Gus

by C. J. Petit

  “I understand, Joe. You are going to be an avenging angel. Do you have a gun?”

  “Yes. The one I used to kill the fornicators.”

  “I have my derringer, and I will take it with us as I support you in this cause.”

  “Thank you, Reverend.”

  “You are blessed, Joe. Let’s prepare.”

  ____

  It was close to two o’clock, and it was time to go to the train station. Gus and Libby were on their horses. Eli and Rachel were on the wagon. They had two trunks packed as well as two travel bags.

  “All ready to go, Rachel?”

  “Ready to go, Gus.”

  Rachel drove the wagon smartly down the access road. Gus and Libby rode on each side of the wagon like the guards that they were. Both scanned for possible ambushes by Joe Miles. They made it to town without incident and pulled the wagon up to the train depot. Gus unloaded the two trunks as Rachel bought their two tickets. They gave the trunks to the baggage handler, who tagged them and rolled them to the baggage area.

  Gus was upset. Rachel could see it.

  “Gus. It’ll be all right. You just remember to keep a watch on Sara.”

  “I will, Rachel. I’m going to miss you both terribly.”

  “And we’ll miss you, too, Gus. It was a rare thing that we had for such a short time, but it was a treasure for a lifetime.”

  Gus looked into her watery eyes through his and kissed her gently on the lips. Then he hugged her close.

  He turned to Eli and gave him a big hug as well.

  “You take care of Rachel like you always have, Eli.”

  He smiled. “I will, Gus.”

  The train was rolling into the station. Everyone turned to see it arriving.

  The Reverend Quincy and Joe were riding past, en route to the Star A. Joe turned to say something to the reverend when he saw Libby standing on the platform. Then he scanned and saw Gus . . . And those damned Jews! Right there! They were taking Libby with them to convert her to their heathen ways!

  “Reverend, look!” he shouted as he pulled his Colt.

  Gus heard the shout and turned to see Joe pulling his Colt and aiming it at Rachel. He had no time. He took two steps and was taking his Colt out of his holster, but he had to protect Rachel!

  He was in front of her when Joe’s pistol discharged. Gus felt the bullet strike him in the left shoulder. He knew it wasn’t bad. He didn’t hesitate. He concentrated on the target and fired at Joe’s center mass. His round struck Joe dead center and blew him from his horse. Gus had been concentrating on Joe, and he almost missed the Reverend Quincy taking out what looked like a derringer.

  People were scattering in all directions. Gus cocked his hammer as the reverend fired. Gus didn’t know where the reverend’s shot went, but he fired and hit the reverend, a little high but centered right above the notch in his breastbone. He fell from his horse as well. Gus turned quickly to make sure that everyone he cared about was all right. Libby, fine. Rachel, fine. Eli, fine. He saw where the first shot that had passed through his arm had gone. There was a hole in the side of the passenger car. Where did that other bullet go?

  Everyone had started to return now that the shooting was over. Libby reached Gus quickly and looked at his wound.

  “Gus, it’s just outside the bone. You’ll be all right.”

  “I know. But where did the reverend’s shot go?”

  “Over there, I think,” said Eli. He pointed at the train window. The bullet had hit the glass, but it didn’t shatter. Instead, it made a clean hole with two large cracks. One was vertical, the other horizontal, making a perfect cross.

  “I’m not going to say anything,” said Gus as he looked at the window.

  Rachel, Eli, and Libby all looked at the same thing.

  Rachel looked over at Gus. “Gus, that’s the second time you’ve done that. This time, you took a bullet for me.”

  “No, it would have missed you, Rachel.”

  “You meant to, though, didn’t you?”

  “I had to, Rachel.”

  “Why?”

  He smiled at her. “I love you, Rachel.”

  Rachel hugged him as tears flooded her face.

  There was a delay while the passengers were reoriented. Gus was given a towel by the conductor.

  The train whistle blew, and Rachel and Eli made their final good-byes and got on board the train. Gus was fighting back tears as the train pulled out and he saw Eli and Rachel leaving Kinnick. He wondered if he would ever see them again.

  They had totally forgotten about the two bodies in the street until the sheriff came walking up to them.

  “You’d better have some answers for all of this, mister.”

  “I have one answer for you. They each shot once, I shot twice. They’re dead and I’m alive. Those two righteous bastards got what they deserved. Now, are you going to be stupid enough to arrest me a second time?”

  “Damned straight, I am.”

  “The hell you are, Zeke,” came from behind him. Gus turned and saw the county sheriff approaching.

  “You may as well go home to your office and take off that badge. You didn’t even investigate a double homicide that was committed by that man lying in the street. I’m sending a telegram to the US marshal in Fort Worth. You’ll be out of a job in a week. Now, get your sorry ass outta my sight.”. said Sheriff Gannon.

  Zeke had nothing to add. He turned and left.

  “What happened here, Gus?” the sheriff asked.

  “We came to see off Eli and Rachel Aronson, who were returning to Kansas City. Just as the train arrived, Joe yelled something to the reverend there, and I turned to see Joe aiming at Rachel. I stepped in front as he fired and took this, but I got off one shot at him and saw the reverend aiming his derringer. He fired, and I got one shot off at him.”

  “Let’s go and look at the bodies.”

  They walked over. Sheriff Gannon picked up Joe’s gun and smelled it then examined the cylinders. Then he wandered over and did the same to the derringer. He looked closely at both bodies.

  “That’s good shootin’, Gus.”

  “Needed to be, Sheriff.”

  “You go and get that arm taken care of. We’ll clean up this mess and the ones out at the Slash M. I think you were right about the one shot being meant for the man. Joe had two used cartridges in his gun. One for both of them at the ranch and one for you. Will you and Mrs. Miles be able to come up tomorrow and sign statements? You also have a reward to pick up.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  “Good work, Gus. You’d make a helluva lawman.”

  “I’m a rancher, Sheriff. But I appreciate it.”

  He waved and had his deputies start cleaning up the mess.

  Hank walked up to Libby.

  “Miss Libby, we was all wondering. Now that Joe’s gone, can we still work at the ranch?”

  Libby suddenly realized that with Mary dead, it was her ranch.

  “Of course, you can. It’ll be a lot more peaceful, I can assure you.”

  Hank lit up and said, “Thank you, ma’am. We’ll all head back there.”

  Then he turned to Gus. “Gus, I gotta tell you, that chestnut gelding of yours is the finest horse I ever rode.”

  “He’s pretty special.”

  Libby sauntered close to Gus.

  “Gus, do you know what happened in the past ten minutes?”

  “You got your divorce.”

  “That, and I inherited the Slash M.”

  “I didn’t even think of that! You’re right. He left everything to Mary, but he killed his own daughter.”

  “We’ll have to talk seriously tonight, I think.”

  “Will you come with me to the doctor’s office, Libby?”

  “That’s where I’m supposed to be.”

  The walked arm in arm to the doctor’s office.

  The doctor put in twenty-two stitches and told Gus to stop by in ten days to get them removed. Libby and Gus returned to the wag
on, and Libby hitched Cleo to the back. Gus just got into the wagon.

  “Gus, don’t you need to hitch your horse?”

  “Nope. Belle will just follow us.”

  “This, I have to see.”

  Gus turned the wagon around and began driving the wagon toward the Star A, his ranch now.

  Libby was driving, so Gus was just sitting close to her.

  “Gus, what do we do now?”

  “We go home. You cook dinner. We eat dinner. I ravage you eleven times. We sleep. How’s that?”

  She laughed. “I’d hit you in the head if you weren’t wounded. You know what I meant.”

  He grinned at her. “Of course, I know what you meant. Tomorrow, we go to the sheriff’s office and make all the reports. I pick up my reward. We go to the courthouse and get married. We have lunch in town, and then we drive home.”

  Libby looked at him. “Did you just, in passing, ask me to marry you?”

  “I’m sorry for being such a smart mouth. All kidding aside. I love you, Libby. You’re all I’ve ever wanted in a wife. Would you honor me by becoming my wife, Libby?”

  She leaned over and kissed him. He pulled her close and made it more passionate. The reins dropped, but the wagon kept on track.

  “Is that a yes, Libby?”

  “It is a definite yes, Gus.”

  “Tomorrow, Libby?”

  “Tomorrow, Gus.”

  “You know what else this means, Libby? It means we can join the two ranches. One big ranch. We take down the center fences. But it also means we’ll have two houses. We can decide what we’ll do with them later.”

  “Can we get rid of the Slash M brand?”

  “We have to keep the brand until all of the cattle are gone. We can change the ranch name, though.”

  “Gus, tell me about Sara.”

  Gus told her Sara’s history and current location and profession.

  “Is she pretty?”

  “Very.”

  “Prettier than me?”

  “No. But that’s comparing two different types of women. She’s only twenty-two or so; she’s not as well rounded as you are. You’re just different. I like your curves and softness. Did I tell you what a marvelous behind you have? I can’t walk behind you very long and keep bad thoughts out of my mind.”

  “Really? You don’t think it’s too big?”

  “No. I really don’t. I think it’s marvelous. Just like the rest of your feminine equipment.”

  “Well, then, thank you. Did you spend time with her?”

  “If you mean did I share her bed, then I will confess to that. I didn’t know who she was at the time.”

  “Then I can live with that.”

  They reached the Star A ranch house, and Gus pulled up to the barn.

  “I’ll get the horses unhitched and brushed down, Libby. You can go inside.”

  “I’ll start dinner.”

  “Sounds like a good trade.”

  He unhitched the horses and put them in their stalls and then rolled the wagon into the barn. He had to make do with only his right arm for a while, so it took a little longer.

  He entered the house via the kitchen to find Libby already starting to cook.

  “When we combine the ranches, I think we should make Hank the foreman.”

  Libby stepped back. “Where has Ernie Blanchard been?”

  “Who’s Ernie Blanchard?”

  “He’s the Slash M foreman. I haven’t seen him at all since that time he and Joe visited you and you backed them off. He’s not your best friend.”

  “That’s right! I remember him. He glared at me something fierce after Joe had already gone back. Why does he hate me so much?”

  “Beats me. I could understand why he would hate you now, though. He was after me for ages. Tried a few times to corner me. Groped me once, too. It got so I couldn’t go outside for a while. I finally told Joe to have him leave me alone, and for some reason, he did.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “A couple of months. Why?”

  “He might have been mad at me as potential competition. Other than that, I have no idea.”

  ____

  The question as to the whereabouts of Ernie Blanchard could have been answered by any of the hands at the Slash M. They were in the bunkhouse having a good time. Their jobs were safe, and they didn’t have to put up with Joe Miles any longer. Working for Miss Libby would be much better.

  Ernie Blanchard came riding in at sundown. He had checked three different ranches before coming to the Rocking C. He had talked to Arvin Croft and found out that Gus had worked there for five years and that Arvin considered him the best man he had ever had, but an incident with his current foreman and son-in-law had resulted in his leaving. Ernie had asked whether he was Jewish, and Arvin laughed at the suggestion. When Ernie started asking about his drinking and whoring habits, Arvin had cut him off. He hadn’t tossed Ernie out on his ass, but he’d made it plainly known that he wasn’t wanted on the property.

  He returned at sundown to the Slash M and noticed the absence of light in the house. He trotted back to the bunkhouse and stepped down. When he walked in, the revelry stopped in an instant.

  “What are you boys, doin’? Havin’ a party on a Tuesday night?”

  “Just takin’ it easy after a bad day.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, last night, the boss had us all ride over to the Star A to burn the place because he said that Gus Matthews had raped and killed Libby.”

  “That bastard did that?”

  “Nope. Not a’tall. We get there and are settin’ to light our torches up when Gus sets a ring of fire around the house, puttin’ us all in bright light, and he’s standin’ there with a shotgun. Asks what we’re doin’, and the boss says that he’d raped and killed Miss Libby. Then Miss Libby comes walkin’ out of the house with a Winchester and says that the boss had hit her in the head and dumped her in a gully.”

  “She was with him? Where’s the boss? We gotta have a talk.”

  “Too late. Anyway, he’s all mad when we come back. He goes in the house and finds Bill Cook humpin’ Mary in her bedroom. Gets real riled and pulls out his Colt to shoot Bill and shoots ’em both. They’re both dead.”

  “He killed Mary and Bill both?”

  “Uh-huh. Then he goes to town, and him and Reverend Quincy blame the Jews for the whole mess. They’re leavin’ to go pay a visit to the Star A when they see them Jews gettin’ on the train to leave. Joe goes nuts and pulls his pistol and is gonna shoot the lady, and Gus takes the bullet and shoots Joe, dead center. Then the minister pulls his little peashooter and takes a shot, but Gus drills him, too. So now Miss Libby is the new boss.”

  Ernie pushed his Stetson back on his head. This was almost too much to handle.

  “So, where is she? I don’t see any lights on.”

  “Most likely over at the Star A with Gus. They’re kinda tight.”

  Ernie felt the green monster of jealousy surge within him.

  “She likes that old codger? He’s not even good lookin’.”

  “No offense, Ernie, but you ain’t exactly handsome.”

  “The hell with you, Hank. I ain’t askin’ for your opinion.”

  “Just offerin’.”

  “Damn! Maybe I’ll head over there and talk to her or shoot that old codger.”

  “I wouldn’t do that, Ernie.”

  “Why not? I’m not afraid of him.”

  “I didn’t figure you were, but the fact is, all of us are kinda fond of Gus. He’s a good man.”

  “So, you four think you’re gonna look out for him?”

  “No, us five are. The cookie is with us. We’re glad Miss Libby found Gus.”

  “I didn’t ask your opinion.”

  “Sorry.”

  Ernie turned around and stomped off. He went to his foreman’s quarters and stretched out on his bunk.

  ____

  Gus and Libby were stretched out in bed. They had
moved to the big bedroom with the larger bed. Gus was on the left side of the bed so that his bad arm didn’t get too mangled by their gymnastics. They had been careful at first, but that hadn’t lasted long.