“This here thing is shapin’ up to be a power play,” Pistol said.
“Yeah,” Lujan agreed. “With us right in the middle of it.”
“Damn near seventy gunslingers,” Silver Jim mused. “And the most we can muster is twenty, and that’s stretchin’ it.”
“One thing about it,” Smoke stuck some small humor into a grim situation, “we’ve sure taken the strain off of a lot of other communities in the West.”
“Yeah,” Hardrock agreed. “Ever’ outlaw and two-bit pistol-handler from five states has done con-verged on us. And it wouldn’t do a bit of good to wire for the law. No badge-toter in his right mind would stick his face into this situation.”
“Must be at least a quarter of a million dollars worth of reward money hanging over them boys’ heads,” Silver Jim said. “And that’s something to think about.”
“Yeah, it shore is,” Pistol said. “Why, with just a little dab of that money, we could re-tire, boys.” There was a twinkle in his hard eyes.
“Now, wait just a minute,” Smoke said.
The old gunfighters ignored him. “You know what we could do,” Charlie said. “We could start us up a re-tirement place for old gunslingers and mountain men.”
“You guys are crazy!” Lujan blurted out the words. “You are becoming senile!”
“What’s that mean?” Hardrock asked.
“It means we ain’t responsible for our actions,” Charlie told him.
“That’s probably true,” Hardrock agreed. “If we had any sense, none of us would be here.” He looked at Lujan. “And that goes for you, too.”
Lujan couldn’t argue with that.
“Cat backed up from me a couple of times,” Charlie said. “This time, I think I’ll force his hand.”
Smoke and Beans had stepped back, letting the men talk it out.
“Peck and Nappy is gonna be with him, for sure,” Pistol said. “That damn Nappy got lead in a friend of mine one time. I been lookin’ for him for ten year. And that Peck is just a plain no-good.”
“No-Count George Victor’s got ten thousand on his head,” Silver Jim mused. And he don’t like me atall.”
“Insane old men!” Lujan muttered.
“Well, I damn shore ain’t gonna try to stop them,” Beans made that very clear. “I ain’t real sure I could take any of them ... even if I was a mind to,” he added.
Smoke stepped back in. “You boys ride for the Box T,” he reminded them. “You took the lady’s money to ride for the brand. Not to go off head-hunting. You all are needed here. Now when the shootin’ starts, speaking for myself, you can have all the reward money.”
“Same for me,” Beans and Lujan agreed.
“Aw, hell, Smoke,” Charlie said, a bit sheepishly. “We was just flappin’ our gums. You know we’re stickin’ right here. But Cat Jennings is mine.”
“And Peck and Nappy belong to me.” Pistol’s tone told them all to stand clear when grabbin’-iron time came.
“And No-Count George Victor is gonna be lookin’ straight at me when I fill his belly full of lead,” Silver Jim said.
Hardrock said, “Three-Fingers Kerman and Fulton kilt a pal of mine over to Deadwood some years back. Back-shot him. I didn’t take kindly to that. So them two belongs to me.”
“You men are incorrigible!” Parnell finally spoke.
“Damn right,” Pistol said.
“Whatever the hell that means,” Hardrock muttered.
Fae walked out to join them. “Rita’s up, having breakfast.”
“How’s she feeling?” Smoke asked.
“Aside from some sore feet—she’s not used to walking in men’s boots—she’s doing all right. I think she’s pretty well resigned that her father is around the bend. I told her what you said about Dooley saying he no longer had a daughter. It hurt her. But not as much as I thought it would. I think she’s more concerned about her mother.”
“She should be. There is no telling what that crazy bastard is liable to do,” Silver Jim summed it up.
Fifteen
He had looked into their bedroom and came stomping out. “Where is all your clothes, Liz?” Dooley demanded, his voice hard.
“I moved them out. I no longer feel I am married to you, Dooley.”
“You don’t ... what?”
“I don’t love you anymore. I haven’t for a long time. Years. I cringe when you touch me. I ...”
He jumped at her and backhanded her, knocking her against a wall. She held back a yelp of pain. She didn’t want Gage to come storming in, because she knew that she had absolutely no rights as a married woman. She owned nothing. Could not vote. And in a court of law, her husband’s word was next to God’s. And if Gage were to kill Dooley during a domestic squabble, he would hang.
She leaned against the wall, staring at Dooley as the front door opened, her sons stomping in.
Conrad, the youngest of the boys, grinned at her. “You havin’ a good time while Pa’s usin’ you for a punchin’ bag?”
Sonny and Bud laughed.
Dooley grabbed Liz by the arm and flung her toward the kitchen. “Git in there and fix me some dinner. I don’t wanna hear no more mouth from you.”
Liz walked toward the kitchen, her back straight. I won’t put up with this any longer, she vowed. I’ll follow Rita, just as quickly as I can.
A plan jumped into her head and she smiled at the thought. It might work. It just might work.
She began putting together dinner and working out the plan. It all depended on what Gage said. And the other hands.
She had gone out to gather eggs in the henhouse. Dooley and her sons had left the house without telling her where they were riding off to. As usual. All the hired guns were in town, drinking. Gage had ambled over, as he always did, to carry her basket. She told him of her plan.
“I like it, Liz. Go in the house and pack a few things while ever’body is gone. I’ll get the boys.”
She stared at him, wide-eyed. “You mean ... ?”
“Right now, Liz. Let’s get gone from this crazy house ‘fore Dooley gets back. Move, Liz! ’
She went one way and Gage trotted to the bunkhouse. He sent the only rider in the bunkhouse out to tell the others to meet him at the McCorkle ranch.
“We quittin’, Gage?”
“I am.”
“I’m with you. And so will the others. Hep me pack up their stuff, will you. I’ll tote it to them on a packhorse. How about ol’ Cook? ”
“He’ll go wherever Liz goes. He came out here with them.”
The hand cut his eyes at the foreman and grinned. “Ahh! OK, Gage.”
Working frantically, the two men stuffed everything they could find into canvas and lashed it on a packhorse. “I’ll tell Cook to hightail it. Move, Les. See you at the Circle Double C.”
Ol’ Cook was right behind Les. He packed up his warbag and swung into the saddle just as Liz was coming out of the house, a satchel in her hand.
“You want me to hitch up the buckboard, Gage?”
“No time, Cook.”
“Wal, how’s she fixin’ to ride then? We ain’t got no sidesaddle rigs.”
“Astride. I done saddled her a horse.”
Ol’ Cook rolled his eyes. “Astride! Lord have mercy! Them sufferingetts is gonna be the downfall of us all.” He galloped out.
Gage led her horse over to the porch. “Turn your head, Gage. I don’t quite know how I’m going to do this. I have never sat astride in my life.”
Gage turned his head.
“You may look now, Gage,” she told him.
He had guessed at the stirrup length and got it right. She sure had a pretty ankle. “Hang on, Liz. We got some rough country and some hard ridin’ to do.”
“Wherever you ride, I’ll be with you,” she told him, adding, “Darling.”
Gage blushed all the way down to his holey socks.
“I’ll kill ever’ goddamn one of them!” Dooley screamed. “I’ll stake that damn Gage out over an anthill and listen to him scream.” Dooley cussed until he was red-faced and out of breath.