by Lee Lejeune
Both men mounted their horses and rode beside the creek, following the tracks of the horses.
‘What the hell are we going to do without our horses?’ Jacob asked Running Deer. ‘Marie and Sam will be like sitting ducks.’
‘Well, we’ll just have to run like hell!’ Running Deer said, and he started off in hot pursuit.
Once again Jacob was amazed at his speed and fitness. Running Deer continued along the bluff until he reached another vantage point where he stopped. Jacob stopped beside him and they both looked down towards the creek where Olsen and Wolf had reined in their horses. Jacob and Running Deer’s horses were grazing beside the creek and there was a small stand of willows close by on a slight rise.
‘No use shooting from here!’ Running Deer said, catching his breath. ‘Like shooting flies in a shooting gallery.’
But Jacob wasn’t listening, he was thinking of Marie’s desperate plight among those willows. He ran full tilt down the hill, and as he ran he heard Wolf shouting, ‘Come out and face the music! You have a date with hell today.’
‘Don’t shoot!’ Old Sam shouted from the willows. ‘There’s just me and Marie in here.’
‘Well, that means two bullets!’ Wolf laughed, and then he fired towards the stand of willows.
Jacob was half way towards the creek when he opened fire, but he was panting so hard he knew he had little chance of hitting anyone. Running Deer fired from above, but he was too far from his target to hit it.
Olsen looked up and jigged his horse round and fired in Jacob’s direction but the bullet hissed in the grass just short of Jacob’s feet. He heard Wolf laughing. Then Wolf fired two more shots into the stand of willows.
Jacob continued running down the hill with his gun held high. He was about to fire at Wolf again when there a single shot from the willows. Wolf jerked back in the saddle and keeled over and plunged to the ground. As he’d said himself earlier, ‘They’ll never know what hit them.’
Olsen swung round and fired a shot at Running Deer, but Running Deer was far to wary to be hit. He had already leapt sideways behind a bush and the shot went wide. Jacob aimed at Olsen and was about to open fire when Olsen held up his arms in surrender – but he still had his gun in his hand.
‘Drop that gun!’ Jacob shouted.
Olsen looked from Jacob to Running Deer and realized he had no choice, so he let the gun fall to the ground. Jacob ran forwards and kicked the gun into the long grass.
Running Deer stooped and picked up the gun and stuck it through his belt. ‘You’re lucky to be alive, Sheriff,’ he said.
‘You can’t shoot me, Running Deer,’ Olsen said. ‘I’m an officer of the law.’ Jacob saw beads of sweat breaking out like goose pimples all over his forehead.
‘You’re a disgrace to your office!’ Jacob shouted in his face, ‘and you don’t deserve to be alive. Now sit down there and keep yourself still in case we have to shoot you, which might be a good idea, anyway.’
Olsen plonked himself down and looked as pale as parchment. ‘You mind if I roll myself a quirly?’ he asked timorously.
‘Go ahead and smoke. There’s plenty of smoke and fire where you’re going to,’ Jacob said. He turned to the willows as Marie emerged, supported by Sam who was trailing the Springfield in his left hand. Marie was sobbing as she looked down at Wolf’s body, stark still in death.
‘I killed a man!’ she gasped.
‘Well, my dear,’ Sam soothed, ‘you had no choice. Without that shot we’d both be dead.’
She turned trembling and saw Jacob, and rushed forwards into his arms. ‘Jacob, I killed a man!’
Jacob put his arms around her and gave her a tender hug. ‘You did what you had to do. I should have been there for you, but thank the Lord you survived.’
He kissed her on the forehead and felt her relax in his arms.
Jacob prodded Olsen with his Peacemaker. ‘Get up on your feet!’ he said.
Olsen was so wobbly that Running Deer had to help him to his feet. ‘What are you going to do?’ Olsen asked. ‘Are you gonna shoot me?’
It was Sam who answered. ‘We aren’t barbarians, Mr Olsen. We don’t shoot men. We hand them over so the law can decide. Right now we aim to take you with us wherever we go.’
‘And right now we need to pick up our horses and gather our thoughts,’ Jacob added. ‘But I must warn you, Olsen, if you make a stupid move I shall have no hesitation in shooting you down like the cur you are, and you can kiss good-bye to that badge on your chest because after this I don’t think you’ll be needing it.’
Sam looked down at Wolf’s body. It lay still with a look of astonishment on its not very pretty face. ‘What do we do with the body?’ he asked.
Jacob looked at it. ‘In my opinion we leave it here for the buzzards and the coyotes. They’ll be glad to oblige, and they never did anyone any harm.’
Running Deer nodded in agreement. ‘And we can’t hang on here in case Davidson’s men come down on us. So far we’ve been lucky, but we can’t be too careful, can we?’
Sam shook his head. ‘So if we can’t give him a Christian burial we could say a prayer over his body. After all, he might have started good and then turned bad.’
‘Like an apple rotting in an orchard,’ Running Deer said. Then he turned and urged Olsen forwards towards the ruined mine.
‘Now,’ he said to Olsen, ‘plant your ass down there by the fire and smoke to your heart’s content because we’ve got a lot of talking to do. And remember this: I’ll be more than happy to blow your head off if needs be. In fact it would give me a great deal of pleasure.’
Running Deer threw an armful of dry twigs on the fire and it sparked up almost immediately. It was cosy sitting there, and even Olsen started to relax as he smoked.
Old Sam sat on a bench and Running Deer squatted on his haunches facing the sheriff. Marie sat beside Sam, looking down at the Springfield rifle as though it were a poisonous snake. Sam put a comforting arm round her shoulders and said, ‘You want to go back to town I’ll be happy to escort you, Miss Marie.’
Marie looked up abruptly with defiance. ‘No, Mr Critchley. Thank you, but no. I’m staying on right here.’ She looked across at Jacob and smiled. ‘I promised I’d bring those killers to justice and I mean to do it.’
She pointed at the Springfield. ‘And if I have to use that thing again, I’ll do it.’
Sam nodded benignly like Santa Claus. ‘Well, you are indeed a very brave young woman, Marie, and that’s a fact.’
Jacob and Running Deer smiled and nodded, and even Olsen gave a smirk.
‘Well then,’ Jacob said to Olsen. ‘So, tell me how you came to be a buddy of this guy Davidson?’
Olsen threw the stub of his quirly on the fire and rolled another. He looked at the smoke rising from the fire as though he hoped it might help him to see the future, and he didn’t care too much what he saw. Then he took a deep breath. ‘I’ve known Jack Davidson for a very long time,’ he said.
‘Exactly how long?’ Jacob asked him.
‘I knew his pa when the ranch was still a going concern. Mr Davidson senior was a fine man. In fact I worked for him way back. And I knew Jack Davidson when he was just a kid.’
Jacob nodded. ‘And were you aware Jack Davidson planned to kill those two innocent young people at the farmstead just before I met you that time?’
Olsen looked deeply shocked. ‘I swear to God I didn’t know that!’
‘God isn’t too keen on lies, Mr Olsen,’ Sam put in. ‘He’s too busy inventing the truth.’
‘So,’ Jacob said, ‘why were you riding with the man who called himself Wolf, who happens to be lying waiting by the creek up there for the coyotes to pick over his bones?’
Olsen shook his head and avoided making eye contact.
Jacob grinned. ‘Let me make a suggestion, Olsen. That guy Wolf came to seek you out so you could follow Sam here and do Davidson’s dirty work for him.’
Olsen made no reply.
&
nbsp; Jacob said, ‘Isn’t that the truth, Sheriff Olsen?’
Olsen shook his head. ‘You don’t know Jack Davidson. He’s as friendly as pie on the outside, but if you cross him he’s like the very devil himself.’ As he spoke his lower lip began to tremble.
Jacob gave a wry grin. ‘Well, we’re going to get the chance to get acquainted with him quite soon, Sheriff, and you’re going to have the pleasure of introducing us.’
Once again Olsen’s lower lip trembled, and it was by no means a pretty sight. ‘I can’t do that,’ he mumbled.
‘Well, I wouldn’t say you have much choice because we’re going to walk right up to his door and you’re going to arrest him and then we’re going to take him back to town and put him on trial for murder.’ Jacob pulled a sceptical face. ‘And who knows, Sheriff, if you come out of this passing fair, you might even earn a medal, though I wouldn’t place bets on that. And by the way, if we happen to meet Stringer on the way you’d better get ready to duck your head down before he gets what’s coming to him.’
It was getting towards sunset so they decided to camp for the night. Running Deer had a way with fires, and soon he had one roaring away and throwing out enough heat to roast an ox. Between them Running Deer and Sam managed to make a really tasty supper, and even Olsen wasn’t too squeamish about it. As they ate he looked across at Jacob. ‘There’s something on my mind,’ he said quietly.
‘Is this confession time?’ Jacob asked him.
Olsen shook his head. ‘It’s my wife. She’ll be wondering why I haven’t come home.’
Jacob grinned. ‘Like the lost sheep,’ he said. ‘Well, that’s a real pity, Olsen, and I’m sorry we have to disappoint your good lady. And she must indeed be good to put up with a bastard like you. But fate is fate and you’ll either show up late or show up dead, and there isn’t a damned thing we can do about that.’
After supper Running Deer tied Olsen’s hands behind his back. Olsen said, ‘What happens if I need to take a leak in the night?’
‘Well, now,’ Jacob said, ‘Mr Running Deer here is going to take you down to the creek and you can leak and dump as much you like.’
Running Deer grunted with laughter and led Olsen at gunpoint down to the creek.
Marie said, ‘You’re a hard man, Jacob.’
‘You need to be hard with a guy like Olsen. Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile even if it means shooting you dead. I’m just surprised he’s lasted so long as sheriff. But I guess there have to be other crooked sheriffs in the West, and maybe in the East as well. The world is full of political criminals. You could say it goes with the job.’
Running Deer and Olsen came back from the creek. Then they all settled down in their bedrolls and tried to sleep. If they had been alone Jacob would have snuggled down with Marie, but at least it was warmer than the night before. Running Deer had built up the fire so that it would keep them warm all night. Like all First Nation people he was a dab hand with fires.
‘Don’t you worry none,’ he said. ‘Sleep easy and I’ll keep the fire going through the night.’
Jacob lay on his back, thinking about the future, and before he finally started to sleep he heard the wail of the coyotes close to the creek.
CHAPTER EIGHT
As before, Running Deer cooked up breakfast. It wasn’t much but it was enough. The sun rose like a poached egg in a grey pan, heralding an uncertain day.
Running Deer untied Olsen’s wrists and took him down to the creek to freshen up. The sheriff made no complaint. If he attempted to escape it was a choice between drowning in the creek or being shot, neither of which appealed to him greatly. He was glad to get back to the warmth of the fire.
‘Well, it looks like you’ve cleaned up well, Sheriff,’ Jacob said. ‘Why don’t you just squat down here and take some breakfast. It’s going to be a long day.’
Olsen gave him a quizzical look: most of the time he had no idea what Jacob was talking about. ‘What d’you aim to do?’ he asked.
Jacob smiled. ‘Just like I said, Sheriff, you’re going to have the pleasure of introducing us to your friend Jack Davidson.’
‘How d’you figure that?’ Olsen asked.
‘Well, you could walk right up to the ranch house door and flash your badge at him and say, “Good day, Jack. Would you mind saddling up your horse and riding back to town because I’m arresting you for the murder of those two innocent young people back at the farmstead”.’
Olsen looked at Jacob with widening eyes. ‘You expect me to do it just like that?’
Jacob nodded. ‘You do it any way you like, Olsen. It doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to me as long as you get the message across. After all, you’ve lived most of your life in pretend land. So you shouldn’t have too much trouble, especially when it comes to saving your own skin.’
Olsen gritted his teeth and stared at the fire.
After the meal Running Deer threw sand on the fire, and he and Jacob had a quick consultation.
‘Well, now, Mr Merriweather,’ Running Deer said, ‘you talk like a lawyer but can you act like a soldier? Have you really planned this thing through?’
Jacob gave him a quizzical look. ‘Well, I’ll be straight with you, Running Deer. I’m a little uneasy about this whole procedure. There are only two soldiers in this outfit – you and me. Sam never carries a gun, and Marie finds it hard to shoot at bad men. So I would be a good deal happier if they went back to town and prepared a homecoming for conquering heroes, but that’s not going to happen, is it?’
Running Deer raised an eyebrow. ‘Mr Merriweather, when you talk like that I never know whether you’re being serious.’
Jacob smiled. ‘That’s because I’ve been trained as a lawyer, my friend. A lawyer learns to speak with a forked tongue. That’s how he gets rich. But I can promise you one thing – I couldn’t be more serious about those killers. I promised to bring them to justice, and I intend to carry out that promise even if it’s the last thing I do . . . and you can carve that on my tombstone when I’m gone.’
Running Deer smiled. ‘Well then, Mr Merriweather, I think we should talk to the others and lay out our plans. But first off I’m gonna tie Olsen to a tree well out of hearing so he doesn’t get wind of what we aim to do.’
The four of them sat down by the fire for a council of war. Running Deer loaded his pipe with sweet grass tobacco and smoked with a reflective smile on his dark countenance. Old Sam sat on a large log; Marie sat cross-legged on the grass. And Jacob took a few steps towards the ruin and then stepped back.
‘Well, folks, I need to make one thing clear,’ he said, ‘and that is, I aim to bring those killers to justice by fair means or foul.’
‘What do you mean by foul?’ Sam piped up.
Jacob squatted on his haunches, which brought him on a level with the others. ‘What do I mean by foul?’ he repeated. ‘Well, I guess that means alive is better than dead, but it might mean dead if it comes to shooting, because it might be a matter of shoot or be shot. That’s the grim reality, and before we go ahead I want you to understand that.’
Sam ran his fingers through his white beard. ‘How can you bring a dead man to justice? If we kill Jack Davidson we might find ourselves on the wrong side of the law ourselves.’
‘That’s a point to consider,’ Running Deer put in.
‘True,’ Jacob conceded. ‘But consider this as well: we know that Stringer was one of the killers, but we don’t know how many of Davidson’s bunch are ready to kill for Davidson, do we?’
Sam held up his hand. ‘As you know, I’m a man of peace, and I’ve never fired a shot in my life, and I don’t mean to start now I’m in limping distance from the grave.’
‘So you have a plan of your own?’ Running Deer suggested.
‘Well, yes I do,’ the old man smiled. ‘My plan is to ride up to the ranch-house door and tell Jack Davidson he’s under arrest.’
They turned to him in amazement.
‘You mean you’ll ride ri
ght up to Davidson’s door and tell him he’s under arrest?’ Jacob repeated.
Sam smiled. ‘Well, that’s what you aim to do, isn’t it? Except that you’ll have guns in your hands.’
Running Deer was on the point of laughing, but he held himself in out of respect for the old man.
Jacob took a deep breath and looked at Marie who had gone unexpectedly quiet. ‘Now Sam, we all know you’re a man of peace. So why don’t you just escort Miss Marie back to town and let Running Deer and me do the arresting?’
‘Except there’s no way I’m going back to town without you,’ Marie said.
‘OK,’ Jacob nodded. ‘In that case we go on together, and’ – he reached down and took a gun from his belt – ‘you’d better take this for your protection. That Springfield of yours might be good enough in its way, but a six-shot pistol might be a lot better in a tight corner.’ He held the gun by the barrel and Marie took it and examined it and then tucked it into her belt. ‘I did shoot a rabid dog with one of these one time,’ she said.
‘Well, you shot a rabid Wolf down by the creek as well,’ Running Deer said, ‘and that saved both you and Mr Critchley here. And that’s no small thing, is it?’
They rode on towards the Davidson spread, led by Running Deer who had Olsen ahead of him on a rope. Olsen had become quite passive, as though he had resigned himself to his rôle as arresting sheriff. Jacob rode several yards behind with Marie on his left and Sam on his right, riding his burro.
‘Why don’t I do the arresting?’ Marie asked Jacob.
Jacob turned to look at her. ‘Because I can’t let you to do that, Marie. We have too much future before us.’
‘I don’t think I’m the woman you think I am, Jacob,’ she said quietly.
‘I think you’re twice the woman I think you are,’ Jacob replied.
Running Deer knew the country well, and he led them up through a wooded area where they were less exposed and from where they could look down through the cottonwoods to a long, sprawling plain where they saw many cattle grazing. Then he drew the party to a halt.