The Floating Outfit 44

by J. T. Edson

  Just Smith felt as if a great load lifted from him. He’d been worried how those three fearless fighting men, Dusty Fog, Mark Counter and the Ysabel Kid, regarded him. He was sure they thought of him as a coward, who was only willing to fight when given powerful backing by better men. He was also worried about how Gloria regarded his actions, worse, how Rene must feel about his killing men. Now he could see the three Texans and Gloria had read the correct motives behind his actions. He looked at Rene, his hand still tingling from her gentle touch. There was no sign of either revulsion, or fear in her eyes. She understood him.

  ‘Hell,’ Brazos grunted, anxious that his young friend should be seen in the best possible light. ‘Ole Just here ain’t scared of nothing. You mind him. Cap’n Fog? From the Concho River sheep war.’

  ‘Drop it, Brazos!’ Just snapped, for he was not proud of what happened in the Concho River trouble.

  The three young Texans looked at Just Smith with fresh interest, for they’d heard of the trouble down there in the Concho River country of Texas when sheepmen tried to move in on the land the cattlemen tamed and cleared of Indians, Mexicans and bad men. Just Smith’s name was mentioned as one of the leading lights of the deadly, gunsmoke-ending feud. They also knew he did not wish to discuss it, particularly while Rene was there.

  Gloria knew that whatever else Just Smith might be he was a fighting man from soda to hock and he would back up the KH until the last chip was down. If there was to be bad trouble with Lanton’s S Star such a man would be invaluable.

  ‘How many of the hands will stick by us, Just?’ she asked.

  ‘Brazos, me and a young Englishman called Brit. He’s a real nice young feller and all man, stands full sixteen hands high from where I am. The rest won’t stick.’

  That’s tall odds, friend,’ Mark said softly.

  ‘We could likely even them down a mite though,’ the Kid went on.

  Dusty did not speak for a moment, but looked at the other two. Mark and the Kid were as close as brothers to him and he knew they loved to get into a good fight. Mark was kin to Gloria and that meant he would want to stay on and help the KH out of their trouble. There was little of importance in the Rio Hondo for a time. The floating outfit was being capably handled by Dusty’s cousin, Red Blaze, young Waco and Doc Leroy, all of whom were well able to run things in his absence. Mark, the Ysabel Kid and himself would not be missed for a few days and in that time the trouble might come to a head here. He looked at Gloria. The girl was true range-bred and would not panic if there was shooting. The English girl also looked cool enough, not the kind who would get hysterical. Yet they would need help if Lanton brought his hired killers into a full scale war on the KH.

  He made his decision as always without asking the others to share in it. ‘Reckon your pappy could take on three hands for a spell, Miss Gloria?’

  Four – KH Loses Hands

  For a moment Gloria did not speak but there was a wild elation in her heart. If Lanton was pushing for a range war KH could use the very able assistance of the three young men who rode with her. Dusty Fog was known as a master tactician, and the fastest gun in Texas. The other two were equally respected for their fighting abilities.

  ‘Well,’ she finally stated. ‘The cook’s shy a louse and the wrangler wants a nighthawk, so we can take you and Mark, Dusty. But we haven’t a thing we want smuggling across the border so I can’t see that there’ll be a thing for the Kid to do.’

  The Ysabel Kid was loud in his protests that he was now a retired smuggler and an upright and honest citizen. Dusty let his friend carry on for a spell then interrupted. ‘What do you think. Will your pappy be able to take us on?’

  ‘Sure, there’s some work round the spread that only needs a strong back and weak mind.’

  ‘You trying to get out of your chores again, redtop?’ Mark asked.

  Rene watched the men, then looked at Gloria. The buggy bounced and jolted over the rough trail towards the KH. The trail was hardly more than a series of ruts cut by the wheels of the KH chuck wagon and the hooves of horses headed for town. It did not make for a comfortable journey and Rene envied Gloria who was riding astride a cow horse. Rene herself was a good rider and would far rather have been on a horse than bouncing about on the seat of the buggy.

  Looking round her she could see nothing but mile after mile of rolling range country. The lush, deep grass spread over the land as far as she could see in any direction but she could see no sign of human habitation. After a couple of miles she started to see scattered bunches of long horned cattle. These did not act like the tame bossies she’d been used to. At the first sight of the party approaching, these animals whirled and fled at a speed which made her stare in wonder.

  ‘Are they all strays, Just?’ she asked.

  ‘Nope, they’re KH stock. We let them range feed out here, and don’t gather them unless we want a herd for market or the roundup’s on.’

  ‘Is this part of our ranch, then?’ Rene looked around expecting to see the ranch house somewhere near at hand.

  ‘Why sure,’ Just could guess what she was thinking.

  ‘Good lord!’ Rene stared at the young man. ‘Do we own all this. But where is the ranch house? I can’t see it.’

  ‘It’s about another three miles, about in the middle of the spread,’ Just explained, pleased to be having this chance to talk with Rene. ‘It’s a fair sized spread.’

  ‘It’s enormous.’

  ‘Fair, only fair, by Texas standards,’ Gloria put in. ‘Why, either the OD Connected where Dusty rides, or Mark’s father’s R over C are bigger than the average Eastern county. They’re so big a regular crew can’t handle all the work, they have to use a floating outfit.’

  ‘What’s that?’ Rene was eager to learn all she could about this new life she was to lead.

  ‘Five or six men who spend their time away from the main ranch. Out in the back ranges. They take a cook along and act like a moving ranch house. Do the sort of work the other hands handle closer to home. The OD Connected use one most all of the time. When we’re to home, Mark, Lon and I usually ride for our floating outfit.’

  ‘I’ve got a lot to learn, haven’t I?’

  ‘Why sure,’ Dusty agreed. ‘I’ll reckon ole Just here’ll be real pleased to teach you all he can.’

  Rene blushed and Just glared at Dusty, the others all looking on with tolerant smiles. Gloria turned to Mark and pointedly asked him about his father. Dusty and the Kid also took the hint and started to talk over a cougar hunt they’d been on back in the Rio Hondo while Brazos concentrated with fierce energy on handling his team. This left Rene and Just free to talk with each other and she started to ask him innumerable questions all about range life and work.

  Never in all his life had Just Smith known time pass so quickly. He found himself wishing the ride would never end. The girl was pleasant and he knew she was attracted to him as he was to her. He doubted if her father would approve of him. Hamilton might like and respect him as a cowhand but would hardly like the idea of Rene getting too friendly with a man whose reputation for wearing a fast gun made him the target for other fast guns. Just Smith knew he was the owner of such a reputation. There was little security for such a man.

  Rene was watching Just’s face and wondering what drove this handsome and cultured young man to the life of a cowhand. She could tell he was well bred and guessed there was more to Just Smith than met the eye.

  ‘Say, redtop,’ Mark spoke loudly to Gloria. ‘Remember that time we put you on the hoss, back home?’ He turned to Rene. ‘You should have seen her. She was caterwauling like a cougar on a log. We had to rope her into the saddle to get her to stay on.’

  ‘You got that story the wrong ways round,’ Gloria howled back. ‘It was you they had to tie on, not me. Anyways, you’re still riled because I gave you a black eye for pulling my braids.’

  ‘Being a southern gentleman I couldn’t hit a lady.’ Mark explained to the others and looked at Gloria as if expect
ing her to deny it.

  She did. ‘No, you didn’t hit me. You kicked my shins hard, though.’

  ‘I never kicked a lady.’

  ‘You kicked me.’

  ‘So?’ Mark grinned at his cousin. ‘I still allow I never kicked any lady at all.’

  Gloria started in to tell him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him. He let her finish, then told the others how they’d been coon hunting together and how she lost the seat of her pants trying to stop a dog fight.

  ‘You should have seen her riding back home,’ he told Rene, who was laughing merrily now. ‘She was surely red at both ends when she got there.’

  Gloria’s face was red, and she tried to think of something equally disreputable about Mark. Failing this she gave an angry yell of, ‘Why you no-good, white topped buzzard. My turn’ll come. You wait and see if it don’t.’

  They were coming up a slope now and on reaching the top Brazos brought the buggy to a halt, allowing his team to have a breather. The others rested in their saddles and Rene looked around her. Below, like a map was stretched the Azul Rio basin. As far as the eye could see the rolling well watered range country of the KH, S Star, Lazy F, Flying P and the E ranches.

  ‘Why it’s beautiful.’ Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before. We must be able to see for miles from up here.’

  Gloria watched her friend. She always felt the same when she sat up here and looked down over the Azul Rio basin. She leaned over and raised a hand, to a point. ‘Look down there, where that small stream goes round behind those trees. That’s where the ranch house is. You can see the smoke, look.’

  Rene leaned forward eagerly, looking down the slope to what she would call a wood. Beyond this she could see a curl of smoke rising into the air. The smoke filled her with delight, it was her first sight of the KH, her new home.

  Gloria decided that she would be able to show the others how the land lay. Her finger pointed to where the Azul Rio slashed and rolled across the range in a huge curve which formed three of the KH boundaries. She indicated the rough rock and brush strewn banks directly ahead. ‘That’s our west line. The river forms our line with the S Star. You can see the S Star house right over there. Down to the south, where the smoke’s rising, is Estradre’s. Right out back there, up towards the hills, is the Flying P. Their range goes right back to the mountains. Then where the Azul Rio curves up there forms our line with the Lazy F.’ Dusty Fog, Mark Counter and the Ysabel Kid sat their horses and looked down on the Azul Rio basin. It was a rich and fertile range country, a country capable of supporting four ranches without trouble. Yet one man with a lust for power and land was not satisfied. That man wanted all of this for himself and was willing to kill to get it.

  More than the others the Ysabel Kid was studying the range below. He studied it not as a cowhand but in the Indian manner, making a map in his mind. If it came to war he would be far more concerned with riding scout than handling cattle. To ride scout in a strange country he would need to know where the various ranch houses lay. From his careful, Indian wise study he would be able to roam the Azul Rio basin with the same ease he traversed the OD Connected land. He would know how to get from place to place by the quickest and easiest route, would know where he could hide and remain unseen. It was not the Ysabel Kid who studied the range but a Comanche Dog Soldier with an eye for raiding. Before the others were ready to move off he held in his mind a complete map of the area down below.

  They moved off again, and as they rounded the bosque then splashed through a ford in the stream, Rene got her first look at her new home.

  The house stood some two hundred yards from the trees. It was a white stone building made in the days when labor was cheap and stone was to be had at the cost of a few lives. The KH house was large, and from the look of it the family lived in the front on the first floor, the hands having their bunkhouse and dining room at the rear. The house side was to the trees, its front to the corrals, two of them, only one of which was in use at the moment. A bunch of horses were moving about in the larger. The smaller, with a snubbing post in the center was empty. On the side of the house away from the trees were a couple of wooden buildings, a blacksmith’s forge and the back-house, and to the rear of the house stood a barn.

  Two men came from the house and stood on the porch. Gloria removed her hat, waving it around her head, then she turned to Mark. ‘Let’s see if pappy recognizes you.’

  Jack Knight stepped from the porch to meet his daughter as she sent the horse racing forward. He was a tall, bronzed man wearing range clothes and with a low-tied Colt at his side. Beside him was another tall man, but slimmer, although just as tanned. Mike Hamilton wore range clothes, yet he managed to give them an Eastern flavor and he was not wearing a gun.

  Gloria came down from the horse before it stopped, the impetus of her landing throwing her into her father’s arms. She kissed the man, then turned to watch Hamilton going to the buggy to greet Rene. She wondered how they would greet each other, for they had not met for many years.

  Just Smith helped Rene down from the buggy and she stepped forward. Hamilton walked up to her, and they stood looking at each other for a moment.

  ‘Well, m’dear,’ Hamilton said, taking the girl’s hands and pecking her lightly on the cheek. ‘You’ve grown.’

  ‘Thank you, papa,’ Rene’s voice was just as cool and emotionless. ‘I am pleased to be here.’

  The others watched in some surprise as Hamilton escorted his daughter into the house. They wondered what sort of people the English were to control their emotions so well. Gloria clearly did not approve of it all and snorted angrily, then eyed her father.

  ‘See you’ve still got that old shirt on. And you haven’t taught Uncle Mike how to act. He hasn’t seen Rene since she was a button and that’s how he greets her.’

  Knight had been so absorbed in greeting Gloria and the pleasure of having her home for good that he did not think of how Hamilton acted with Rene. In fact Knight hardly noticed anything. He paid no attention to the three young men at all. Then he heard the tall blond one remark.

  ‘Say, how’d you reckon a big hombre like that sires such a short-growed filly as that red-haired lump of perversity there?’

  Jack Knight swung round, his fists lifting and his face showing sudden anger. He took a step towards Mark, then stopped and a grin came to his face. ‘You’re Ranse’s boy, aren’t you? Young Mark?’

  ‘Why sure, Uncle Jack,’ Mark agreed, taking the offered hand.

  ‘Damned if you ain’t uglier than your pappy ever was, boy,’ Knight growled. He was a strong man but that grip made him wince.

  ‘You’re just jealous. Pappy told me about all the dancehall gals he took off you the old days.’

  ‘That’s a lie,’ Knight roared. ‘Ranse Counter never took any dance-hall gals off me.’ He caught his daughter’s accusing eye. ‘He couldn’t. I never went in no such places.’

  Mark introduced his two friends and Knight looked them over with a speculative gaze. In view of the trouble he was expecting they would be a handy trio to have round. He felt he was having more luck than one man could rightly expect.

  ‘Jack!’ Hamilton came from the house fast, his face red. ‘Rene told me there was a shooting in town. Some of Lanton’s men were killed.’

  ‘Good, who were they?’

  Just Smith turned from the hitching rail where he stood by his horse. He glanced back to where Brazos was unhitching the buggy team, then said, ‘Speedy Slinger, two more of the guns from the S Star and a couple of dudes they’d got planted to help them out.’

  ‘Did you get them all?’ Hamilton asked.

  ‘One lit out wounded.’

  ‘I know you didn’t pick the fight, Just.’

  ‘He didn’t. Just took more than I would to try and avoid it,’ Mark put in. ‘They’d laid a gun trap for him.’

  ‘Which same worried me some,’ Dusty remarked. ‘It was a trap and real well set.
Too well for just a chance meeting. Somebody at the spread here let Lanton’s men know Just was going to town and where they could find him.’

  ‘How do you mean, Cap’n Fog?’ Knight asked.

  ‘The way the trap was set. Those men couldn’t have known he was coming to town. They couldn’t have known he’d use the eating house, not unless someone who knew where he’d be told them. They couldn’t have had the two dudes in the eating house on the odd chance. That’s too much coincidence for me. The sheriff acted like he knew what was going to happen too. He was some surprised when he found it wasn’t Just laying there.’

  ‘Then you think one of our own men told them?’ Hamilton looked with renewed interest at this small, insignificant young man.

  ‘Sure, I don’t reckon Just did it. Who’d know about him going?’

  ‘Any of the crew. I went along to the bunkhouse and told Just to go in with Brazos. It was early last night and any of the hands could have took a hoss and gone over there after,’ Knight replied.

  ‘Lon.’ Dusty glanced at his friend. ‘You’d better cut for sign and find out which hoss was used.’

  Before the Kid could move to obey Dusty’s orders Hamilton asked, ‘What will Lanton say about it?’

  ‘I don’t know, or care. It’s time KH stopped worrying about what Lanton or anybody thinks. From now on we dig in our heels and hauls down on the rope.’

  ‘That’s my pappy talking,’ Gloria whooped. ‘And I’m right ashamed of you, Uncle Mike. Why you’ve fought Indians, rustlers and bad whites before now. You’re not going to let a bunch of hired guns scare you.’

  Hamilton shook his head. ‘It’s not that, Gloria. But I’ve got Rene to think about. She’s not used to violence and—’

  ‘She’s not allowing her father to let down his friends.’ Hamilton turned on his heel and found Rene standing on the porch. Her face was slightly flushed as she saw every eye turned on her. Stepping forward Rene laid her hand on her father’s shoulder. It was then she saw the admiration in the eyes of the three young Texas men and knew they accepted her. The feeling gave her more pleasure than she would have thought possible.