The First Day of Eternity, page 22
“It don’t matter,” Cheney said. “He rides for the Triple-H. That would be one less of ’em to worry about. I ain’t never heard of Cody Hunter neither.”
“Don’t turn your head to look,” Deke said. “Just cut your eyes toward the floor under this side of their table.” He paused to give them a minute to do so. “That one Minnie called Cody is wearin’ moccasins. What if he’s the Injun?” There was a long pause in the conversation before Deke asked the question again, “What are we gonna do?”
“I know what Emmett wants us to do,” Cheney replied, “shoot the bastards down, settle up for some of our men they’ve killed. And it couldn’t be a better setup for us. They don’t know who we are. When they leave here, we’ll get on their tails and it’ll be three quick shots in the back and take the news to Emmett and Ralph.” Otto and Deke nodded in agreement and all three enjoyed their supper even more than before.
CHAPTER 19
Always possessing a tendency to observe his surroundings, Cody became aware of the three men eating at a table several feet away from his. Watching out of the corner of his eye, it occurred to him that they appeared to be unusually interested in Holt, Chris, and himself. And he detected an obvious attempt to be discreet about it. He wondered if there was a possibility that they knew who Holt was. Maybe they had heard Minnie call him by name. They made no attempt to approach them, however, so he made no mention of it to Holt. He enjoyed the supper Minnie put on the table even though he was bothered slightly by a feeling of concern about the three strangers.
When he and Holt and Chris were finished and getting ready to leave, the three men at the nearby table finished a minute or two ahead of them and walked out. Holt started to get to his feet, but Cody stopped him. “Sit here for a few minutes until I get back. I need to confirm something.” The mystery that had bothered him all through supper was suddenly solved as he watched the three men walking out. He had seen them before. He had seen two of them when they had ridden past a calf trapped in a hole in the river, a calf that he had rescued from the river when they ignored it. Holt was puzzled by Cody’s request, but figured he had his reasons, so he sat back down while Cody went to the end of the bar to get his rifle. Then he walked into the kitchen, startling Minnie. “Pardon me,” he said and walked through the kitchen and out the back door. He moved rapidly around the building to the front corner where he saw the three men getting on their horses. He watched as they rode down the street toward the road leading home. But instead of continuing out the road, they pulled around behind the corral at the stables.
Cody went back into the Village Tavern, through the front door where he found Holt and Chris waiting, having retrieved their rifles, as well. “What is it, Cody?” Holt asked as soon as he came in the door.
“The three men that were sittin’ at that table over next to us ride for the Double-K. I saw two of ’em when they were ridin’ the outer limits of their range. But it didn’t hit me until they got up and walked out.”
“I thought those fellows seemed mighty interested in what we were talkin’ about,” Chris commented.
“That’s why I went out the back door so I could see where they were plannin’ to ambush us, ’cause I’m pretty sure they know we’re from the Triple-H.”
“There’s plenty of places on that road back to the ranch,” Holt said. “Too bad we didn’t know who they were before they walked out of here. We coulda taken care of ’em right here.”
“It’s just as well we didn’t know,” Cody said. “It seems like just about every time I eat here, I get into some kinda trouble. If we’da shot them down in here tonight, they probably wouldn’t ever let me come in again.”
“Are we goin’ after ’em?” Chris asked.
“I expect that’s the only polite thing to do,” Holt said, “since they’ve gone to the trouble of settin’ up an ambush.”
“Well, I hope you won’t be too disappointed to find out they ain’t hidin’ in the woods along that road,” Cody said. “They’re so anxious, they didn’t even get outta town. They rode around behind the corral down at the stables. So I’d suggest that we leave our horses here and walk behind the buildings till we find where they’re hiding.”
So they started walking along behind the buildings toward the stables. Before they got too close to the corral, Cody decided to cross over to the other side of the street. He figured they would be set up to catch them in a crossfire when they rode down the street. Chris stayed with Holt, hoping to spot the horses, thinking that would be close to where the rider was hiding in ambush. The corral didn’t really offer much cover so Holt was watching the corner posts and feeding troughs, anything that could offer protection in a shoot-out. Cody was slipping from shop to shop counting on the bushwhackers thinking they would catch their targets completely by surprise and consequently they wouldn’t really need much protection. He could imagine their plan was to simply sit there in the corral and wait for the three of them to pass them by. Then they would walk out in the street behind them and shoot them in the back.
In fact, that was exactly what Otto Ross, Albert Cheney, and Deke Moore had in mind. So, it was not surprising that Cheney was startled when he heard Cody behind him, “Hey, Double-K?” In sheer panic, he spun around, squeezing the trigger that sent a bullet into the ground at his feet. Cody placed a shot in the helpless man’s chest, then looked across the street to see Deke Moore collapse by the corral railing as he tried to catch his horse. Waiting in advance of Deke and Albert in case one or more of their victims made it that far, Otto froze when he heard Cody’s shot. His first reaction upon seeing the two bodies collapse was to spring on his horse and gallop through the barn and out the back door. Both Cody and Chris ran out into the street to try to get a shot at the fleeing assassin but Otto kept the barn between him and the shooters until he was able to disappear into the trees behind the barn.
The three Triple-H men came together in the middle of the street to discuss the success of their counterattack on the ambush. “Well, it wasn’t a hundred percent successful,” Holt declared. “We didn’t count on that one son of a gun parkin’ himself that far ahead of the other two. But we did reduce the Kincaid brothers’ crew by two more.” He looked at Cody then and said, “If you hadn’t remembered seein’ those two ridin’ scout that one time, the three of us might be layin’ in the middle of the street. We’d best get back to the Tavern and get our horses.”
Unfortunately, Tom Gordon, the town marshal, was in the street in front of the Village Tavern by the time they walked back to their horses. “Evenin’ Holt, Cody,” the marshal said when they walked up. He nodded to Chris, since he didn’t know him. “I suppose you can tell me what the shootin’ was about.”
“Be glad to, Marshal,” Holt replied. “Three fellows decided to set up an ambush to kill the three of us. Two of ’em are lyin’ dead in the street by the corral. The other one got away.”
Gordon thought about that for a few moments before asking, “I expect I’d be right if I was to guess the three were Double-K men?”
“As a matter of fact they were,” Holt said.
“How did you know they was fixin’ to ambush you fellows?” Gordon asked.
“We didn’t know for sure, but we had a feelin’ they might, so we decided it was a good idea not to go ridin’ up that street until we saw there wasn’t nobody waitin’ for us. It turned out what we suspected really was a fact.”
“It was a case of attempted murder by those three men, Marshal,” Cody spoke up then. “We didn’t know who those men were. If you talk to Ed or Minnie in the saloon, they can tell you that there were no words of any kind passed between us and those three fellows. We just ate our supper and minded our own business. And when we found them hidin’ in the stable, waitin’ to kill us, I even asked the fellow what was goin’ on. He didn’t answer me. He just turned and shot. So I had no choice.”
“Well, I reckon that’s the truth of it,” Gordon said. “I’ll take care of the bodies and the horses and you fellows are free to go.” He had no desire to pursue it any further. He would send for the undertaker to pick up the bodies for their standard arrangement to split anything of value. And he would take possession of the two horses and saddles.
They climbed on their horses and trotted past the bodies lying in the street. Before reaching the road out of town, they discussed the possibility of the one surviving assassin setting up somewhere between there and the Triple-H in another ambush attack. But they decided it unlikely. The man ran scared. He didn’t even attempt a shot, so he wasn’t likely to try when his odds were three to one. So they took a leisurely ride back to the Triple-H.
* * *
Otto Ross had a much longer ride home and it was nowhere close to being as leisurely as the ride the three Triple-H men took. It was close to midnight when he rode into the barnyard and everyone had gone to bed. He took the saddle off his horse and turned it loose in the herd, took his saddle in the barn, then went into the bunkhouse. He took his boots off but didn’t bother with his clothes, jumped into his bunk, and pulled the blanket up over his head. He prayed the trembling in his body would stop so he could go to sleep, knowing he was going to have to tell Emmett what happened in the morning. It took him quite a while before he finally drifted off to sleep to be awakened by the sounds of the other men getting up for breakfast.
“Damn, Otto,” Earl Mathers commented when he saw him climb out of his blanket fully clothed. “What time did you boys get back last night?” When Otto didn’t answer right away, Earl looked behind him to see Albert and Deke’s bunks made up, so he figured they were already at the cookshack. “They musta been hungry.”
“They didn’t come back,” Otto said and walked out of the bunkhouse with Mathers trailing him.
“How come they didn’t come back?” Mathers asked. “Did you boys get in trouble in town?” His first thought was that they were in jail.
“They’re dead,” Otto said, “and I was damn lucky to get back here to tell it.” He hurried into the cookshack, anxious to have a cup of Tater’s vile coffee.
Mathers was one step behind him, and as soon as they were inside, he announced, “Deke and Albert are dead!” The four men already eating breakfast, as well as Tater Duggan, all became alert and looked at him for an explanation. “That’s what Otto said. He was with ’em.”
They all turned their attention to Otto then. “Who done it, Otto?” Sam Kilbourne asked. “Where did it happen?”
“In town,” Otto answered. “It was three Triple-H men and two of ’em was Hunters. They caught us when we was riding outta town, killed Deke and Albert, I was lucky enough to get away.” He gave them a simplified version of the deaths, preferring not to admit that it was a result of an ambush on their part that got turned upside down.
“I swear,” Tater commented, “that ain’t gonna be very good news to start Emmett’s day off with. We keep losin’ men and I might have to start workin’ with you boys.”
It was half an hour before Emmett showed up at the cookshack where he often talked over the assignments for the day if everyone was still sitting at the table. He glanced at the table this morning and asked, “Who’s missin’? Is everybody out of the bunkhouse?” They all turned to look at Otto.
“Albert Cheney and Deke Moore are missin’, Boss,” Otto said.
“Where are they?” Emmett asked.
“They’re dead, Boss,” Otto answered. “They was shot by three Triple-H hands. We went to town yesterday and we were on our way back after supper. Didn’t have no idea they was waitin’ for us to ride out. When they started shootin’, we took off. They got Deke and Albert, but I got away.” Emmett didn’t say anything, but it was obvious that he was smoldering inside to hear he had lost two more men. “One of ’em was Holt Hunter,” Otto continued in an effort to make sure Emmett’s wrath was concentrated in the right direction. “There was another Hunter, too, but I never heard his name before.”
Emmett listened to what he was saying and decided he needed to go into greater detail. “All right,” he finally spoke, “that’s bad news about Deke and Albert, but we’ve still gotta take care of the cattle.” He issued a few assignments to be worked on for the day. “But you and me need to talk some more about what happened in town, Otto. The rest of you go ahead and get started.”
They all filed out of the cookshack, obviously disappointed not to hear the discussion between Boss and Otto. When they were gone, the first question Emmett asked was, “You said one of the men was Holt Hunter. How do you know that?”
“I heard somebody call him Holt,” Otto replied.
“Where’d you hear that?” Emmett asked. “While they were chasin’ you and shootin’ at you?”
Otto paused then, realizing he had slipped up. “No, I musta forgot to tell you we was in the saloon eatin’ supper and that’s when I heard somebody call him Holt.”
Emmett realized at once that Otto had not given him the complete story. “And you said there was another Hunter there. Was his name Morgan?”
“No, his name sounded like Cody Hunter.” He remembered then and added, “He was wearin’ moccasins like Injuns wear.”
“He was wearin’ buckskins?” Emmett asked, immediately interested.
“No, sir, he was wearin’ regular cowhand britches and shirt, just wearin’ Injun moccasins.”
“How’d they know you boys were from the Double-K?” Emmett asked then.
“I don’t know,” Otto replied. “We didn’t tell anybody in that place where we was from.”
“They just decided they didn’t like your looks, I reckon, and decided to shoot all three of ya,” Emmett remarked facetiously. He suspected that he had the real picture of the whole incident. His three men must have heard the Hunters called by name, so they decided to kill them. He did not fault them for that. He wished they had been successful. Still, he was frustrated over their inability to do the job. Ordinarily, he might have been tempted to shoot Otto for his lack of guts when Holt and the other two men came after them. But his crew was so crippled at the present that he couldn’t afford to lose one more man. So he told Otto that was all he needed to know about the killings and sent him to work with Sam Kilbourne on the south range. The decision he and Ralph had already made to hire a professional killer was going to cost them a hell of a lot of money, but Vargas Roach was quick and efficient. He got up from the bench he had been sitting on and walked out of the cookshack, giving Tater a nod as he went by him. He walked back up to the house to report the morning news to Ralph.
“You want coffee?” Sadie asked when he walked in the back door. Ralph was still sitting at the table, so Emmett walked over and sat down across from him.
“You don’t look too happy, brother,” Ralph said to him. “Were the men missin’?” he japed.
“Just two of ’em,” Emmett said. “Deke Moore and Albert Cheney. Both of ’em are dead. The two of ’em and Otto Ross went into town yesterday and got into it with Holt Hunter, one of their ranch hands, and another young fellow that Otto said is named something like Cody Hunter. Maybe he said Colt. You reckon they’re twins? Holt and Colt?” Ralph simply shrugged his indifference to the question. He was already heating up upon hearing about the loss of the two men, so Emmett continued. “Well, I don’t give a damn what his name is. Otto said he didn’t wear boots. He said he was wearing Indian moccasins and he weren’t wearin’ a hat. I think he’s that damn Injun.”
Ralph slammed his good hand down hard on the table in frustration, causing coffee to splash out of the freshly poured cup Sadie had just placed before Emmett. She threw a big dishtowel on the table in front of him and told him to clean up the mess he made. He took the towel and mopped up most of the coffee without interrupting the rant he was in the middle of. “Where the hell are we goin’ to find the kind of men we need to run this ranch? We can’t spare neither one of us to ride back to Dodge City where we picked up most of the men we started out with. Right now, we’re left with enough men to take care of the cattle, and that’s all they can do. The best gun hand we had was Bo Dawson and damned if he ain’t worth nothin’ with his right shoulder in a sling.”
“I know it ain’t good,” Emmett said. “We’re just gonna have to stick to the plan we’ve already put into action. And that means we’re gonna be workin’ our cattle and minding our own business till we hear something from Vargas Roach. Then I might be able to take a short trip up to Missoula to Gallagher’s. That’s where we hired Reese Walsh, one of our best gun hands. There might be several more like him hangin’ around there.”
“What you’re sayin’ will be just fine, if things stay like they are,” Ralph said. “But what if the Triple-H ain’t satisfied to let things run like they are now. This business in town last night, you said our men knew it was the Hunters that was in that saloon. You know damn well our men tried to ambush them. Maybe the Hunters know that it was Double-K men. And if they do, there ain’t gonna be no stoppin’ them from comin’ after us, and maybe that one named Cody will put on his damn Injun suit and start pickin’ off our men again.”
“Otto swore they didn’t have no idea him and the other two were Double-K men,” Emmett assured him. “I pushed him pretty hard on that and he said there weren’t no way they coulda known. He said they never spoke a word to any of the three of them. So I’m pretty sure they don’t know who was tryin’ to bushwhack ’em.”
“I hope to hell you’re right,” Ralph said. “I still ain’t sure you got all the truth out of Otto.”
“Well, if we didn’t, I reckon we’ll find out in the next day or two. Won’t we?” Emmett asked. “All we can do is tell the men to keep their eyes open for anything that don’t look right.”
* * *
The incident in town the night before was also being discussed at the Triple-H ranch that morning. Duncan and his three sons were sitting at the kitchen table talking over whether or not there should be more action taken against the Double-K. The Double-K men attempted an ambush, and they were punished for it with the loss of two of their men. The question the Hunter men were discussing was whether or not the attack was something the three foolhardy men decided to do on their own. Or were they sent into town specifically to murder Holt and Cody Hunter? There had been many days of peace between the two ranches. And now, with the loss of two more of their men, surely they should want to avoid any further conflict.
