“I hate to hear that,” Lem said.
“It don’t matter,” Burch said. “He brought three good men back with him, Berto Sousa, Will Jenson, and Jude Clay. All three of ‘em have rode with me before, and they’re ready and willin’ to face Josh Logan and make a play for that three thousand dollar reward money.”
Willie Sneed almost jumped out of his boots when he opened the door to the tack room about closing time and saw Josh standing there with his gun in his hand.
“You scared the hell out of me,” he said. “When’d you get here?”
“Sorry, Willie, “Josh said. “I didn’t know who was openin’ that door. I slipped in here a couple of hours ago. I needed to talk to you about Ana. What have you heard lately?”
“I don’t know much because Burch’s men are watchin’ me and I can’t do nothin’ without one of ‘em followin’ me. But what I do know is, a couple of ‘em just busted into Mrs. Jarnigan’s house and kidnapped Ana and carried her off someplace.”
“Did they hurt Mrs. Jarnigan?” Josh asked.
“No, but my girlfriend Matty, over there at the diner, said Mrs. Jarnigan left town after Ana was kidnapped and went to Austin to live with a sister.”
“Do you know the sister?”
“I don’t know her, but Mattie does. She said the sister’s name is Edna Rice.”
“Is Tom Burch still in town?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, and so are some of his men,” Willie said.
“Did you see ‘em?”
“Yeah, I saw ‘em,” Willie said. “I was in the diner flirtin’ with Mattie yesterday, and I saw Lem Olson come out of the hotel and go over to Sheriff Burch’s office. He was in there quite a while before he came out and went back in the hotel.”
Josh looked out the front door of the livery stable. It was getting dark, but he could see a window at the corner of the hotel building on the second floor that was open and the curtains were tied back.
“I bet he’s stationed up there in that corner room to keep an eye on the livery stable,” Josh said.
Paul Beacham got back from hunting up the rest of Burch’s men soon after dark and led them up to Burch’s office.
“You men scatter out and watch for Logan,” he said. “He’s liable to show up at any time. Watch the livery stable,” he added. “If you see him you better shoot first, because if you get into a shootin’ match with him, you’ll lose for sure.”
With so many eyes trained on the livery stable, it wasn’t long before someone spotted Willie talking to someone. When Willie walked to the end of the alley way and looked out the back door, he saw that several of the outlaws had stationed themselves behind hay stacks and water tanks, armed with Winchesters aimed at the livery stable.
“They must have seen you come in here, Josh,” he said. “Where’s your black horse?”
“I left him in a brushy draw about a quarter of a mile west of here,” Josh said. “I sure wish I’d of brought him with me because if I had of, I’d ride out of here so fast they wouldn’t even get a clear shot at me.”
Paul Beacham hurried back to Sheriff Burch’s office as fast as he could go. “Tom, we got Josh Logan cornered in the livery stable,” he said. “I stationed the boys all around the barn so he can’t get out without gettin’ shot.”
Burch picked up his rifle and headed for the stable. Lem Olson met him half way with an excited look on his face.
“I’m the one that saw Logan go in there,” he said. “So, I get the three thousand if we get him.”
“The man that shoots him gets the three thousand, not the one who saw him first,” Burch said. “Hell,” he added. “Several of the boys have seen him and they ain’t gettin’ the reward. It’s the one that shoots him.”
“Then I’m goin’ in after him,” Lem said as he started toward the front door of the livery stable.
“No, Lem, don’t,” Burch said. “Lem, come back.”
Josh fired one shot, clipping the bottom of Lem’s ear then fired again, the bullet kicking up dirt at Lem’s feet, causing him to scramble back to where Burch was hiding behind a wagon load of lumber.
“You damn fool,” Burch said. “You ought to know by now that Logan will fight like a mama bear defendin’ her cubs. Stay out of sight and if we have to, we’ll burn the damn barn down on top of him.”
“What about old Willie Sneed?” Lem said, holding his scarf against his bleeding ear. “He’s in there, too.”
“If Logan decides to fight it out instead of givin’ himself up, then Willie had better come on out or he’ll go up in smoke, too.”
Tom Burch crawled as close to the front door of the livery as he could, and still be hidden from view.
“Come on out, Logan,” he yelled. “We got the barn surrounded. If you don’t come out, we’ll torch the place and burn you out. If Willie dies in there with you, it’ll be on you, not me and my men.”
“Willie, make a white flag out of somethin’ and go on out there,” Ben said. “I ain’t givin’ up without a fight, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Better come out of there, Willie,” Burch yelled.
“What about all these horses that’s in here?” Willie yelled back. “You’ll kill ‘em all if you set fire to the barn.”
“That’s up to you,” Burch said. “If Logan won’t come out then you better turn them horses loose and you better come with ‘em,” he added. “I won’t say it again.”
“Go on out, Willie,” Josh said. “Burch has already killed two sheriffs and got away with it and that’s what he’ll do here. He’ll burn this barn down on top of us and claim I set it on fire to try and escape. One way or another, he won’t get blamed for it.”
Willie walked into the tack room and came out with his Winchester. Before Josh could stop him he opened fire, causing Burch and his men to scramble for cover.
“Damn, Willie,” Josh said. “I might have figured out a way to escape if you hadn’t done that. Now, they’ll all start shootin’ and we’ll have a fight on our hands that we might not be able to get out of.”
“I ain’t leavin’ and no can make me,” Willie said.
“Alright then,” Josh said. “I thought of somethin’ that might work. Is there a couple of horses in here that might run side by side and not get all tangled up if they was tied together?
“Yeah,” Willie said. “My horse and Ana’s are in the same stall. They’d run side by side. Hell,” he added, “they stand side by side all day long, anyway.”
“Well, let’s get ‘em all out here in the alley way and tie ‘em together. I’ll hang on in between ‘em when you run the rest of ‘em out. You can gather yours and Ana’s horses up later.”
“I won’t have to gather ‘em up later,” Willie said. “As soon as the other horses scatter, my horse will head straight back to the livery stable and bring Ana’s horse back with him.”
Josh led Ana’s palomino out and tied him to the side of Willie’s big brown horse. He stepped in between them and tied a short rope around their necks to hang on to.
“Alright Willie, let the rest of ‘em out.”
Willie opened the gates to the stalls and chased the horses out into the alley way, then ran back behind them and fired his Winchester up in the air and started yelling. The horses bolted outside with Willie’s and Ana’s horses in the middle of the pack and Josh hanging on in between them. They raced past Burch’s his men kicking up dirt and disappeared into the dark, scattering in all directions.
Holding up a small white rag, Willie walked causally out the front door. Burch sent his men in through the front and back doors of the livery stable, but when they couldn’t find Josh, he grabbed Willie by the shirt and slugged him in the jaw and knocked him down.
“Since you helped Josh Logan escape that makes you guilty as he is,” he said. “I ought to throw you in jail and keep you in here ‘till he’s either captured or killed.”
When the horses had run a few hundred yards from the livery stable, Josh tugge
d on the neck ropes on Willie’s and Ana’s horses and pulled them to a stop. He dropped to the ground and turned them around and gave them a slap on the rump, sending them back toward the barn as fast as they’d left there.
Berto Sousa saw them coming and opened the corral gate, then went up to the sheriff’s office. “Tom,” he yelled, as he ran in the door. “Them horses of Willie’s and Ana’s came back so I penned ‘em.”
“That’s good,” Burch said. “As soon as it’s light, take ‘em to the hideout. We’ll keep ‘em out there ‘til this deal is settled.”
Josh worked his way through the brush and made it back to where he’d tied Macho and mounted up and rode away into the night. Just as the first light began to streak the eastern sky, he stopped on a small rise and glassed his back trail.
About a mile off to the south he saw Berto Sousa leading Willie’s and Ana’s horses toward the river. He rode down into a gully and followed along behind, while Sousa headed straight to their cabin hideout without looking back.
Josh tied Macho to a bush, and taking his binoculars with him, he sat down and leaned back against a tall cottonwood and watched the cabin for movement. About an hour later Sousa came out of the cabin and walked down to the barn. In a little while, he rode out and started back toward Victoria.
Josh climbed aboard Macho and loped through the trees and got ahead of Sousa. He pulled his Winchester out of the saddle scabbard and rode into the trail.
“You got one chance to raise them hands,” he said as Sousa rode through a clump of cedars and came into view.
“What do you want?” Sousa said.
“I want Ana Yarnell.”
“I ain’t got her,” Sousa said.
“You damn well know where she’s at.”
“No, I don’t,” Sousa said.
“Get down off that horse,” Josh said. “I know how to make you talk.”
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna tie you to that tree and build a fire under you,” Josh said. “If I can’t get it out of you, nobody can.”
“I told you I don’t know where she is.”
“Get down or I’ll blow the top of your head off,” Josh said.
Just as Sousa stepped down off his horse he drew his pistol and fired. Josh fired at the same time, striking him in the shoulder and knocking him over on his back. Before he could get up, Josh kicked the gun out of his hand and placed the barrel of his rifle against the side of his head.
“You asked for it, Sousa,” he said.
“Don’t shoot,” Sousa said. “I’ll tell you where she is.”
“That’s more like it,” Josh said. “Saved me a match.”
“She’s down there in the cabin,” Sousa said.
“Who’s in there with her?”
“Only Jude Clay,” Sousa said. “And I’ll say this much, he has orders to shoot her if you try to rescue her.”
“Sit down,” Josh said as he tied Sousa to a tree.
“Hell, I might be bleedin’ to death,” Sousa said. “I need help.”
“I’ll get you some help when I get back,” Josh said. “Besides that, you shouldn’t have shot at me.”
“I’ll die if you go off and leave me tied up like this,” Sousa said.
“I won’t be gone very long,” Josh said as he turned and started toward the cabin.
He hid in the brush and watched the front door of the cabin. It was almost dark before Clay came out and walked down to the barn to feed his horse.
Josh waited until he was inside the barn then stood up and made his way to the cabin and looked in a window. A lamp was lit and sitting on the table, and over in the corner on a bunk lay Ana, gagged, and tied to the bed post.
Seeing no one else in the cabin, he stepped in the front door with his revolver in his hand and hurried to where Ana lay.
“No time for talkin’ so get up and run toward the trees,” he said as he untied her.
Ana ran as fast as she could, but before she reached the safety of the timber, Jude Clay came out of the barn and drew his pistol and fired. He missed, but it caused Ana to drop down in the tall grass. She crawled on her hands and knees as fast as she could toward the tree line.
Josh returned fire, causing Clay to jump back in the barn. Clay fired a couple more rounds then saddled his horse and rode out the back door and disappeared in the dark.
“It’s alright now, Ana,” Josh said. “Where are you?”
“Over here,” she said as she jumped up and ran to his side.
Josh put his arms around her held her until she stopped shaking.
“Come on,” he said. “We need to get away from here.” He took her back to where Macho was tied and helped her up in the saddle.
“I shot one of them outlaws and I need to get him to a doctor,” he said, and led Macho over to where Berto Sousa was tied to the tree. But it was too late, he was already dead.
“What are you going to do?” Ana said. “Bury him?”
“I ain’t gonna bury him,” Josh said. “I’ll take him up to Panna Maria and let Sheriff Hendricks bury him.”
Josh led Sousa’s horse over, lifted his body across his saddle, and tied him on. Then he climbed up behind Ana and rode back down to the hideout cabin.
He led Ana’s and Willie’s horses out of the stall and looked around in the dark until he found a saddle for Dinero. Ana mounted up and took the reins to Willie’s horse while Josh led Sousa’s horse. They headed north toward Panna Maria, arriving there soon after daybreak.
“Sheriff Hendricks, this is Berto Sousa,” Josh said, as he rode up to the sheriff’s office and stepped down. “He’s a member of the Wolf Gang, one of Sheriff Burch’s outlaws. I tried to capture him, but he decided to fight it out. I couldn’t take him back to Victoria because Tom Burch has his men all over town watchin’ for me, so I brought him up here.”
“Like I told you earlier,” Sheriff Hendricks said. “There’s a reward for every member of that gang. I’ll report this to the governor and have him send the reward down here. It’ll take a while so you might as well stay in Panna Maria ‘til it gets here.”
“Just put it in the bank,’ Josh said. “I’ll come for it later.”
“Is that Ana Yarnell on the palomino?” the sheriff asked.
“Yeah,” Josh said. “Burch’s men kidnapped her. That’s how Berto Sousa got killed. When I tried to rescue her, me and him got into it and I got the best of him.”
“What are you gonna do, now that you rescued her?”
“I’ll take her to Austin,” Josh said. “She’d been stayin’ with Sheriff Jarnigan’s wife, but after she got kidnapped, Mrs. Jarnigan moved up there to live with her sister. Ana can stay with them ‘till I finish down here.”
“When you get to Austin, be sure and go by Sheriff Burley Dawson’s office and tell him I told you to come by and meet him,” Hendricks said. “He’s a long-time friend of mine.”
“I will,” Josh said. “Thanks.”
“What does Ana think about goin’ to Austin?” Hendricks said.
“She don’t know about it yet,” Josh said. “I’ll talk to her when I go back outside. Right now, though, we need to get something to eat. Neither of us has had anything lately.”
Over bacon and eggs, Josh looked troubled. “Ana, I’ve got something to ask you, but I find it hard to say.”
She hesitated, but went on, “It’s alright, Josh. What is it?”
“After you got kidnapped, Mrs. Jarnigan moved to Austin to live with her sister,” he said. “You need to get out of this country ‘til I can get squared with Tom Burch and his gang. So how about goin’ up there and stayin’ with them ‘til I come for you?”
“I’ll do whatever you say,” Ana said.
“Alright,” Josh said. “I’ll leave our horses at the livery stable with Juan Ramos, and we can catch the morning stage if it’s alright with you.”
“It’s alright with me,” Ana said. “I worried Mrs. Jarnigan might have been hurt when
those men kidnapped me. I’ll be happy to see her again.”
“She wasn’t hurt, and my bet is she’ll be just as happy to see you,” Josh said.
He led the horses down to the livery stable and unsaddled them. Juan Ramos put them in a stall and tossed in an arm load of clean, fresh hay.
“I sure like your black horse,” Juan said. “Every time you come to town, I can see you comin’ from way up the street.”
“Thanks, Juan,” Josh said. “I think Burch and his men are watchin’ for him because he’s so much different from most other horses.”
“No one ever comes out to my house, so I will take Macho and Dinero out there and keep them for you,” Juan said. “When you come back from Austin, you can ride my horse, Concho. He is just a big brown horse, but he is a good one and he is very fast.”
Josh looked in the stall at Concho, a tall brown, blaze face horse with one white front foot. “I’ll take you up on that, Juan,” Josh said, as he handed him a hundred dollar bill.
“No,” Juan said. “You do not have to give me money to keep your horses.”
“Yeah, well,” Josh said. “If I use old Concho to catch them outlaws I’ll give you a lot more than that.”
“Thanks, Josh,’ Juan said. “You’re about the only friend I have.”
When Juan stepped out of the shadows, Josh noticed he had a black eye and there was a cut on his jaw, and a knot on his head.
“What happened to you?”
“Tom hit me,” Juan said.
“Tom Burch?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry about that, Juan,” Josh said. “That’s just one more thing I’ll make him pay for.”
Three days later, Josh and Ana arrived in Austin. The state capitol was a growing, bustling city by now, with an impressive red granite capitol building, and all manner of businesses and services, along with well-established, tree-lined neighborhoods. But the couple hardly took in any of that before going straight to Sheriff Burley Dawson’s office.
“Sheriff Dawson,” Josh said. “I’m Josh Logan and this is Ana Yarnell. Sheriff Hendricks down at Panna Maria said to be sure and stop by and get acquainted when we got up here.”
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