“Hush, now, Missy,” Denver soothed her. “We’re all right. We made it. Them hands done been called back to the barn, so to speak. Smoke’s been raisin’ hob and hell with ’em. I think I know where he is. Come on.”
“Let’s go, boys,” Smoke called from the saddle. “Let’s see who is left alive. Ride single file, behind me and keep your eyes open.”
Jeff, Harvey, and Tim hailed them from the timber and Smoke swung down and got Jeff into the saddle. They moved on toward the ambush site.
Sally had heard the signaling shots and watched as the riders gathered on the floor of the valley and pulled out. She walked back to Toni. “They’re all leaving, Toni. Come on. Let’s get back to the ambush site.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where Smoke will expect to find me. Come on, Toni. We made it.”
Smoke and Sally held on to each other for a long moment. Then they pulled back and smiled for a second. Sally sobered her smile.
“This is all that survived?” she asked, cutting her eyes.
“Yeah. We lost thirteen, all told.”
“The boys?”
“Willie, Jake, and Rabbit. They dragged Rabbit.”
Denver cussed, low and long. For all his grousing, he liked the boys, and had let Rabbit swipe a cookie every now and then when Rabbit thought he wasn’t looking.
Smoke said, “The cattle trampled Eton. I recognized him by a boot. The herd got Willie. He was wearing overalls. Duke had been shot a dozen times, in the back.”
Jeff and Harvey loaded their pistols up full and closed the loading gate. Tim continued pushing cartridges into his Winchester.
“Shorty made a stand of it, and he probably got lead in a few of them. Davy took a slug through the head. Johnson made a fight of it. Nate and Little Ben fought them to the end.”
“I found Jake’s body,” Sally said somberly. “They shot him in the belly. He died hard.”
“I found one of the men,” Jeanne said. “I changed into his clothing. I’m sorry. I didn’t know his name. Only his face.”
“He’d be honored to have you wearin’ his duds, ma’am,” Tim said.
“We found several cases of food, boss,” Denver said. “I reckon them raiders didn’t do a good job of searchin’. And I dragged the big coffee pot out and we’ll have some coffee directly.”
“Good. You boys scrounge around and see what pots and pans you can come up with. Tim, ride over to that little bunch of cattle over there”—he pointed—“and cut one out and butcher it. We’ll have steaks, if nothing else. Sally, take a look at my shoulder and then we’ll cut the slug out of Jeff’s leg.”
“Why?” Jeanne asked him, while Sally was cleaning out and redressing the splinter wound, and washing out the bullet groove in his scalp. She had never seen so many muscles on a man. The man’s upper torso was huge. “Why did they attack us. Why?”
“To kill you, get the cattle, and then take possession of your ranch. By the time your Eastern attorneys got wind of your deaths, and that might take months, and found their way out here, everything would be settled. False bill of sale, the whole bit.”
“The man is mad!” Toni said.
“No. He’s not crazy. He’s just ruthless and greedy. Clint probably thinks he’s got us trapped in here. But there are ways out he doesn’t know of.” Smoke smiled. “A cowboy will explore as long as he can do it sitting in leather,” he said to the twins. “But walking for long distances is not something he’s real fond of doing. They’ll have the north and south ends guarded. They’ll be guarding the trail that you ladies used coming in. And they’ll have that notch over there on the other side guarded.” He pointed across the valley. “But there are other ways in and out. We just have to find them.”
“And you are confident that you will be able to do that?” Jeanne asked.
Smoke’s smile was brief and savage. “I’m confident that I will find a way out this valley. I’m confident that I will get us out. And I am confident that I will kill the dirty son who ambushed us.”
“Coffee’s ready,” Denver called.
“I found our saddles!” Guy called from the edge of the timber. “Them raiders wasn’t gonna burn no good leather. They was gonna keep them for personal use. Includin’ all our saddlebags.”
“One more mistake Clint made,” Smoke muttered.
“You damn fool!” Clint’s brother raged at the man. “Don’t you realize what you’ve done?”
Clint lazily lifted a hand and waved it off.
“No, Clint,” the sheriff corrected. “You can’t wave this off. The times and the ways may have changed somewhat in the West, but the treatment of women has not. You even had four of your rowdies ride out when you told them of this ambush. Oh, I don’t think they’ll talk about it. They were loyal to the brand. But you’ve put something into motion that’s like an avalanche. It can’t be stopped; it’s got to come crashing down and run its course.”
“You worry too much,” Clint said, pouring a fresh cup of coffee. Harris waved off the offer of coffee.
“Smoke Jensen! My God, man! Of all the herds to strike at, you picked one belonging to Smoke Jensen.”
Clint looked at his brother. “You know him, Harris?”
“Not personal. But I saw him in action one time down in Colorado. The man is awesome. He’s fearless. There ain’t a nerve in his body. You can’t beat him with guns. You can’t beat him with fists…”
“I have never seen the man I couldn’t stomp into the ground,” Clint replied coldly.
“Don’t try Smoke Jensen,” his brother warned. Harris shook his head. “I thought we agreed the lawlessness was to end?”
“You goin’ soft on me, brother?” Clint asked the question quietly.
“You know better. But times are changing and you’re not changing with them. I say that in ten years we’ll be a state. And with that comes a state police force and better law enforcement.” He rose from his chair and paced the room. “I don’t know how we can cover this up, Clint.”
“We kill the rest of them in the valley,” the rancher said. “It’s simple.”
Harris turned from the window to stare at his brother. “Women and boys, Clint? No. This ends now. You…”
Clint flew into a rage. He jumped from his chair and stalked across the large room to face his brother. “Goddamn you! Don’t you be givin’ no orders to me. I put you in office, I…”
“The people elected me, Clint,” Harris corrected. “Yeah, yeah, you hung this badge on me years back. But then we held elections, and the people voted on who they wanted to be their sheriff. And they chose me. It’s taken me ten years to weed the deputies loyal to you out of my department. But I did it. And now, you, by God, are going to listen to me. I’ll cover for you just this one time. Then it’s over. I’ll not cover for you again.”
Brothers stood toe to toe and eyeball to eyeball for a very long moment. Finally Clint grunted and winked. He walked back to his desk and sat down. “All right, Harris. Lay it out.”
“I’m taking a posse out to the valley. This afternoon. All your rowdy hands had better be gone from the passes. Where were the bodies dumped?”
“I don’t know what they done with them,” Clint lied.
“I’ll listen to the survivors’ stories. I’ll probably hear that the brand on the night riders’ horses was Circle 45, since you gave me a report stating that a number of horses were stolen from you the other night. I’ll apologize to the survivors. Smoke Jensen won’t buy it. And he might come lookin’ for you. I don’t know. But if he calls you out, I won’t interfere. The war is over, Clint. The lawlessness is over. I won’t stand for it. I never liked your high-handed and roughriding ways. You’re not the Almighty, no matter what you think. I’ve got a tarnish on my name just from being your brother. I’m going to clear my name, as best I can. Seeing you behind bars won’t bring back the dead out there in that valley. Those…boys that came along for a summer’s adventure. I don’t see how you sleep at night. I can’t undo what you and your men have done. But I can, by God, see that it never happens again. And I mean it, Clint. I mean it. I don’t want to have to lock you up. But I will. After this day, I’ve told the last lie for you. You and me, we’re flesh and blood, Clint. But you took a wrong road. You and me, Clint, we took separate trails. And Clint? Don’t ever think you’re better with a gun than I am. I’ll shoot your ears off if you ever drag iron against me.”