Nueces Justice

by Greathouse, Mark

  “Cav, what is it?” Scarlett asked calmly.

  “Just follow me.” Her voice had settled him for the moment.

  They hitched their horses to the post at the end of the dilapidated wooden walkway that ran along the front of the bank. They climbed the couple of stairs and entered through the heavy double door. The clapboard building, with shutters at the windows and those big green double doors, certainly wouldn’t have passed for a bank in most towns of any significant size. But the fact that it kept folks’ money made that a moot point. A bank was a bank regardless of appearance.

  Cav stepped through the doorway with both guns drawn. He’d never robbed a bank before, but figured it couldn’t be all that difficult. “Everybody, raise your hands!” he yelled. A bank manager in an alcove at the side of the bank foyer ran out but stopped short and raised his hands. The wealthy-looking man turned and appeared to go for a gun.

  The shot rang out before Cav realized what Scarlett had done. The man lay on the floor, bleeding profusely. In mere moments, he stopped breathing.

  “Unless the rest of you want what he got, put all your money in this bag.” He motioned to Scarlett. “See what that bastard has that might be valuable.”

  He watched out of the corner of his eye as Scarlett turned the dead man over. The man was unarmed. He’d apparently been trying to hide his gold watch. She took the watch and some gold and silver coins. “Okay, we’re ready.”

  By now, the teller and manager had filled the bag with gold coin to near bursting. It weighed a ton. “You men count to five hundred before you leave this bank. If you don’t, you’ll wind up like him.” He pointed with the muzzle of his pistol at the dead man.

  Once outside the bank, Cav hoisted the bag onto the saddle horn and climbed up. “Scarlett, we have one more thing to do.”

  She looked at him questioningly, but followed as he headed toward the post office. Once there, he dismounted and burst through the door.

  “You sonofabitch,” he shouted at the postmaster. “I ought to kill you for telling the sheriff about me.” Instead, he handed the man a note. “You make sure this letter gets to Bozeman, Montana. You hear me?” He waved his knife at the postmaster. “If you don’t, I’ll come back and do worse to you than any Comanche.”

  The postmaster cowered in abject fear. “Yes…yes, sir. I hear you.”

  Cav ran from the post office and leapt into his saddle. “Let’s get out of this town, Scarlett. Let’s ride!”

  Just at that moment, the bank teller came running out. “Stop them! Stop them! They robbed the bank!”

  Cav fired twice. Both shots hit the teller.

  Cav and Scarlett kicked their horses into a gallop, leaving the teller groveling in pain.

  ***

  Within minutes, Sheriff Whelan came galloping back into town. He’d stopped on his way to the other crime scene when he heard the faint sound of gunshots from the direction of Corpus Christi. His law-abiding world seemed to be crumbling in the wake of a sudden crime spree. He pulled up his horse and dismounted in front of the bank.

  The teller was badly wounded, but alive and likely to survive. The postmaster came running out with the letter that confirmed Cav’s identity. “They headed west, Sheriff, toward Nuecestown.”

  Whelan went into action. While there was a lot of downtime to sheriff duties in a small town like Corpus, he needed to know how to do the right things when called upon. “Fred, get the doctor to look after the teller. Sam, put out the call for a posse. We need to be out of here and fast.”

  ***

  Cav rightly guessed the sheriff would have a hard time raising any posse quickly enough for pursuit. He and Scarlett stopped a few miles out of town to catch their breath. The horses were well-lathered and wouldn’t mind a rest. Besides, the load of gold coin was a heavy added burden for a galloping horse. Cav drew a bottle of whiskey from his saddlebag. “I’m thinking we should celebrate, my sweet Scarlett.”

  “Shouldn’t we get farther away?” she wondered aloud.

  Cav looked around. They’d pulled up near a grove of live oaks. “Trust me. It’ll be a couple of hours before they try to track us. We’ll be long gone. We need to divide this gold to make it easier on us and the horses.”

  They spread a bedroll under the shade of a live oak and took a few swigs from the bottle. They were still caught up in the elixir of the bank robbery and gunfire. After a few drinks, Cav turned to Scarlett, tossed up her petticoat, and did his thing. There was a wildness about it, fitting the moment for both of them. He’d learned to abuse and she’d learned to enable abusers. They were now on the run together, and the thought of it was like an adrenalin rush.

  ***

  Luke spent the night at Bernice’s boarding house. He slept exceptionally well. He dreamed mostly of Elisa and that kiss, but it was tempered with thoughts of his duties that lay ahead. A bright sun broke through the skies that had brought heavy rains and flash floods only a few hours earlier.

  He sat down to enjoy Bernice’s offering of eggs, bacon, and biscuits for breakfast. He didn’t expect her to sit down opposite him.

  She looked sort of squinty-eyed at him, as though sizing him up. “So, Mr. Texas Ranger Captain, sir; is Miss Corrigan still an honest woman?” There was no holding back. Bernice was a woman that pulled no punches. She got right to the point, demanding to know Luke’s intentions.

  “Ma’am, I would never dishonor so lovely a lady. I would be untrue to my Irish heritage and my sense of morality as taught by my most honorable father and mother.” He had a sense that what he said might actually have been fairly eloquent.

  Bernice was a bit surprised, but his sincerity, if not his crediting his father and mother, convinced her. She knew how head over heels in love Elisa was, so admired Luke’s apparent restraint. Still, she was curious. After all, she was the town gossip. For Agatha and her, it was like a career. “Did you kiss her?” she asked bluntly.

  “Miss Bernice, I’m surprised.” He feigned astonishment. “Why, even if I had, I’d never kiss an honorable woman and then boast of it.”

  Bernice smiled. She had her answer. They’d kissed. She could hardly wait to share the news with Agatha.

  Luke was soon saddled up and heading up the trail toward Elisa’s cabin. He found himself amused by Bernice’s questioning. It would be great to spend one more day with Elisa before heading to Corpus Christi and certain trouble.

  ***

  Sheriff Whelan was beside himself. He only had four volunteers to form up a posse, and they were a sorry sight to behold. He lamented that Corpus Christi hadn’t seemed to progress growth-wise as far as he’d hoped since its day years ago as the Old Indian Trading Grounds. Colonel Kinney’s dream had added the post office, bank, sheriff’s office, a warehouse by the dock, a boarding house, a smithy, three saloons, and a couple of churches. Despite its unimpressive population, the town already needed far more than one man to enforce the law. Whelan was hardly more than a cover for Kinney’s somewhat shady dealings. Now, with Kinney off playing at politics, Whelan had serious crime issues.

  By late afternoon, Whelan had gathered his so-called posse in front of his office. A more rag-tag group he could never remember having seen. He duly deputized them. “We are heading up the road to Nuecestown in pursuit of a man named Dirk Cavendish and a red-haired whore that’s riding with him. He’s dangerous…wanted for murder, train robbery, and now bank robbery. They’ve run off with most of yours and your neighbor’s gold.”

  That got the attention of the posse. Up until then, they’d been standing sort of lackadaisically.

  “Y’all have horses, right?” That had been a requirement. The men nodded affirmatively. “Guns?” Another requirement. Whelan looked at the wide range of weaponry displayed before him. He hoped none of these men would get killed, but there was no guarantee.

  About this time, the cowboy who’d come for Whelan earlier about the murder of Seth Parks showed up. “Sheriff! Where you been? Those Mexican murderers are getting
away!”

  Whelan couldn’t have been more conflicted. He regretted not having hired a new deputy back when Luke Dunn joined Callahan’s Texas Rangers. There really hadn’t been any reason to do that up to now. Now, he was short-handed.

  “Crap, Pete. I can’t do two damned things at once!” Turned out he wouldn’t have to.

  “Sheriff, look! Look up the street!”

  Just entering the main street not more than a couple of hundred yards away were Perez and what remained of his Caballeros Negros.

  Pete was startled. “Sheriff, that’s them. They’re the ones that killed Seth!”

  Seeing the sheriff and the posse, Perez halted to assess his position. He didn’t have many options. He appeared to have ridden into a potential hornet’s nest. He started to draw his pistol, then thought better of it. The odds were simply too even. He had no advantage. He turned to his men, “Vamos a salir de aquí!” He made the only viable choice and beat it out of town and away from the threat.

  In a heartbeat, the Caballeros Negros had wheeled their mounts and headed northwest on the Nuecestown road.

  “Men, get your horses! Pete, you’re deputized! They’re all headed for Nuecestown!”

  A few minutes later, the posse was galloping out of town.

  ***

  Cav and Scarlett had just finished their tryst when they heard the faint sound of hoof beats. “I don’t like the sound of that,” Cav yelled. “We’d better get out of here…and fast!”

  Scarlett sighed. She craved more of that fabulous night cavorting in silk sheets in the big four-poster bed. Was this what life on the run was going to be like?

  They mounted and headed toward Nuecestown as fast as their horses could take them. Cav wondered whether the sheriff had managed to assemble a posse. He had no idea, of course, that it was Carlos Perez and his Caballeros Negros that were right behind him. His fate with them could be far worse than that with the sheriff.

  “Who’s chasing us, Cav?” Scarlett shouted over the sounds of the horses.

  That struck a chord. “There’s some higher ground up ahead to the north. Let’s go there and see whether we can make them out.” Cav led them toward a low-lying bluff along an arroyo screened by some mesquite. They’d be able to scan the prairie behind them while having some semblance of cover.

  They didn’t have long to wait. Scarlett recognized Perez right away. “Oh, my God, Cav, it’s that Mexican that came after me in Laredo. It’s me he wants!”

  Cav looked at her inquisitively.

  “There were nine of them that came to Texas Jack’s Saloon. They boasted that they were looking for the Texas Ranger. They got raging drunk, and the one with only one eye came after me. Thank God, he passed out before he could have his way with me. I escaped the next morning to join you.” She paused to take a breath.

  Cav was amazed at her bravery, but still didn’t understand why she had chased after him, or even thought she loved him. Peering at the bandits, he said, “They must have run into some bad luck. There’s only five now.”

  It wasn’t the empathy Scarlett was seeking, but she wasn’t surprised. “You heard me? I escaped to find you.”

  Suddenly, Cav got it, but he didn’t know how to take it. Affection beyond sex wasn’t in his constitution, wasn’t part of him. He looked deeply into her pale blue eyes and smiled warmly. “You’re crazy, but I’m glad you came.”

  He was getting used to the idea of having some company. He’d effectively been alone since his mother died. He leaned over and kissed her. Nothing passionate. Just a light kiss. Then he looked away at the horizon to see what progress the Mexicans had made. “Let’s lay low and let them pass,” he said.

  ***

  Scarlett felt something between pleasure and consternation. Had she penetrated Cav’s thick skin? Would it make a difference?

  EIGHTEEN

  The Prey

  Luke arrived at the farm around mid-morning. As he hitched the big grey to the corral post, he saw Elisa out of the corner of his eye kneeling beside her family’s graves under the live oak. She’d strewn purple and yellow flowers over them. Most likely, he thought, she had no idea what kind they were, but they were pretty and suited the moment.

  Luke watched her for a moment. She was so focused on her flowers and family that she hadn’t realized he was standing behind her. “Prickly pear flowers and winecups. Pretty.”

  At his voice, she leapt up wide-eyed and threw herself into his arms. They embraced tightly for a few moments. No words needed be said.

  “You know flowers?” It hit her that he’d named the varieties of flowers she’d just scattered about. She had no idea what they were called.

  Luke laughed. “Guess I know one or two. Of course, I’m partial to bluebonnets. They’re like blue versions of our native Irish betony.”

  A Texas Ranger that knows flowers. Didn’t that beat all? Elisa had been introduced to a perspective on Luke that she would never have imagined. She offered up a demure smile. “What other secrets am I going to learn about Luke Dunn?”

  Luke laughed. “Time will tell…time will tell.”

  They stood for a few more moments at her family’s graves. He recited an old Irish prayer, then they headed back to the cabin.

  Mike was digging a hole for a hitching post. It was hard work for the little guy, but he was determined.

  “Good morning, Captain,” Mike said, looking up and catching sight of the lawman walking with Elisa.

  Impressed at the boy’s efforts, Luke pondered what Mike might call him familiarly yet respectfully. “Mike, how about just calling me Mr. Luke?” He gave the youngster a disarmingly friendly smile.

  Mike put down the shovel and extended his hand to Luke. “Yes, sir, Captain, sir…Mr. Luke it is.” His hand was lost in Luke’s meaty paw. Mike looked up at him admiringly. “Mr. Luke, I hope I can grow up to be like you.”

  “Well, Mike, I hope you grow up to be like you.”

  “Are you hungry…er…Luke?” It was as though Elisa wanted to find something endearing to call him, but it wasn’t the right time just yet. It was all so new.

  Luke wasn’t oblivious to her dilemma. “Why don’t you call me by my given name, Lucas. No one uses it. It’ll be special between us.” He was as smitten with her as she with him, and it took all his will power to restrain his natural urges. There was a part of him that wanted to offer her more than life with a Texas Ranger, yet the lawman role was part of who he was. “Bernice fed me this morning,” he told her, “but I sure could use a cup of coffee and one of your biscuits.”

  They soon found themselves sitting out front sipping coffee and watching Mike dig. “I’ve been thinking about the McGills’ place up the way. I’ve heard they’re selling and heading to California.”

  “Why would you want to buy their property?” Luke asked.

  “I was thinking, mind you, just thinking, of raising some longhorns. With their property added, we’d have enough land for close to twenty head. I could fatten them up and sell them in Corpus.”

  Luke was impressed at her thinking.

  Their idyll was broken by the sound of a lone horse. Doc, drunk and barely hanging on to the saddle horn, came lurching in. He pulled up and all but fell from the nag.

  “What brings you out here, Doc?” It wasn’t lost on Luke that Doc was drunk before lunch. He helped steady the tottering doctor.

  “There’s bad medicine coming, Luke…er, Captain Dunn.”

  “Explain.” The medical man had Luke’s full attention.

  “Dan had been on his way to Corpus when he heard about it.” Doc leaned toward Luke conspiratorially, and the full strength of the alcohol smell came close to getting to him.

  “About what?”

  “Rumor has it, there’s been a couple of murders this morning in Corpus and the bank’s been robbed. Some desperado named Dirk Cavendish and his whore…” Doc glanced apologetically at Elisa. “And his lady friend are on the run and headed this way.” He caught his breath. “But
that’s not all. Some Mexican gang that murdered a cowboy is headed this way, too. There’s about five of them.”

  “Did the leader of the Mexicans have one eye?”

  “Yes, yes, he did, Luke.” Doc was starting to calm down. He craved another swig of whiskey but had left his bottle in Nuecestown. “Oh, and Sheriff Whelan put a posse together and is chasing the whole bunch of them.”

  “Doc, can you get back to town and get Bernice and Agatha out here?” Luke asked. “It’ll be dangerous for them. Get that stable boy out here, too. We’ll need every person who can shoot.”

  Elisa’s head was swimming. Just when she thought her life had settled down and a bright future lay ahead, here was a new wrinkle to worry about. “Luke, can’t we just head north from here to San Patricio?” She realized flight was not an option the moment the words left her mouth. She shook her head. “No, we must stop them.”

  Doc headed back to town. He hadn’t a moment to lose. Luke and Elisa took inventory of their weapons. Luke had the two Walker Colts and the Colt rifle; Elisa had her Colt plus one of her father’s two old rifles.

  Mike had finished digging. “Can I help?”

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to defend the farm, Mike,” Luke told him. “It’s an important job. If all else fails, you must protect your home.”

  Mike’s chest puffed a bit. It made perfect sense to his nine-year-old thinking.

  “Well, darling…Elisa, we’ll have the advantage of surprise.”

  He’d lost her attention at the word “darling.”

  “Elisa?”

  “Yes, surprise.” She regathered her thoughts. “Surprise for sure, Lucas.”

  Their tentative steps at familiarity weren’t lost on either of them.

  “Mike, go get the ammo and your father’s other rifle,” Luke ordered.

  As the boy went inside, Luke swept Elisa up and kissed her―a deep kiss.

  “Lucas?” She was trembling, but in a good way.

  In his subconscious, Luke wanted her to remember his kiss in the event anything bad…like being killed…should happen to him.