Driftin' (Shad Cain Book 3) Page 9

  My reckoning told me they would head back because that fire was gonna bring some unfriendly folks pretty quick. So I rode back a bit and took my horse’s head and pulled him to the ground. There was going to be some bullets flying soon and I didn’t want that big boy to catch one. Dog showed up and I put him with Bud, he’d stay wherever I told him to. I was hoping his being there would help keep the horse down. I didn’t know if it would work, but it couldn’t hurt.

  The raiders finally came together and must have had a meeting because they started moving back the way they’d come… right at me. I couldn’t count how many there were but they were a bunch. I stood there waiting, and then I kneeled down and took the position.

  Everything was all out of shape with the light behind them, so I just aimed at the distorted masses riding atop the horses. I was going to do some damage, and maybe stall them for a while. I took careful aim on the center of the distorted lump in the middle and pulled the trigger. The lump disappeared, and I turned quickly to the one to the right of him and shot again. I didn’t hit anything with the second shot, but I had them running in circles.

  A few searching shots came my way, but they were high and not even close. So I lined up another target and pulled the trigger again. The target stayed in the saddle but I could tell it was a hit by the way he jerked… or maybe it was just the flames playing tricks with me… I’d count it a hit of some kind.

  Jumping to my feet, I took off to the left for about twenty feet or so then dropped down again. They finally smartened up and pulled back to the other side of the burning house. Nothing happened for a few minutes, and then I saw riders coming out from behind the house to my left. I gave them a quick couple of shots just for the sake of letting them know I saw them. I didn’t expect to hit anyone. There wasn’t enough of them… there were only two or three heading that way. I let them go because in that direction they’d run smack into Dumas and Bell and them. It was the rest of that crowd I was concerned about.

  They’d split up and most likely wanted to go around me or get in behind me. Then I saw them sneaking out from behind the burning barn on my left. That was just what I figured them to do, so I ran back and was in the saddle by the time the big buckskin was on his feet. Again, I touched him with spurs, and once again he didn’t disappoint me.

  My only hope was to make things so hot they would have to turn back. By the time they had cleared the barn and the other outbuildings; I was far enough out to make their travel difficult. They were trying to Injun past me, but those boys all together wouldn’t make a boil on an Arapaho’s butt. There were four men strung out in single file still lit up by the fires. Taking the time to refill my rifle, I shoved cartridge after cartridge into the slot.

  Hanging the reins on the saddle horn, I started Bud moving right at them. I was off to their left and they were between me and the fires. There was about two hundred yards between us and closing. All I wanted to do was let them know they hadn’t made the grade as good Injuns and drive them back. So I opened up and started pumping lead their way.

  The darkness suddenly became something evil and scary for them. They wheeled and made for the light. I didn’t follow. Then I heard firing off to the left. That meant help was on the way. I just sort of backed off a little and shut the back door… and reloaded.

  Chapter 13

  The three who had tried to draw me off by riding out to the left, were coming back in a hurry with bullets chasing them. They were all bottled up behind the burning barn, with no place to go and no place to hide. They were all armed and willing to make a fight of it. But the trouble they were facing was, they were seven men in a bunch… in the light. But their attackers were spread out and in the half dark.

  I got the sense that someone was coming up on me out of the dark. I could hear the hoof falls and the creak of saddle leather, but Dog was only half interested, so it must be someone he knew. The rider stopped some twenty feet away, and I saw a match flare and the flame moved to touch the end of a thin cigar sticking out of the mouth of Max Bell.

  “Figured that was you out here raising all that ruckus… For such a quiet fella, you sure know how to make a bunch of noise when the notion strikes you, Cain.”

  “Well, sometimes I just don’t know what comes over me.”

  We moved around a little more to the right to make sure we had them completely boxed in and waited. Bell was off to my left about ten or so feet, with a Winchester in his hand and a cheroot in his teeth. We were ready.

  Dog gave us an early warning, with a rumbling growl. Both of us turned in the saddle and two rifles pointed to the rear. It was Clay… Clayton Smith, surveying what was left of his home. The look on his face told me he had taken a lot of blows, but this might be the one he couldn’t get up from. He didn’t say a word. He just looked at the ruin of his hopes, dreams, and sweat.

  “We’ll rebuild it, Clay… Don’t worry; you can operate out of my place till it’s workable again…. We’ll all stand together.” Max told him, and I knew he meant it. But Smith didn’t seem to even hear him. It was a sad thing to see.

  Smith walked his horse forward just staring at nothing. We let him go. He needed to be alone. But then he pulled his pistol, hunched over, and spurred his horse. We were caught flat footed. Max yelled at him, but he didn’t hear a thing, he just rode at the raiders firing bullet after bullet. We were on the move, but there was no way to head him off.

  One of Glazer’s men returned fire and Smith went down. Max put a bullet into the shooter before Clay Smith hit the ground. The rest of the raiders had their hands in the air… it was the only chance they had to live long enough to see the sun come up, and they knew it.

  I was the first to reach Smith, but there was no saving him. He’d taken a .44 slug to the upper chest, and he took his last breath while I tried to stop the bleeding. Some folks just have no luck at all. Now that little boy had no ma and no pa.

  We closed in, and everyone held their fire. As mad as those ranchers were at that point, no one wanted to commit cold blooded murder. They may decide to hang those men in the morning, but that was a different matter. Glazer’s men were put on the ground, searched and put under guards with rifles. There were two dead and a couple bleeding among the raiders and one dead rancher. That was enough for one night.

  We stripped the gear from their horses, and went through their possibles, looking for ammunition in particular, but they were also looking for anything usable. All the guns were tied in a bundle and set out of the way. Saddles, saddlebags, and any other non usable goods were thrown into the fire. That brought about some groans from the prisoners.

  “What ya suppose we do with this bunch, Bell?” Murchison asked.

  Max thought about that for a few seconds and said, “Cain and I have a friend over in New Mexico, who had the answer to that. Whenever he’d run across some bad actors like this bunch, he’d take their boots and send them home to mama barefoot and unarmed…. After a couple of miles they seem to lose a lot of aggression.

  That idea seemed to appeal to the ranchers because it took the thought of hanging them off the table. But they were put on notice that they would be hung if they were seen on this side of the river or south of the south fork again.

  The men were stripped of their boots and were lined up ready to be marched to the river. One hombre said, “You gonna send us out there barefoot and unarmed… what if we meet up with a bear or somethin’?”

  I went to the pile of knives and six-guns, and found a sheath knife with about a six inch blade. I walked back to them and threw it to where it stuck in the ground between that gent’s two pink feet. Then I told him, “If you run into a bear, you just cut yourself a stick and go to whackin’ on him…. that’s about all a tough guy like you should need.”

  “I don’t know, Shad, it seems to me that our friend in New Mexico would shoot off a big toe off each rustler… Maybe we ought to get him up here.”

  “You may be right, Max, my memory ain’t what it used to be.�
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  Bell and I took charge of the six surviving prisoners and started them marching. Occasionally, one of them would start to drag, and I’d have to move the buckskin right up behind him and nudge him a might. That kept him moving. It was about as black out there as a madam’s heart, and one of them thought about kinda moving off into the night. Dog was originally trained as a sheep herding dog, so he knew how to bring the wandering soul back into the flock. A little nip at the ankle did a lot to keep them all together.

  After we saw them safely to the river and got them across, we rode off to the sound of their cussing and a few rocks chunked at us…. But that was to be expected. On the way back toward the glowing wreckage of a man’s dreams, we talked about how we’d been lucky so far. Only one man killed and two wounded but walking.

  He was quiet for a few seconds and then said, “Shad… we’re goin’ to need some things from Bakersfield… ammunition mostly…. And I’d like to get that letter Aunt Dee has for the governor into the mail. We may need some help. You suppose you’d feel comfortable doin’ that.”

  “I’ll do whatever you think best… It’ll give me a chance to put on my city clothes and go duded up. Believe it or not, I’m a real gent when I clean up.”

  “I never doubted that for a moment.” He said. “To be honest with you, these are all good men, but I don’t know how they would handle running into some of Glazer’s men on the trail or in town…. I know you can take care of yourself.”

  “Well I reckon.” Said I, and it was settled… I’d leave the next morning.

  I stopped off at the Bellem the following morning and dug my clothes out of my duffle in the bunkhouse. Then I shaved and took off trailed by Dog and a pack pony. My first stop was at Miss Wells’ ranch to get the letter. Aunt Dee didn’t hardly recognize me in my courtin’ clothes at first, but she said I made a fine looking man all slickered up. I told her I was in my disguise. “Nobody will ever look for a sow’s ear in a silk purse.”

  I told her and Dori how things were shaping up and that we’d been almost untouched. Then I told them about Clay Smith and his ranch being burned. They were both saddened by that and their hearts went out for that little boy.

  As I was mounting to leave Aunt Dee said, “Shad, are you going to need any money?”

  “Shucks no, Aunt Dee. What most folks don’t know is, I’m a wealthy man… I don’t let that out very often ‘cause all them women start chasin’ me around.”

  I was in Bakersfield late the following morning and straight away found the post office. It only took a few minutes to get that letter in the mail. I told them I was willing to pay extra to get it there the fastest way, but they told me there was only one way. They also told me that I could send a telegraph message, and he’d get it this afternoon. So I copied down the address and went looking for the telegraph place. When I found it, I wrote down this message.

  Please send help right a way. Range war going on. Killings in the 3 rivers valley. Hired killers wiped out a whole logging camp.

  Shadrac Cain for Miss Dee Wells

  I didn’t know if it would do much good, but it wouldn’t hurt. I figured it was worth two dollars and forty cents to try. When I got that taken care of, I loaded up the pack pony with cartridges and some other needed things. And thought I’d have a beer before I left civilization.

  The sign at the edge of town said Bakersfield had six hundred and twelve people living in it, so I figured they’d have a cold beer somewhere in town. Walking along one of the main streets with four saloons in sight, I reckoned I’d come to the right street. The first one I come to had a wanted poster tacked beside the batwings. Out of curiosity, I gave it a second look. Now, I don’t read real good because I have to cipher everything out real slow. But I wanted to make sure none of my old crowd wasn’t in trouble here. So I started working on it. It said:

  Wanted. 10 good men. Must be handy with a gun and not afraid to use it.

  Ed Glazer is paying top dollar up at 3 Rivers.

  Inquire at the Wayfare Hotel - ask for Clete Muser.

  Down it came, and went looking for the Wayfare Hotel. I didn’t have to look too hard. I spotted it at the end of the next block, along the way I tore down three more of those papers.

  As I stomped into the lobby of the Wayfare Hotel and saw some men gathered around a desk in the rear. I walked right in amongst them push shoving my way to the front. A few grumbled and grunted, but they got out of my way. There were about five or six men who thought they were tough, but they’d have done more than move aside and grumble if they were.

  There at the desk sat my old pal from the Three Rivers Saloon… the one we’d sunk in the river. He looked up at me and said, “One at a time, fellas.”

  “You Musser?” I asked.

  “It’s Muser… and that’s me…. You look like you know the business.”

  “Muser? Don’t that mean a little rat?”

  “It’s German for mouse.” He said.

  “Same thing…. Their both nasty little varmints.”

  “Now, just a damned minute.”

  “Musser… you might as well send these boys back to home… all you’re gonna do is take them up there to where they’ll just git killed…They’re just fodder for the rancher’s Winchesters.”

  “I know you… I’ve seen that face before… Who the hell are you?”

  “Oh you know me alright… I’m the man who’s already dusted three of your crew and got lead into at least that many more… and that was all by myself, so you can just imagine how the rest of our bunch is doin’….. Yeah you should remember my face… It was the last one you saw before I dumped your whole damned saloon in the river.”

  His next stupid move was to try to stand up and pull his gun. When he was somewhere between sitting and standing, I grabbed the front of that desk and flipped it right into him. The desk, the little rat, and the chair crashed into the wall behind him. As the desk bounced back at me, I flung it to my left sending those would be gunmen scrambling. I waded in on him, and as he started picking himself up, I picked up what was left of his chair and brought it down crashing over his shoulder and arm.

  I picked up his pistol and stuck in my belt. “I don’t want him to get hurt playing with things he ain’t familiar with… He might hurt himself.” I told those that were standing there gawking.

  “Now, do you boys really want to work for or with a tough guy like that?” Someone started laughing and then they all were.

  As I walked out the door, I heard someone say, “Yep, little rat kinda says it all… don’t it?”

  Chapter 14

  On the walk back to my horses and Dog, I got madder than a stepped on rattler. But at the same time, it made me glad to know that we’d got into ‘em hard enough to have to send for more guns. While I walked along the boardwalk on the south side of the street, I saw the clerk from the hotel running along the other side with a deputy. I reckoned there was some trouble up at the Wayfare ‘cause that’s where they seemed to be going.

  I hadn’t worried much about my horse and pack horse with Dog standing guard. A body would have to be some kind of man to get past that mongrel. Taking up the lead rope, I pulled the slip knot and we headed out of town at a nice little shambling walk. It was quick enough to put distance between me and the Wayfare, but it wasn’t so fast as to attract much attention.

  About mid afternoon the following day, I rode into Murchison’s ranch yard with a load of ammunition and some other things we needed. Seems there’d been a raid on the Adam’s place again, but they’d been ready for ‘em and none of our bunch was hurt much. The raiders had lost one man and a few were sent back bleeding. The young logger, Hank Crawford was healthy enough to join in and was doing a good job of it. The boy was a survivor…. he’d do.

  I told them about Muser losing his recruits and maybe the use of his left arm for a while. They all thought it was something they’d like to have seen. And to tell the truth, it all happened so fast I could hardly tell it right. I’d
been just plain mad when I saw those notices tacked up. If any one of those jaybirds had been any kind of man, they’d have stretched my hide right there in the hotel lobby.

  Bell came down from the Adams place and divided up the supplies and ammunition. I told him, I’d got the letter in the mail, but they suggested that I send a telegraph if it was that important.

  “Now, why didn’t I think of that?’ He said. Those telegraphs are so new, I just forget about them.”

  He tried to pay me for the supplies, but I assured him, I wasn’t the same broke and broke down old mountain man I was when he first met me. “Why, man, I got property a horse and a dog, and I even got a bank account… and I got some friends.” I didn’t mention that my property was a one room cabin that was full of bullet holes, and it was hooked on to a cave.

  Next morning I went back to the Bellem to change out of my dude suit and back into my buckskins. Those boots were such a pleasure to wear I set my old ones aside. Then I rode on to Aunt Dee’s place to let her know her letter had been sent. I was almost afraid to tell her about adding her name to the telegraph message. But she thought I did what I had to do.

  The ladies and the youngens all seemed to be doing well, even under the crowded conditions. Several of the women asked about their husbands, and I let them know that so far everyone was doing well. Aside from a few wounds and lack of sleep they were all fine, except of course for Clayton Smith, who was now buried next to his late wife on their property.

  I spent the night at the Adams ranch. There were men patrolling the south river crossing. While I was gone, they had dropped a number of trees in the main one and the northern one. It would take a lot of work and more than a few men to open them up again, so the river was closed except for one place.

  Dave and Charles Collins were doing a fine job of keeping watch on everything that moved this side of the south fork. There wasn’t much for me to do, except go up and relieve one or the other Collinses during the daylight hours. Those boys were pretty fussy about the night work… They took a lot of pride in it.