“I hope to hell he is,” Cobb replied. “We gotta be ready for him, soon as he walks in that door.”
“I don’t think he’s that dumb,” Jace said. “I think he’ll find himself a good spot above the path where he can watch anybody comin’ in or out of the house. Try to pick us off like he did Marley and Ben at the jail.” Cobb hesitated, giving that some thought. Jace continued, “I think we’d be better off hidin’ in that burnt-down barn—somewhere we can watch the house and catch him if he comes sneakin’ around in the yard.”
Cobb wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t feel confident that they could hole up in the saloon and guard against an attack by one man determined to find a way to get inside. “What about the horses?” Bud interrupted their planning. “The last time he pulled off that Injun raid, he run all the horses off the place, then set the barn on fire.”
“That is somethin’ to think about,” Jace said. “Maybe we’d best watch the horses. We could do that if we hid in that burnt-out barn.”
“Tanner’s after us, he ain’t after the horses,” Cobb insisted, and when Jace started to interrupt, he cut him off. “I know what you’re thinkin’—he’ll stampede the horses to try to get us to come out to stop ’em. Well, I ain’t plannin’ to let him catch me out where he can get a shot at me. I say, let him come in here if he’s fool enough, and I’ll blow him to hell into next week. Teddy can watch the horses.” He looked around the saloon until his gaze settled on the bar. “That’s where I’ll wait for him, right behind that fancy bar Tiny built. If you’re smart, that’s where you’ll be. Go tell Teddy to take his rifle and go to the corral to watch the horses.” Jace decided that was as good a plan as any, so he went out to tell Teddy.
“Watch the horses?” Teddy responded when Jace told him. He was already of a mind to saddle one of them and ride out of the mess Jace and Cobb had brought back to them. “What are you and Cobb gonna do?” When Jace said they were going to set up behind the bar and wait for Tanner to come in after them, Teddy just stared in disbelief for a moment. “When he shoots me, then that’ll be a signal for you and Cobb to know he’s here, right?”
Jace didn’t recognize the sarcasm at first, and answered, “Well, yeah, I reckon it would.” Then realizing he was being japed, he got angry and said, “It’s me and Cobb that deputy is comin’ after. You ain’t done nothin’ to cause him to shoot you. So get on down to the corral, or I’m liable to shoot you.”
Teddy knew what he wanted to tell him, but he didn’t have the nerve to do it. So he said, “All right,” and started walking toward the corral. As he did, he thought about the discussion he, Bud, Etta, and Ida had that afternoon after the four outlaws had left for town. Cobb was dead set on leaving Boggy Town, and Teddy and the other three had allowed themselves to think they could run the place inside the law. And even though the urge to saddle a horse and flee was strong at the moment, he knew he would stay, in hopes Cobb and Jace would be gone soon. Then, maybe there would be a chance the deputy would let the four of them remain to make it as best they could.
Inside the saloon, Cobb and Jace were preparing as if bracing for a military assault, using the bar as their fortification. They got their belongings from the bunkhouse section of the building and piled everything around behind their fort. There would be no need to leave the bar for anything. “Your job,” Cobb told Etta and Ida, “is to make sure we’ve got plenty of food. Bud, you set yourself by that front window and keep an eye on the path down from the trail.” He sent Ida to make sure the back door to the bunkhouse was barred. “If he wants a piece of us, he’s gonna have to walk in that front door to get us,” he said to Jace. “And after we take care of him, we’ll go back and get Hawkins and the rest of the boys outta that jailhouse. There won’t be nobody to stop us with him dead.”
With an eye toward detail, and finding the preparations being made for their defense interesting, Etta was inspired to ask the two men a question. “After you’ve got everythin’ fixed so you don’t have to get out from behind that counter, whaddaya gonna do if you need to go to the outhouse?” There was no answer right away as the two men looked at each other with blank expressions. It was obvious they had made no provision for that possibility. “’Cause I ain’t about to clean up after two grown babies,” she added.
“Go get us a couple of fruit jars,” Jace finally said. “That oughta take care of it, if we have to pee,” he said to Cobb. “Anything else, can wait.”
Etta huffed scornfully. “If it comes to that, I’d pay a nickel to see you squattin’ on a fruit jar.” Without waiting for his response, she turned on her heel and went to the pantry to find a couple of empty fruit jars. When she returned, she handed one to each of them, along with a rag to clean up with. Turning to go to the kitchen just as Ida returned from the bunkhouse, she chuckled and muttered, “Fruit jars,” as she passed Ida.
“You’d best watch your mouth, old woman,” Cobb yelled after her. Curious, Ida followed her into the kitchen to find out what Etta meant. A few minutes later they could be heard laughing. Cobb was in no mood to be laughed at. “I swear, when we leave this place, I’m gonna shoot both of those witches,” he said to Jace.
* * *
With no idea what defenses he might find in the saloon, Will walked his horse along the bank of the creek a couple of hundred yards away. He continued until he came to the thick growth of trees where he had left Buster on the night of the fire. Leaving the buckskin there again, he proceeded to move closer on foot. He was about to get even closer but stopped when he suddenly saw someone crouching by the corner of the corral. Carefully then, he moved to a position where he could get a better angle to identify him. It was the outside man they called Teddy, and he was apparently on guard to watch the horses. Will was not sure Teddy was guilty of anything beyond associating with outlaws. Consequently, he had no reason to harm him unless he chose to fight alongside Cobb and Jace. And that was an unknown he would have to deal with when the critical time came. At the present time, he could not chance causing Teddy to sound an alarm, so he backed away to think about his best option.
He knelt beside a large bush and took a look at the sun. It was already settling down closer to the hills he could see farther to the west. It would be getting dark before very much longer, the days being shorter this time of the year. He decided that darkness would be his friend. After a few more moments of thought, he also decided on a plan. It was a plan that might call for a great amount of patience, but it seemed to him to be his best option. With that in mind, he returned to the spot he had just left and paused to watch the huddled figure, trying to keep warm with a heavy coat pulled tight around him.
Shivering with the cold evening as the temperature began to drop, Teddy thought of where he would normally have been at that moment—sitting by the fire with his outside chores done for the day. He thought about the two outlaws inside the saloon, hiding behind the bar, like two rats in a rathole, and he truly wished they had been killed with the other two. He could see the smoke rising heavy out of the chimney and he could imagine them sitting warm inside the saloon. That picture was suddenly interrupted by the feel of the rifle against the back of his neck and the quiet voice close to his ear. “You make one sound and you’re a dead man.” He froze immediately. “If you do what I tell you, I have no reason to shoot you, but I promise you, if you don’t, I will kill you. Now, get on your feet.”
Shivering still, but now not so much from the cold, Teddy struggled to stand up, the rifle barrel still against his neck. Will reached over with one hand and picked up the rifle leaning against the corner of the corral. “You got another weapon on you?”
“No, sir,” Teddy answered, knowing full well that it was Will Tanner. “I ain’t wearin’ no sidearm.”
“All right,” Will ordered. “We’re gonna walk over there to that smokehouse on the other side of the outhouse. Remember what I told you about bein’ quiet. I’ve got no interest in you, or anybody else inside that saloon but the two men who jus
t killed a man in town and tried to break into the jail.”
“Luke Cobb and Jace Palmer,” Teddy blurted the names without being asked. “I ain’t gonna make no noise.”
Surprised to have their names, Will asked, “Anybody else in there besides the bartender and the two women?”
“No, sir,” Teddy immediately supplied, “Bud Tilton, Etta Grice, and Ida Simpson. There ain’t nobody else.”
“Good,” Will said, and walked him over to the smokehouse he had checked a little while before. He opened the door and peered into the dark interior where a couple of hams were hanging. “I’m gonna let you stay in here for a while. If things work out, maybe I’ll have some company for you.” Teddy didn’t hesitate but walked right in. Will couldn’t help thinking he was happy to be captured. He closed the door and put the padlock in the hasp but didn’t lock it. This was the way he had found it. “You just sit tight, I’ll let you out directly,” he said, and returned to the corner of the corral.
* * *
Inside the saloon, Etta announced that supper was ready. “You want me to set it on the table, or are you gonna set there and eat it behind the counter in your little fort?”
“Put it on the table,” Cobb answered. “You keep on with that sassy mouth of yours and I might take a notion to close it for good.”
“Yeah?” Etta came back. “Then who’s gonna do the cookin’ for you? Ida ain’t much for cookin’, and Bud don’t know how to boil water.”
“She’s right,” Ida said at once. “I ain’t no cook.” She went to help Etta put supper on the table and when it was set, Bud left the window and started toward the table.
“Whoa!” Cobb bellowed. “You just stay right there and keep watchin’. You can eat when we’re done and back behind the bar.”
Ida looked at Etta and shook her head, then she asked, “What about Teddy? Don’t he get to eat?”
Cobb paused to consider that for a moment. “He needs to stay where he is and watch the horses.” He thought a moment more. “If you’re so worried about him, you can take him a plate—if you ain’t worried about getting’ shot.”
“I ain’t afraid of gettin’ shot,” she huffed. “Teddy’s probably gettin’ froze settin’ out there in the cold.” She picked up a plate and filled it, threw a blanket over her shoulders, and went out the kitchen door. “Damn!” she swore when she almost stumbled on the bottom step and came close to dropping the plate and the cup of coffee. “It’s gettin’ dark out here.” Holding the plate of food carefully and trying to watch her step so as not to spill coffee out of the cup, she made her way toward the huddled figure at the corner of the corral. When within a few feet of him, she sang out, “You look like you’re half-froze. I brought you some supper.” He did not respond, causing her to think he’d gone to sleep. She placed the cup down next to him but jumped back, almost falling when he straightened up with his Colt .44 in his hand.
“Don’t make a sound,” he warned, “and you won’t get hurt.” Visibly terrified, she would have dropped the plate of food had he not taken it from her. She might have screamed, but she found herself incapable of making a sound. Aware of it, he quickly tried to calm her. “You’re all right, I’m not gonna harm you,” he said in as soothing a tone as he could. “Just keep quiet and I’ll take you to Teddy. He’s safe, just like you’ll be, if you do what I tell you.” When she seemed to recover her wits, he handed the plate back to her, holstered his six-gun, and said, “Pick up the coffee and I’ll take you to Teddy. I think he’ll be glad to get it.”
He led her across the backyard to the smokehouse and took the padlock out of the hasp. “You all right in there, Teddy?” When Teddy said that he was, Will said, “I brought you some company. She’s got your supper.”
Back in a corner of the smokehouse, Teddy pulled a match out of his pocket and struck it. Its brief light was enough to show Ida where he was, and she hurried toward him before it sputtered out. “Howdy, Ida,” he said cheerfully. “I can surely use that.” He took the cup and plate from her.
“Well, I’ll be . . .” she started but was too surprised to finish. She turned to look at the silhouette standing in the open door. “I was afraid you’d killed him.”
“I’ve got no quarrel with him,” Will said. “You, either. You’ll be in here a little while longer, till I see how this works out. Are Cobb and Jace still hunkered down behind the bar?”
She looked at once toward Teddy. He shrugged and said, “I told him.”
She hesitated for just a moment, trying to decide where her loyalties should lie. In the next moment, she decided she owed none to Cobb and Jace. So she said, “That’s where they are, and they’re hopin’ you come chargin’ in the door.”
“Much obliged,” he said. “You two keep each other warm.” He closed the door then and replaced the unlocked padlock. He returned to the corral then and prepared to wait again for a while to see if anyone else came to check on Teddy and Ida. He figured the more bystanders he got out of the saloon, the better, if it came down to a firefight in close quarters. And it could very well come to that.
* * *
Inside the saloon, Bud was finally allowed to eat his supper when Cobb and Jace retreated to their base behind the bar. Cobb changed his mind about permitting him to sit down at the table, however, and told Etta to dish up a plate for him and take it to him by the window. He was determined not to be surprised by the deputy. Bud was finishing up his supper before Jace suddenly asked, “How come Ida ain’t back yet?”
Etta answered him. “Most likely she’s waitin’ for him to finish, so she can bring the dishes back.”
That sounded reasonable, so it satisfied him for the moment. But as more time passed with still no sign of Ida, both Jace and Cobb became concerned. “Where the hell is she?” Cobb suddenly demanded. “He’s damn sure had time to eat that plate of food by now.”
Over by the front window, Bud offered what he considered a reasonable explanation. “You know what Baby does for a livin’,” he said, calling Ida by her professional name. “Maybe ol’ Teddy decided to take a little ride after supper. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
The thought of that served to infuriate Cobb, who was already getting more and more edgy waiting for Tanner to show up. “If he did, I swear, I’ll shoot him. I sent him down there to watch the horses.” He started to storm out the door but thought better of it, madder now to think that Teddy almost caused him to expose himself to a sniper waiting for him to come out. He turned about and pointed his finger at Bud. “Go down there and bring that whore back in here. And tell Teddy he’s gonna answer to me!”
“Who’s gonna watch for Will Tanner?” Bud asked, not particularly anxious to expose himself to whatever might be waiting outside the building.
“I will,” Jace volunteered. “Go on and do what he said.” He saw signs that Cobb was getting too edgy and he didn’t trust him to keep his impatience in check. The thought crossed his mind that Teddy, and now Ida, had decided it was time to run. When Bud moved away from the window, Jace stepped up to take his position. “Make sure Teddy’s on the job down there. If he ain’t there, you get back up here in a hurry and let me know.” Bud nodded his understanding. “And bring Ida back here. We don’t need her down there botherin’ him.”
With his shotgun in hand, Bud paused briefly at the back door and tried to scan the yard between the house and the corral before going down the steps. Full darkness had descended upon the clearing where Mama’s Kitchen had been built and there was no sign of the moon as yet. It dawned on him that his vigil by the window was not of much value, because he couldn’t see that much even now when he was outside. Not at all comfortable with the idea that someone might be watching him, now that he was outside, he hurried toward the burnt remains of the stable, even more eerie in the darkness. Halfway there, he was relieved to see the outline of Teddy’s body by the corner of the corral. He hurried his step, anxious to impart his message and return to the relative safety of the saloon. “Hey, T
eddy, Cobb ain’t too happy with you. Where’s Ida?”
“She’s waitin’ for you in the smokehouse,” Will said, and straightened up to face him. Bud stepped back, startled, offering no resistance when Will reached out and took the shotgun out of his hand. “Don’t make a sound. I’ll tell you the same thing I told Teddy and Ida. You do what I tell you, and you won’t get hurt. You understand?”
Bud nodded vigorously before answering, “Yes, sir, I understand.”
“Good. We’re goin’ to the smokehouse where Teddy and Ida are waitin’.” He turned Bud’s shoulders toward the smokehouse and nudged him in the back to get him started. When he got to the smokehouse and opened the door, he asked, “Got room for one more?”
Teddy, who by this time was actually enjoying the drama being played out for the benefit of the two outlaws inside the saloon, was quick to answer. “Yes, sir! We’re always glad to have one more for the party. Come on in, Bud.”
No longer afraid for her safety, but not quite as joyful as Teddy, Ida wanted to ask a question. “Tell me, Will Tanner, what are you gonna do with us? Are we under arrest?” Her question caught the attention of Teddy and Bud.
“No,” Will answered. “I’ve got no reason to arrest you. Let’s just say you’re in protective custody. When this is all over, whatever happens, you three, and the cook, too, are free to go your own way. I hope you won’t have to stay in here much longer.” He closed the door again and left them to discuss their situation.
As soon as they were sure he was gone, they all started talking at the same time, wondering what was going to happen next. There was concern about whether or not they were going to catch hell from Cobb and Jace, if the two outlaws came out on top. “I know who I’m hopin’ is gonna win this fight,” Teddy declared. Without asking him who, the other two quickly said they agreed with him.
“Wouldn’t it be somethin’ if Tanner could trick ’em into sending Etta out here with us?” Ida speculated.
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