm would come to his store." Seems like you have another bounty to collect on, it's only a hundred dollars, but that is no small sum."
The Sheriff went back into the jailhouseand went over to his desk and wrote out another voucher.
"Here Cyrus take him and the vouchers to the judge."
Cyrus and Leonard went over to the courthouse and the judge certified the vouchers, then Cyrus showed Leonard to the bank where they were able to cash the papers. After that Cyrus shook Leonard's hand and thanked him for his help as he led him to the livery. Cyrus had already left word and there was a fresh fast horse waiting for them. "Leonard I took the liberty of having a fresh fast horse prepared for your return. He can probably get you there by tomorrow morning if you don't push him too hard. I'll be along the day after with your horse, I still need the judge to prepare a writ so we can permanently swear in a Sheriff. "Good luck on your return journey, and stay safe I'm looking forward to swearing you in."
-
Back at the Grey Goose Stanley went back in to meet with Lily in private. She handed him the money and explained that there was no envelope to be found, she even handed him the bag with all of Lou's possesions. Stanley routed through the bag and satisfied himself that nothing was there other than some of Lou's memorabilia. Stanley asked Lily if she had removed anything from the bag. Lily showed him the letter that was Lou's Last Will and Testament.
Stanley was extremely mad but he knew Lily wouldn't lie to him. Lily politely expalined that she was no longer actively in the business when Stanly asked her if she would like to go upstairs, instead she suggested on of her other girls. He then wanted to know if the the Grey Goose was still a safe haven for him and his men, to which she indicated that at the moment it was, but that the town was coming back to life and growing and that a new Sheriff might not take the same view of things that Lou had.
Stanley understood this and went to fetch his men, they would have to scout out the mining payroll schedules themselves. He walked down to the General Store rounded up his men and they mounted up and rode out. Lily watched them ride out and realized that his would not be the last time she saw them.
-
Laney Stevens was an interesting man. Born in Ohio and raised to be of even temper, he still had an inherent killer’s instinct. A quiet sort of man that was always willing to raise a fellow’s spirit but when the chips were down he was hell. He qualified as a sharpshooter when he joined the Army but never bragged about it. When Laney got his marching papers, he was detached to a special outfit whose purpose was to get an edge on the Rebs when a grim battle was foreseen by the higher ups. This suited Laney fine, he was a man of faith and felt he was saving more lives than he was taking with his job. One day in a small town in Iowa they were called to a halt and ordered to set up camp. There they would wait for a small group of soldiers from Kansas that would be joining them. Specially trained men that fit right in with this crew.
This unit had been together so long that most of the men were uneasy about the newcomers. When the Kansas boys arrived at dusk there were mixed feelings throughout the camp. There had been a couple of scuffles in camp that first night and Laney had stood back and watched. He didn’t realize someone was watching him, and it was one of the Kansas boys. The man quietly approached Laney and said, “Looks like they’s tryin’ ta put their heads together an form a rockpile.”
The young man from Ohio burst out laughing and looked at the stranger. The other man greeted him with a smile and stuck out his hand. “Name’s Leonard, glad that gave you a chuckle, you must be a good ‘un stayin’ over here out a this mess.”
Laney reached out and grasped the other man’s hand and said, “Stevens, Corporal Laney Stevens.”
And that’s how their friendship had begun. They spent hours together talking about childhood and girls they had known. Laney learned all about Three Fingers Dod and how he came to be called by that. Leonard learned of the tragedies that had stricken Laney’s family. They had become brothers by the time Leonard left a battlefield severely injured and headed for home to try and save his leg. Shortly after that skirmish Laney had been injured by a blade and it greatly affected his skills as a sharpshooter. He took Leonard’s cue and left the war himself. The stories he had heard of the west fascinated him, and that’s where he chose to go. He would think of his old friend often as he traveled and wondered if they would meet again, or if Leonard was dead. This subject was on his mind the day he road into a two bit town that would be known as Copper Run.
-
Leo looked at the fine gelding offered to him. It had the same coloring as Boy and the way it returned his gaze told him much. He asked Cyrus, “Does this one have a name?”
“Didn’t ask, I just know he’s a runner,” was the reply.
Leonard grinned and said, “Well he’s gotta name now. Gonna call him Quatro.”
Cyrus looked puzzled and asked “Four?”
“Are you a religious man Marshall”.
Cyrus looked at Leonard and said, “I do the best I can”.
As Leonard checked the tack he said, “I wanna thank you fer stoppin’ me back there. Listenin’ to you got me an extra hundred an’ this fine horse. Tell ya the truth, I wouldn’t a known that lady from Eve. I remember her now but I’ve been runnin’ so long it gets easy ta forget.”
Cyrus watched as Leo mounted the horse and couldn’t help but ask, “Why Quatro?”
“I’ll put it to ya this way Marshall, Ol’ boy over there is gonna be Seis once I get him back. Way I see it Lily is doomed ta be Cinco, an if all goes right you’ll get back like ya said an’ be Siete”. And then he laughed.
Cyrus took off his hat and scratched his head. “Leo, do you need a rest, you aren’t making any sense? What do Mexican numbers have to do with anything?”
Leonard chuckled again an said, “My Mama was a religious gal an everything I just said makes perfect sense Cy. That town has already seen Uno, Dos an Tres, time ta finsh the game.” And with that, Leonard James Tanner road out of the corral and broke his new horse into a dead run leaving Cyrus to wonder what all that had meant.
-
Stanley arrived at his camp in a small canyon with only one entrance, the lookout waved him and the others through, and passed the signal back to the other men hidden along the winding canyon train into the camp. Stanley had picked this hideout because they could ambush anyone who got nosey, or even fight off a Posse from superior positions. Stanley had ridden for a while with Quantrell, and ambushes were something he was well schooled in. The camp was active,but only about ten of his men, including the lookouts were present. About an hour or so later 15 more men came riding in, all in small groups of 3. Stanley regularly sent men out to forage or to buy food from some of the small towns nearby. He knew that smaller groups raised less suspicion, and it allowed his men to get to know townsfolk and learn valuable information.
Once the bulk of his men had gathered Stanley laid out his plan. "Lou is dead and he apparently died before he acquired the mine information. I plan for you to go out in pairs to the saloons in these towns and befriend the miners you find there, if you can find someone who works in a paymasters office or a bank so much the better. I'll give you money to ply them with liquor and women so you can try to find out the delivery schedules. Report back here when you have found something out. This will delay the plan, but we will still be hitting those deliveries, there's too much money to be had to let this pass.
-
As Leonard road back to the town he thought of the lessons his mother had taught him, especially the Bible studies. She seemed to have a better understanding of things than the church folks did. He had begun to understand this as he and Cyrus were about to enter Prescott and his mind had been processing it ever since.
One evening when Leonard was young his mother had set down with him for the nightly studies and they worked on his spelling for a bit and then his arithmetic. The boy was starting to get tired when his Mother fetched her Bible. He had asked her why he had to do this at home when it was Parson Willits’ job to tell those stories on Sunday. His mother looked at him patiently and said, “The Parson is a good man but do you understand all those stories he tells?”
Leonard looked up at her answered, “Well I understand I’m supposed ta be good ta folks and respect you and Pa”.
“But what about the other stories Leo? What do they mean to you?”
Leo cocked his head and said, “Well I reckon not much. Just a bunch of stuff that happened a long time ago”.
His mother kept her patient tone and said, “ Leo, those stories are important and it’s my job to tell them to you in a way you will understand”. She looked at him in way he had never seen before and said, “Do you want to know what I believe?”
“Sure Ma”. Leonard figured everything else she said was true, so this shouldn’t be any different.
“Well young man, I believe that those stories are more than just history. I believe that they happen over and over again in every place you can imagine and the key is to recognize one happening around you when you see it and knowing what to do. Those stories were put there for a reason far beyond being a record of ancient times. You could end up being a character in any of them. You may not like the part you’re handed to play but every man serves a purpose”. She paused a moment and continued, “Do remember when your father brought home that new rifle?”
Leonard thought back and replied, “Yes Ma’am!”
“Do you remember that it came with a book?” Young Leonard nodded. She continued, “That book didn’t just tell him where the rifle came from and how it was made, it told him how to handle it and what to do with it if things weren’t working right. It also told him how to keep it working right so there wouldn’t be a problem to fix.” She looked down at her Bible and said, “I believe this book is intended for the same purpose”.
That night he had heard a story about a dream a man had had. His mother said he most likely wouldn’t understand it and explained it the best she could. Now, here on the trail back to Lily he understood it very well and had come to realize on his way into Prescott that his mother had been right. That story was unfolding before his very eyes and he was most definitely a character in it, and no, he didn’t care much for his part. His cryptic discussion with Cyrus had been his way of reconciling it all.
-
As the lunchtime crowd began to thin out Clara watched a calm Stanley make his way down the stairs and motion to his men to go on outside. She took a deep breath and whispered "Good Ridence!" to herself as she watched Stanley, Cole and Charlie slowley mount up and ride out of town without causing any trouble. She thought this was odd, but she counted her blessings knowing that Lily must have convinced Stanley that she didn't know anything, however, this made Clara even more uneasy so she thought she would go back up to check on her new boss and see if she was allright.
"Llily, are you in there" She asked as she quietly knocked on the door.
"Yes Clara come on in," Lily answered from the chair near the window "would you kindly have a seat with me for a moment, I do believe I could use a drink, how about you join me?"
"I'd love to Miss Lily," Clara slowley sat down with her in front of the window and the ladies just sat in silence for a few minutes while taking in their new reality. Then the girl mustered up the voice to carefully say, "Lil, I sure am glad that there was no trouble. Do ya think they'll be back?"
"It's only a matter a time Clara, I think I've managed to buy us some though, hopefully enough till Leo gets back. But I'm tellin' ya, I may not have any fingernails left by then!" Lily stated as the girls nervously began to chuckle.
"If'n ya don' mind Mamm, may I please suggest that we get some temporary help until Leo gets here, just-n-case he's runnin' a might late or they come back sooner than expected?" Clara asked nervously.
"That would probably be the best way to be prepared I would imagine, who'd ya got in mind Clara, anybody in particular?"
"Well, I would like fer ya to get to know the young man I've been seein' lately, his name is Laney and he is quiet, honest, smart, kind and I could say he can shoot better than anyone I've ever seen. He is over at the livery workin' on his saddle, that's what his trade was before the war. Please, Lil would ya just talk to him, I'd be happy ta fetch him over to meet with you?" Clara asked excitedly.
"I'd say yer a pretty good judge of character Clara and I don't have much ta choose from at the moment so I'd be happy if'n you'd ask him to come and talk to me about working for me here at the bar for a bit. Do ya think he's planning on stayin' for a while?"
"He said he was looking for work over at the livery, but I'm sure he'd be glad to help us once he know's your situation" Clara said excitedly.
"You'd better let me talk to him about what's goin' on Clara, you jus run a fetch him fer me, I'll handle the rest Sugar." Lily smiled, she was happy with the options opening up to her now even though she did have one more ace in the hole with Dodson. She'd hoped that she would be speaking to him as well, after all he was a friend of Leo's. "Now, why don't ya run and fetch that man a yers so we can have a palaver. Oh, and Clara, This is all jus between you and me, do you understand? I don't need anyone else ta know my business." Lily gave her a look like Clara had seen from Lou before.
"Oh yes Mamm, Miss Lily you can count on me" Clara replied. "I'll be right back with Laney." Clara hurried out the door and down the stairs.
Lily went downstairs to check on the bar and it's customers and to go about business as usual. Constantly looking over her shoulder just in case. Nobody had any idea that she had anything to be nervous about. She actually began to relax and enjoy the rest of her day. She met with Laney and was very impressed with her friends choice. She agreed to hire him temporarily until her partner had returned from Prescott. She never mentioned Leo's name during this conversation so she had no idea what fate had in store for her later. But she felt better and safer for the time being.
Now, evening was about to begin and the bar was just beginning to fill up with patrons, "Hey, Dodsaon, how are ya?" Lily met him at the bar to buy him a drink. "How about we have us a little talk, I believe I may have a proposition fer ya."
-
Lily brought Dodson over to her private table to talk about what was going on. She confided everything about Stanley and the money and the envelope to him. She knew she had to tell him everything so that he could protect her and her business from anything that may come until Leo's arrival back to town. She knew that Leo had asked him to look after her before he left and that he would do everything he could for his lifelong friend. She also informed Dodson that she had temporarily hired Laney earlier that day to look after the place as her eyes and ears and for protection of her girls and such.
Dodson agreed without hesitation to her request. "You may be suprised at my tactics, I suppose you get to see first hand what a so called Drunk can do when he's not really impared, you, my lady will be the only one who will know the truth about my sobriety tonight. It's atually the best way to not be seen as a threat to any one making trouble. So just you don't fret and everything will be o.k., and on that note, I'll be headed back to the bar to my post." Dodson gave a wink to Lily and walked back up to his stool.
Later that evening as the piano was being played, laughter filled the air and the patrons were having a good time Lily's girls were happily working their magic. Laney made his way to the bar for a drink and happened to sit next to Dodson. Lily noticed and went to introduce them. "Gentlemen, how are we all this evening, are ya all havin' a good time I hope?," she said as she looked over to Laney. then she began, "Laney, I would like to introduce you to my friend who you'll be working with, this is Mr. Dodson and Dod, this is the young man Laney I told you of earlier, he'll be joining our forces this weekend."
Laney looked at Mr. Dodson and said with bright big eyes, "You wouldn't happen to be called Three-Fingers by some would ya?"
"Why as a matter of fact I would, how the hell did ya hear about me young man?" Dodson wondered as he answered.
"I spent a lot of time traveling with a man that said he grew up with ya, his name was Leonard Tanner, do ya know him?"
"Why shut my mouth and call me crazy!" Dodson replied, "Who the hell do ya think asked me to stay here till he got back?"
And on that note, the two men had alot to talk about for the rest of the evening, needless to say new-old friends began to get to know each other at that very moment. This would become a duo to be reckoned with until Leo could return.
Lily was overjoyed knowing that she would be protected better than she could have ever imagined. "Thank God" was all she could say.
By the end of the evening she said goodnight to all, closed the bar and went upstairs for a good nights rest and to be ready to begin a new day tomarrow. After all Leo should be home soon.
-
“Now Leo, the story I’m going to tell you is about a man who had a special dream,” his mother had begun. “He dreamt of getting seven special envelopes and each one was sealed shut with a special wax stamp. Do you know what was in those envelopes?”
“No ma’am” was all he had to say but it sounded like it was going to be interesting.
“Well son, I suppose you could say they were invitations. The Good Lord saw that the world needed changing and he welcomed who and what was necessary to set it right.” She then proceeded to tell the rest of the story. Leonard never forgot it.
He realized that he had been running the horse too hard for too long and brought Quatro to a halt. As he dismounted the numbness in his posterior wore off quickly. He patted the horses head and thanked him for his ruggedness. If Leonard was this sore, Quatro must have really been feeling it. He untethered one of the water bags and said, “Sorry boy, this is all you can have for now”. He was thirsty too and took a few pulls out of his canteen. Then he paced around to stretch his legs and went over the story again as he did so.
The town he was headed back to had been land that was taken by the minors and settlers by way of a federal land grant. “Conquest Leo,” his mother’s voice whispered. Once established, evil men had come to take it for their own. The minors and settlers had tried to fight back. “War Leo”. As a result the town had begun to die and the mines stopped producing due to lack of willing labor. “Famine Leo”. Then came Leonard himself. And what the fat Mexican had called him on two separate occasions rang in his head. The spooked and nervous bandit from Nogales had called him Death. Twice. And he had realized that the fat man spoke true. Leonard couldn’t remember a time when it hadn’t been a part of his life. He never asked for it, it was just always there since the afternoon his father had made him shoot that mad dog. “You may not like the part you’re handed.” Leonard looked skyward and muttered, “Thanks fer the fancy invitation Boss”.
Now as he was set to continue his ride back to Lily, he knew what would come next. The good people who stood up for their beliefs in that little town would suffer for it in some way. “They’re called martyrs Leo”, and then there would be destruction. The story mentioned a great earthquake and Leonard knew all about the ways to make the ground tremble. He’d watched the demolition men do their work at the mines. And finally, the seventh invitation would be for Cyrus. He would return with his writ to reestablish the law in that town and bring in a new era of prosperity.
“Yep,” he thought, “Mama was right on the money”. Then Leonard synched up his gear and continued on, praising the pale horse he road the whole way.
-
The night was black without the moon, all of the townspeople were in their prospective homes sleeping but there was still a slight disterbance in the air, there was one horse in the livery that whinnied as the dew was just settling in.
Lily was sleeping soundly, dreaming of riding her horse as a young girl back home in Georgia at her family's ranch when suddenly a crackling noise woke her. She was still groggy when she looked over to her left where the sound came from. It was the sound of a match striking to light a pipe.
"Lily" was what he said in his heavy deep yet quiet voice.
"Stan?" Lily asked in a quiet and gentle voice. He was sitting at the table next to her bed with his leg crossed looking at her as he drew in a breath of smoke.
"Don't you say a word until I say, do you understand?", the man said. Lily nodded yes as she sat up wthout taking her eyes off his face. "I guess ya didn't expect to see me so soon, now did ya whore." Lily didn't say a word, she now saw that he had a large hunting knife in his hand and as he began to clean the edge with his finger he said, "You know I should be very upset with you right now but instead, I figure you think I'm of the ignorant type but I'd bout ta show you otherwise. I just happen to know that Lou had an envelope fer me and that now you have it. I spect you already know what it's about so lets cut to the chase."
Lily couldn't move, she knew her gun was under the pillow but she didn't dare go for it. 'I can't give it to him' she thought to herself, 'I'd better hear him out and then deal with the consequences when I have more help.' If she was still breathing in the morning.
"Now, this is what's gonna happen," Stanley said as he gazed at her with the look of a gambler. "I understand why you don't want ta give me the envelope, you wantin' to fix up yer town an all. But, I'm tellin' you now that you aren't gonna be the one who suffers if'n I don't get what I want. I will see the look on yer face when all the people you care about are the ones who I will be makin' pay. You'll know how ta make it all stop and me go away, it's yer decision. Now you think on it and I'll be back fer yer answer in twenty-four hours." Stanley stood up and walked toward the door, turning to look back, his last words were, "If you still decide not to comply with my request, you'll become nothin but my personal whore again, and that's a promise." He quietly shut the door and was gone.
Lily began to cry and then jumped up, locked her door, grabbed her gun and sat down at the table.
-
Several people wanted to hear Cyrus' story about how the little mining town was coming back to life after Lou's demise. Most had never suspected that Lou had been deliberately keeping the mine in a downed state by paying their main surveyor to have the men waste their time on weak veins of ore.
The Sheriff and the judge had a lot of questions about Leonard and why Cyrus felt he would make a good lawman. Once Cyrus had sufficiently explained all that he knew that judge drew up a paper explaining that the town should really have a town council or mayor to make the formal appointment of the Sheriff. Cyrus thought on this as he ate the first real meal he'd had in days. He knew that as popular and well thought of as Lily seemed to be it was unthinkable that she would have a place on the town council, women just didn't hold such positions, however there was no denying that she would be a major influence on what the town did. Cyrus chuckled to himself, it had been several years since he had thought of the collection of buildings around the Grey Goose as a town, but if anyone could bring that place back to life it was Lily.
Cyrus went to the room he rented in town to get a night's sleep in a real bed before heading back. As he drifted off to sleep he prayed that Leonard's feeling of trouble and Lily in danger was just his being overtired and that nothing serious would happen before his return.
-
Stan rode back to camp after his late night visit to the Grey Goose. He called to Cole and Charlie and they spoke over a breakfast of beans and bacon and coffee. "the little whore was lying to us and I told her I would be back to get the payroll schedules." "Now that Lou is out of the picture everyone's cut will be larger." "What has been happening in camp while I was gone?"
Cole spoke up first, "Amos and Seth found some reliable men who are interested in making some easy money." "Some have already arrived along with some of the men you sent out to the towns to gather information, so we have about 20 men in camp and when the others arrive we will have about 30 to 35 total."
Charlie then spoke up, "We have been putting the information our men gathered together, some of it is kind of sketchy so it is good to hear that we might be able to recover the information Lyle gathered. We have enough weapons and dynamite to take care of anything we encounter. We should have no problem following your original plan, Stan, of breaking up into three seperate raiding parties so we can hit those payroll wagons quick and hard. Once we have the schedules it shouldn't be a problem."
Stan looked at the two men, "Cole I want you to pick out ten good men. Tomorrow you and I and those men will ride back to the Grey Goose and if Lily doesn't give me what I want I intend to start killing townsfolk and burning buildings until she sees it my way. I want you and those men backing me just in case she manages to find someone with enough backbone to stand with her." "Now let me see what information we have already."