“Yeah, and you need to watch over the jail until they elect another sheriff,” Josh said. “No one else seems to want to do it.”
As they rode toward the Circle N Ranch, suddenly Willie pulled his horse to a stop and grinned. “Josh,” he said. “Somethin’ just came to me. There’s an old retired sheriff named Frank Deeson workin’ out there for Newsome. He might consider takin’ care of the jail ‘till the town elects another sheriff.”
“That’d be good if he’d do it,” Josh said. “Do you know him personally?”
“Oh, yeah,” Willie said. “Out of all the cowboys workin’ for the Circle N, he comes to town more than any of ‘em. He’s real sociable.”
When Josh pulled up at the Circle N Ranch corrals, Chalky Newsom welcomed him with a huge smile and a hearty handshake.
“What are you doin’ ridin’ that ugly white horse?” he said. “Where’s Old Macho?”
“I rode him too hard goin’ up to Austin just to turn around and ride him all the way back the next day,” Josh said. “The fellow at the livery stable sold me Old Spook, here, for fifty bucks. He’s tired, so I’d like to leave him here and take Concho, if you would allow me that.”
“Sure,” Newsome said. “I’ll have one of the boys go bring him in.”
“That’d be wastin’ time,” Josh said. “I’ll just swap horses right out there in the pasture.”
“Wait a minute, Josh,” Willie said. “Before we go, Mr. Newsome, is Frank Deeson still here?”
“Yeah, he is,” Newsome said. “He’s over there at the chutes, brandin’ them calves. Why?”
“The sheriff at Victoria has been killed and they ain’t elected another one yet,” Willie said. “I was wonderin’ if it’d be alright if I asked Frank to fill in ‘till they get ‘em a new sheriff?”
“That’d be up to Frank,” Newsome said.
“Can you spare him?”
“Yeah, I can spare him,” Newsome said. “I got enough hands to take care of things.”
“Would you mind goin’ over there and tellin’ him we need to talk to him?”
Chalky Newsome went back to the branding pens and sent Frank Deeson to go talk to Willie and Josh.
“Hello, Willie,” Frank Deeson said. “What brings you out here?”
“We came to do a little business,” Willie said. “You remember Josh, don’t you?”
“Sure,” Deeson said, nodding at Josh. “I remember you bringin’ them good-lookin’ horses out here to leave ‘till you came back for ‘em.”
“Frank,” Willie said. “The sheriff in Victoria got killed and they ain’t elected a new one yet. I asked Mr. Newsome and he said was alright if you wanted to fill in ‘till they get a new sheriff.”
“Hell, yeah, I’ll fill in,” Deeson said. “I was gettin’ tired of punchin’ cattle anyway.”
“Well, get your stuff together and come on when you can,” Willie said. “We’re goin’ out to the horse pasture so Josh can swap that long-headed white horse he’s ridin’ for his bay, Concho.”
When Josh and Willie rode into horse herd, Josh whistled and Concho threw his head up and came running toward them. He took his saddle off of Spook and turned him loose, then saddled Concho. They headed back to Victoria, and about an hour later, Willie stood up in his stirrups and stared up the trail.
“Someone’s comin’.”
“On horseback?” Josh said.
“No,” Willie said. “On foot.”
They sat there for about a half a minute before Crazy Chester came trotting into view.
“Chester, what in the hell are you doin’ way out here?” Willie asked. “You said you’d stay at the jail and wait for Will to came back. Remember that?”
“Yeah,” Chester said.
“Then what are you doin’ trottin’ up this trail?”
“I wanna help find Will,” Chester said.
“We ain’t huntin’ Will,” Josh said. “We just came out here so I could get a fresh horse. Climb up there behind Willie and he’ll carry you back to town.”
When they got back to Victoria, Willie and Chester went on to the livery stable while Josh stopped at the store and picked up some coffee and ammunition. When he finished, he mounted Concho and headed for the outlaw’s hideout, south of town. He didn’t know if they’d be out there or not, but he had to start someplace.
About an hour later, he pulled his horse to a stop on the same small, tree-covered rise he’d hid in when he came out here before to rescue Ana. He scanned the cabin through his binoculars, but saw no movement, or any horses in the pen.
Suddenly, Concho raised his ears and looked back over his shoulders. Jude Clay was coming up the trail like he was in a big hurry. Josh rode out in front of him with his pistol drawn.
“Hold it, right there,” he yelled. “And toss down that shootin’ iron.”
Clay pulled his horse to a stop, pitched his revolver over on the grass, and raised his hands.
“Now, climb down from that horse and tie him to a limb or I’ll blow your head off,” Josh said.
Clay dismounted and tied his horse. “If you’re gonna shoot me, then go on and do it, and be done with it.”
“I might shoot you and I might not,” Josh said. “It all depends if you tell me where Will Jensen is.”
“I don’t know where he is,” Clay said. “When we split up, they went north and I came back down here to dig up some money we forgot we hid a long time ago.”
“Was you gonna keep it for yourself, or meet up with ‘em later?” Josh said.
“I was gonna meet up with ‘em later.”
“And, where might that be?”
“At the cave on Atascosa Creek, south of San Antonio.”
“Why’d you take Will Jensen out of jail?”
“We was afraid he’d turn on us like Tom Burch did.”
“Turn around and keep your hands up,” Josh said, as he stepped down off of Concho and tied Clay to a tree. “Tell me where the money is that you was comin’ after,” he added. “It might be all that keeps the good citizens of Victoria from hangin’ you from the same telegraph pole they hung Burch from.”
“I’ll tell you where it’s buried ‘cause I sure ain’t wantin’ to get hung,” Clay said. “It’s under the feed trough in the horse pen.”
“Well, I’ll go see if it’s there,” Josh said. “And if it ain’t, then I’ll take you back to Victoria and turn you over to the same mob that hung Tom Burch.”
Josh rode down to the cabin and went in and looked around. Although the remaining outlaws had returned to find their loot gone, they hadn’t left any indication of their visit. It didn’t appear to Josh that anyone had been there since the sheriff dug up the gang’s stash.
He led Concho down to the corral and climbed over the fence and looked under the feed trough. Digging around where the soil was loose, he pulled out a pair of saddle bags that were stuffed full of hundred dollar bills.
Since there were no fresh tracks in the barn or the pens, he tied the saddle bags full of cash to the back of his saddle and rode back to where Jude Clay was tied. He led Clay’s horse closer and made him climb up in the saddle, then led him back to Victoria.
“Willie,” he said, when he pulled up in front of the livery stable. “You need to get one of your friends to take care of the livery stable so you can stay at the jail. And oil up that old shotgun of yours ‘cause you might need it if anyone tries to take Jude Clay out and hang him.”
“Alright, Josh,” Willie said. “I’ll stay there ‘till Frank Deeson takes over.”
“I’ll probably be gone,” Josh said. “But when Deeson gets here, pin a sheriff badge on him and tell him to stand around outside on the sidewalk with a shotgun so people can see him.”
“That’s a good idea,” Willie said.
“And one more thing,” Josh said. “Keep an eye on Crazy Chester. I don’t’ need him trottin’ around these hills getting’ in the way.”
CHAPTER SIX
Josh headed
west and rode hard for two days before reaching the Atascosa. Night fell on the cliffs above the creek, so after watering Concho, he led him away from the water’s edge and up a brushy draw for about a hundred yards and pitched camp.
Shortly after daybreak the next morning, he saddled up and rode slowly along the creek bank, stopping ever few minutes, listening, and especially watching Concho’s ears. If anything was going on up ahead, he’d be the first to hear it.
Sure enough, a half hour later, Concho lifted his head and pointed his ears. Josh pulled him to a stop and stepped down. He waited for several minutes before tying him to a bush and slipping ahead on foot.
When he got close enough to see the entrance of the cave, there was only one horse tied nearby and there was no smoke coming from the campfire. He worked his way to the side of the cave entrance and tossed in a big rock, then backed off a few yards and hid behind a boulder.
“Come out or I’ll toss in some burning brush and smoke you out,” he yelled.
“Josh!” someone yelled from inside, his voice echoing against the walls of the cave,
“Who’s in there?” Josh yelled.
“It’s me, Will.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah, come and get me,” Will yelled back. “I’m tied to a boulder and can’t get up.”
Josh didn’t answer, but instead jumped up and ran in through the cave entrance without wasting another second.
“Where you at?” he called when he got inside.
“Back here behind this big boulder.”
Josh found him and cut the ropes that bound him to the boulder and helped him up. “Damn, you’re hurt bad,” he said when they got outside in the light. “What’d they do to you?”
“When we first got here, they beat the hell out of me for givin’ myself up,” Will said. “After that, they just they rode off and left me.”
“How long you been in there?”
“Two days.”
“When’d you eat last?”
“Other day.”
“Had any water?” Josh said, as he helped Will up on the horse that was tied nearby.
“No,” Will said, shaking his head from side to side.
Josh led the horse back to where Concho was tied and pulled a couple of strips of jerky out of his saddle bags and handed them to him.
“This’ll have to do you ‘till we can get to San Antonio,” he said, as he handed Will his canteen and stepped up in the saddle. “Come on,” he added. “We need to get away from this cave in case one of ‘em comes back.”
They couldn’t ride as fast as Josh would have liked because of Will’s injuries. But eventually they pulled up in front of the livery stable in San Antonio and left their horses with caretaker Big Ed Ward.
“We need to go see Sheriff Guthrie,” Josh said. “Here’s a twenty. Unsaddle ‘em and put ‘em in a stall with feed and water. We’ll be back for ‘em later.”
“Sheriff Guthrie, this is Will Jensen,” Josh said a few minutes later, as they walked in the front door of the sheriff’s office. “He was in jail in Victoria waitin’ on a trial date, but some of the Wolf Gang broke into the jail and took him out. I followed ‘em and got him back. So can you keep him up here ‘till his court date comes up? That gang is liable to kill him if they find out where he’s at.”
“Sure, Josh,” Sheriff Guthrie said. “He’ll be safe in here. I’ll see to it.”
“Alright then,” Josh said. “We’ll be back as soon as we get somethin’ to eat. I ain’t ate since yesterday, and he ain’t ate in three days.”
Over lunch, Josh and Will talked about Lem Olsen and the rest of the Wolf Gang.
“Why’d they go off and leave you?” Josh asked.
“When they realized I wasn’t gonna talk about nothin’ they was askin’ me, they just stopped beatin’ on me and saddled up and left,” Will said. “I guess they figured I’d die in that cave and they’d be done with it.”
“Do you know where they went?”
“Yeah, I do,” Will said. “Olsen went back to Moravia. He has kin there. And he sent Duke Barrett back to the hideout south of Victoria to see why Jude Clay didn’t come back with the money he was sent after. Which one of ‘em are you goin’ after?”
“I’d rather go to Moravia,” Josh said. “I could probably catch up with Olsen easier than chasin’ after Barrett. But the more I think about it, I’d better head back to Victoria. I put Jude Clay in jail and when Barrett finds out about it, he might try to bust him out.”
“Well, the sheriff down there ought to be able to handle that, shouldn’t he?” Will said.
“Yeah, if they had a sheriff,” Josh said. “But they ain’t elected one yet. There’s just an old cowhand fillin’ in, with Willie Sneed helpin’ him, and I don’t want to take a chance on either one of ‘em gettin’ hurt defendin’ the jail.”
Josh left San Antonio and headed straight for the Circle N Ranch west of Victoria. He followed the San Antonio River all the way to Charco then turned east to the ranch. Chalky Newsome and a few of his ranch hands had just arrived at the corrals and were unsaddling their horses.
“Well, Mr. Newsome,” he said, as he stepped down off of Concho and tied him to the finece. “I’ve about run Old Concho down. I need to leave him here and ride a different one, or I’ll never catch up with them outlaws.”
“You gonna ride Ana’s palomino?” Newsome said.
“I could,” Josh said. “He’s a stout horse and he’s a good traveler, but I think I’ll take the big Paint. I never rode a Paint horse before, but the one I left out here is a good one and I’ve no doubt he’ll do just fine. I just need to keep a fresh horse under me,” he added. “Most of the outlaws I’ve caught up with were on tired, jaded horses, so it makes a big difference to be on one that ain’t already run down.”
“I’ll send one of the boys out to the horse pasture to bring him in,” Newsome said.
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Newsome. I’ll just ride out there and catch him and change in the pasture like I did when I came for Concho that time. It’ll save a lot of time that way.”
“Well, how’s old Frank Deeson doin’ as substitute sheriff?” Newsome asked.
“I don’t know,” Josh said. “I left for San Antonio before he got to Victoria and am just now gettin’ back.”
“Why’d you come back so soon?” Newsome asked. “You didn’t even have time to rest your horse, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Josh said. “I got word that Duke Barrett was down here somewhere, and I was worried he might try to break Jude Clay out of jail. Barrett and Clay are both members of the Wolf Gang.”
“So that’s why you rode Concho so hard gettin’ back,” Newsome said. “Tryin’ to get here before a jailbreak happened?”
“Yeah,” Josh said. “I’d rather be here and not be needed, than be needed and not be here. I didn’t want Frank Deeson or Willie Sneed gettin’ hurt or killed.”
Josh rode out to the horse pasture and caught the big Paint horse. He unsaddled Concho and turned him loose. It was still early in the day so he put the spurs to the Paint and headed to Victoria.
Duke Barrett was standing in the shadows between two buildings and noticed Josh ride by on Pedro Aguilar’s big Paint horse and pull up at the Victoria livery stable. He motioned for a stranger to come over to where he stood, by waiving a ten dollar bill at him.
“I’ll give you this ten spot if you’ll go to the livery stable and tell them two men standin’ there that you was robbed down by the river by a man that looks like me,” he said. “So, if you want the ten, take a good look at me and go on over there.”
Willie Sneed pushed back his hat and scratched his head as Josh rode up to the livery stable and stepped down.
“I swear, Josh. It’s good to see you again, but I didn’t think you’d be comin’ back so soon.”
“Duke Barrett is down here somewhere and I was afraid he’d try to break Jude Clay out of jail and you or Frank Deeson might get
hurt.”
“After you left, and when Frank got to town later that day and I pinned a sheriff’s badge on him, he sent me back to the livery stable. He said he’d been a sheriff way too long for someone to baby sit him. I’m sure he was just jokin’, but me and him both knew what he meant by sayin’ it.”
“Have you heard any talk about Barrett bein’ back in Victoria?” Josh said.
“Haven’t heard a word about Barrett,” Willie said. “What happened with Will Jensen?”
“I caught up with the gang and got him back,” Josh said. “I didn’t want to bring him down here to Victoria so I took him to San Antonio. Sheriff Oscar Guthrie said he’d make sure nobody tried to break him out.”
“Why are you ridin’ Pedro Aguilar’s Paint?” Willie said. “Where’s old Concho?”
“I left him at the Circle N Ranch,” Josh said. “I rode him too hard comin’ down here to start out after an outlaw. I’ll swap back for him when I’m sure he’s rested up.”
A man neither Willie nor Josh had ever seen before ran in the front doors of the livery stable with a wild look in his eyes. He was breathing hard, his shirt tail was out, and he was hatless.
“Would either one of you loan me a horse and a rifle?”
“We ain’t got no loanin’ horses,” Willie said. “And I don’t loan out my rifle.”
“What do you need ‘em for?” Josh asked.
“I’m from Dacosta,” the man said. “I was comin’ to Victoria to try and get a job. I seen a man camped in the bend of the river about five miles south of here. When I stopped to see if he’d spare a cup of coffee, he pulled a gun on me and robbed me of my horse and my rifle. He shoved me back in a brushy draw and tied me up, but I got loose and I came in here as fast as I could.”
“What’d he look like?” Josh asked.
“He was a big fellow with kind of a rat’s nest mustache and long and straight hair,” the man said. “Other than that, all I noticed about him was his bloodshot eyes and a nervous cough. Well, that,” he added, “plus the fact he was totin’ two pistols.”
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