Just Dalton, page 6
Stanhope laughed. Then he rode away.
Chapter Nine
For long moments after Stanhope had set off back down the pass toward Sweet Valley, the three men stood silently with nobody meeting anyone else’s eye.
“So what are we going to do about that accusation?” Dalton asked when the silence started to prey on his nerves.
“I guess that depends on your answer to one simple question,” Vaughn said. “Did you shoot my brother?”
“In my experience lawmen only ever ask questions that they reckon they already have the answer to.”
Vaughn snorted. “So you’ve had plenty of experience of dealing with lawmen, have you?”
Dalton sighed and decided to provide a version of the response he’d rehearsed before he’d even met Vaughn.
“I’ve shot men to defend myself, just like I tried to do a short while ago. I’ve also had a complicated past in which I’ve done things I later regretted, but the men I killed deserved what they got and I’ve never killed anyone through malice or for personal gain.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t know how else to answer your question when I don’t know whether I’ve ever come up against your brother before.”
Vaughn narrowed his eyes while Loren stepped closer to Dalton and then folded his arms as he showed his support for him.
“You’d have remembered meeting Deputy Vaughn,” the marshal declared. “He was a formidable man.”
“Are you saying he was the sort of lawman only the most resolute of men could defeat?”
“That’s right.”
Dalton smiled. “Then I could have done with being that resilient when McKinley attacked us. I didn’t even come close to landing a shot on any of his men, unlike Stanhope, who strikes me as being the sort of man who might have been able to overcome your brother.”
Vaughn shook his head. “Quit trying to avoid the question.”
“I’m not. I guess I’m just asking you to give me something that’s more than an unsubstantiated accusation that frankly sounds like the ramblings of a man who is going down with a fever.”
Vaughn tapped his damp brow. “I’m thinking as clearly as I always do and I have more. The man I want had only one name, like you do, Dalton.”
Dalton blew out his cheeks in apparent exasperation and Loren nodded.
“Presumably you’d accuse me if I told you my name was just Loren,” Loren said. “I reckon Dalton’s right. That fever did make you pass out in the wagon and now you’re not thinking straight. You need to get back to Sweet Valley and get some rest.”
Vaughn pointed a shaking finger at Loren. “Stay out of this or I’ll arrest you for being Dalton’s accomplice.”
“You’re not arresting nobody. Sit down in the shade and we’ll get you some water. After this is over we’re not going nowhere other than back to our homes, so when you’re fit and well again seek us out in Two Forks and we’ll sort this out. We’ll even do whatever we can to help you find this man.”
Vaughn shook his head, the action making him sway before he righted himself and gestured at Dalton.
“Stanhope may have been a poor excuse for a lawman, but he figured one thing out right. Dalton is the man I want.”
Loren placed a hand on Dalton’s shoulder. “You don’t have no real evidence to prove that. So you have to stop accusing an honorable, respectable man like Dalton.”
Vaughn turned to the side as if he was thinking the matter over, but then he snapped around to face them while throwing a hand to his holster. In a moment he had his gun drawn and aimed at Dalton, and then he grinned manically suggesting he hadn’t been certain that he could complete the maneuver.
“I want the truth and I want it now,” he said between deep intakes of breath.
“From the look of you it’ll have to be now,” Dalton said. “You’re not going to be able to stand up for much longer.”
Vaughn took a faltering step toward him. “Talk or I will shoot.”
“You said before that you’d shoot only after you’d learned the truth. That alone should tell you that you’re not in control right now.”
“Talk,” Vaughn murmured, his voice barely audible.
Vaughn took another step, but he set his foot down awkwardly. Then he keeled over to land face first in the dirt. The moment Vaughn hit the ground Loren hurried forward and dragged the gun away from Vaughn’s hand, encountering no resistance. Then he turned to Dalton.
“We should do what you said,” Dalton said. “Get him into the shade and get some water down him. Then we’ll take him back to Sweet Valley where he can get some proper rest and help.”
“I hope he appreciates our efforts and realizes what a bad mistake he’s made,” Loren said.
Dalton doubted that, but he joined Loren and together they dragged Vaughn into the shade beside the wagon. Then Loren collected water from a barrel at the back of the wagon. They tried to make Vaughn sit up with his back resting against a wheel so that he could drink, but he kept slumping down.
So they settled for dribbling water over his lips, but when he didn’t swallow and the water only ran down his chin and on to his chest they emptied a ladleful over his head. They stood back to examine him.
Vaughn’s chin was resting on his chest and he was murmuring to himself. His arms were dangling slackly and when he started to slip to the side he made no attempt to stop himself and he flopped down to lie on the ground.
“He must have been ill when we left town, but he wouldn’t even admit his weakness to himself,” Dalton said.
Loren sighed. “Clearly he wasn’t as tough as he thought he was, or whatever’s ailing him is worse than he expected. We need to be careful here as I don’t want to catch whatever he’s got.”
Dalton nodded and thought back to the time when he’d first met his wife. Eliza had cared for her dying father and afterward she’d nursed other ill people. She had no medical training, but in her view she used basic common-sense of cleanliness and not sharing food. They’d not done the latter, so he reckoned they might get lucky.
“You’re right that this sickness isn’t something we want to get. We need to keep our distance as much as possible, and if we touch him we need to wash our hands.”
“Hopefully Stanhope hasn’t been sensible. That man could do with suffering for a few days.”
Dalton laughed before they set about getting Vaughn into the back of the wagon. They levered him up to an upright position and then walked him around to the back. Vaughn’s feet just dragged along the ground, so Dalton got up into the wagon.
Then they hoisted him up inside before dumping him unceremoniously on a pile of blankets. They debated whether it’d be better to wrap him up in a blanket and keep him warm or to leave him as he was in the hope that he might cool down.
Neither man knew what would be best for him, so they explained the situation to Vaughn to get his opinion. They didn’t get a response so they set about doing the one thing they did know was for the best and leave for Sweet Valley as soon as possible.
They agreed that Loren would drive the wagon and that Dalton would scout around to look out for signs of McKinley returning. So Loren clambered on to the seat while Dalton vaulted over the tailboard.
He led Loren’s horse to the back of the wagon, but as he was tethering it something moved nearby. When he turned toward the side of the pass, he reckoned the movement had come from a spot around halfway to the summit.
His theory proved to be correct when a man stood up and aimed his gun down at the wagon. Clearly while they had been arguing with and then helping Vaughn, the bandits had doubled back along the top of the pass and then quietly moved in on them.
“We’ve got trouble,” Dalton called and then hurried around the side of the wagon.
A moment later a blast of gunfire peeled out.
Chapter Ten
Loren jumped down from the seat and hurried along the side of the wagon to join Dalton.
“I assume that was McKinley Vinge,” he said.
“I only saw one man,” Dalton said. “If the other two bandits are with him up the side of the pass, despite their reduced numbers they should be able to launch a more effective assault than their previous attempt.”
“They probably can, but we’re fairly evenly matched now, so we stand a good chance of prevailing, and there’s a chance Stanhope will hear the gunfire and come back to join in the fray.”
Dalton winced. “After his argument with Vaughn I doubt he’ll do that and, either way, I’d sooner deal with this without that man’s help.”
Loren nodded. “I reckon our best chance is to limit their advantage and flee. Once we’re gone it’ll take them a while to get back to their horses and chase after us, by which time we might have found a better place to go to ground.”
Dalton agreed to this plan, so Loren shuffled back along the side of the wagon to stand beside the seat while Dalton walked backward toward his horse. He made sure that he kept the wagon between himself and the shooter.
When Dalton reached his mount they met each other’s eye to coordinate their actions. Then Loren leaped on to the seat while Dalton sprang up into the saddle. Dalton moved away from the wagon and blasted off two quick shots at the side of the pass.
His efforts kept the shooter down and Loren was able to get the wagon moving without reprisals. With this success Dalton stayed where he was and looked out for the shooter while Loren took the wagon along the side of the slew of rocks.
Loren built up speed and, when he started to swing the wagon around to head back down the pass, Dalton turned to the rocks above him, wondering why the shooter wasn’t at least trying to shoot them as this was when they were at their most vulnerable. The answer came when gunfire tore out from behind him.
Loren ducked down on the seat while turning to the line of rocks, while Dalton swung his horse around and hurried along beside the rocks toward the wagon. He couldn’t locate the new shooter, and the man up the side of the pass then started firing at him.
Dalton hunched down in the saddle and tried to ignore him as he put distance between them. On the wagon Loren sat back up in the seat, and as he turned the wagon to face down the pass he leaned over the side suggesting that the man was firing from near the end of the line of rocks.
Dalton headed toward that spot, but then someone fired at him from close by. He turned in the saddle. The report had been so close he didn’t risk following the wagon over open ground, so he jumped down from his horse and sought to hide behind the nearest cover of a low-lying rock.
He took ten long paces and then dove on to his chest to go sliding along the ground behind the rock only to find that this was where the shooter had hunkered down. Dalton’s arrival appeared to shock his opponent as much as it surprised Dalton and for a moment the two men faced each other.
Both men got their wits about them at the same time and the man jerked his gun down toward Dalton while Dalton raised his own gun. Luckily Dalton had dove to the ground with his arms thrust out before him, so before the man could fire he tore a gunshot into his opponent’s chest.
The man flinched backward while wasting a shot into the air before Dalton’s second shot to the lower chest sent him falling over backward. Dalton scrambled forward to adopt the same position that the man had used and then raised his head.
The wagon was now directed away from him while Loren was leaning to the side sporting a concerned expression. When Dalton raised a hand, Loren moved back on to the seat taking him out of his sight, but he then also moved the wagon toward the side of the pass.
Dalton figured he was trying to help him escape by doubling back and subduing the first bandit who had fired at them, so he searched for the remaining bandit. This man was probably the leader, McKinley Vinge, as, aside from the shooter on the slope, they had dealt with all the rest.
His earlier assumption had been that McKinley was hiding farther along the line of rocks, so while keeping his head down he worked his way toward him. He stayed close to the rocks to keep out of the other shooter’s sight, but the man must have moved as a gunshot rang out behind him and rock splintered a foot to his side.
He dropped to one knee and then twisted around, but Loren made the man pay for taking a shot at him. Loren had taken the wagon to the base of the slope from where he hammered lead into the bandit.
The man fell backward to drop from view, but a moment later he came back into sight as he went tumbling down the slope before he crashed down ahead of the wagon. The man had been lucky in landing just out of the direct line that the wagon was taking, but as he wasn’t moving, with a shake of the head Loren dismissed him from his thoughts and then sought to direct the wagon toward Dalton.
Dalton waved him on while searching for McKinley amid the rocks, but the bandit stayed down. One steady pace at a time Dalton edged out from the rocks and then moved on toward the end.
The rattle of the wagon behind him became louder as Loren approached. Then Loren fired. Dalton didn’t know where the shot had been aimed at, so he turned his head, but Loren was gesturing ahead making Dalton snap his head back around.
He was glad he’d moved quickly as McKinley was stepping out from behind the farthermost rock with his gun already thrust out before him. McKinley fired at Loren, but then with a twitch of the head toward Dalton he appeared to register that another man was approaching him.
He still fired again at Loren giving Dalton enough time to raise his gun arm and blast a slug that caught McKinley’s upper arm. McKinley staggered backward for a pace before he righted himself, but before he could take aim again Dalton fired a second shot at him with Loren firing a moment later.
Both of their shots tore into McKinley’s belly making him double over and then topple over sideways. As with the other bandit he dropped to the ground ahead of the wagon but not in its path, but this time Loren directed the horses a few feet to the side.
A clatter of hoofs followed by two heavy wheels ensured that whether or not their bullets had dispatched him, McKinley wouldn’t give them any more trouble. Loren then let the wagon complete a full circle before he stopped it facing down the pass. Dalton hurried on to stand beside the wagon where he beamed up at Loren.
“Those bandits won’t give the good folks of Two Forks and Sweet Valley any more trouble,” he declared.
“They won’t, and we finished the job without Stanhope’s help,” Loren said.
“Let’s just hope that Vaughn is more grateful for our actions than he was for Stanhope’s help earlier.”
When Loren shrugged Dalton moved around to the back of the wagon. Inside, Vaughn was lying supine with a hand resting on his brow and another pressed to his chest, but he didn’t appear to have been injured during the gunfight.
Then again, the marshal didn’t show any sign that he’d even been aware that they’d just been in a fight for their lives. Dalton headed back around the wagon to face Loren.
“I looked back at him a few moments ago,” Loren said. “I’m not sure he’ll last until we can get him to help.”
“It looks the same to me, but we have to try.”
Loren frowned and then bade Dalton to come closer. Even so, he leaned out of the seat and lowered his voice.
“Are you sure that’s a risk you want to take?”
“Marshal Vaughn was behaving reasonably before he fell ill,” Dalton said. “If we save his life, I reckon he might view me differently, and even if he doesn’t, after we’ve done the right thing I doubt anyone else will support him.”
Loren nodded and then sat back up in the seat. “In that case, let’s head back to Sweet Valley.”
Chapter Eleven
When Loren drove the wagon off down the pass, Dalton stayed back to check on the bandits. All six of them were dead, but with the urgent need to get back to Sweet Valley he left them where they had fallen.
He mounted his horse and hurried after Loren. It was now well into the morning and at the steady pace they had used to reach Cottonwood Pass they wouldn’t get back to town until several hours after sundown, so when he joined the wagon they maintained a brisk pace to get Vaughn to help as quickly as possible.
They took only brief breaks and each time they checked on Vaughn. The marshal lay still and clammy while murmuring to himself, his words unintelligible showing that he was now weak and delirious.
Dalton talked to him about the ambush and gunfight back in the pass and how they’d ultimately defeated McKinley. He doubted that Vaughn was sufficiently conscious to pay attention to his report, but he hoped that some of what he said might get through to him and so help him to look favorably on his actions when he felt better.
He had become used to Vaughn’s lack of reaction, so when they stopped before embarking on what would be the last leg of their journey, he was surprised when Vaughn opened his eyes.
“Did you do it?” he croaked.
“You need to get some rest and not worry yourself with such matters,” Dalton said.
Vaughn closed his eyes for a moment and took a grating, shallow breath.
“I’m dying. I don’t want to go without knowing the truth.”
“You’re not dying. We’ll reach Sweet Valley in a short while and someone there will be able to help you.”
Vaughn snorted, his action making him cough weakly several times. Then he firmed his jaw as he gathered his strength to try to speak again.
“Nobody could help the ones who got sick last week. They died.”
Dalton gulped, having not been aware of this worrying fact.
“Then that’s even more reason for you to stop pestering me about this. You need to conserve your strength.”
“Tell me,” Vaughn said through gritted teeth.
Dalton chose his next words carefully. Then he faced Vaughn, and as if anticipating that he was about to hear something significant Vaughn raised an eyebrow.
