House of Winslow 14 The Valiant Gunman

by Gilbert, Morris

  Peace yelled, “I got you!” and fell forward to grasp Winslow. But Winslow drew back his foot and drove his sharp heel directly into the man’s mouth. It stopped Peace cold, driving his head back as he rolled off to the floor. Winslow got to his feet and watched with amazement as Peace slowly staggered to his feet. The man should have been unconscious. His eyes were bulging from the blow in the throat, and there was a gap in his teeth, with bloody froth blowing out of his smashed lips.

  But still he moved forward. Winslow felt a moment of despair, for he knew if Peace ever got a grip on him, he’d be torn to pieces. The vitality of the man was a frightening thing! Winslow moved backward, avoiding the big hands of Peace, who had given up on hitting with his fists. His hands were like great claws reaching out for Winslow. Winslow knew there was enough power in those hands to rip him apart. He also knew that he could shatter his own hands without putting the man down.

  Then he felt the bar at his back. He couldn’t run. But as Peace closed in, Winslow sent a tremendous kick at the man, the tip of the boot striking Peace on the right knee. He thought he heard the bone snap, and Peace went down as though struck by a scythe.

  Yet still Ollie Peace was not whipped! Grabbing the bar, he ignored the agony of the broken knee and pulled himself upright. Winslow picked up a full bottle of whiskey and brought it down on the iron skull. The bottle broke, leaving a ragged remnant that scraped down the side of Peace’s face, leaving a bloody red track.

  Peace fell loosely to the floor, his body jerking, but with no sign of consciousness.

  Winslow moved across the room, picked up his gun belt, and strapped it on. Then he moved to stand in front of Ash Caudill. The only sound in the room was the ragged breathing of Peace, and Caudill thought that Winslow intended to draw on him.

  But the battle fury was gone, and Winslow took a deep breath. “Caudill, I’ll be staying close to Anchor. If one of your men touches it, I’ll kill you out of hand.”

  He turned and walked out of the saloon, followed by Jacks, Orr, and Sid Kincaid. When they were gone, Jack Hines walked over and looked down at Ollie Peace. “Hey, Ash, we better get Ollie up to Doc Matthews—”

  But Caudill stared at him without a word. He knew that he’d been bested. Up to this point, Arrow existed by force, and Winslow had shifted that balance. He walked across the saloon and paused to look down at Peace. He was silent, then nodded, “See to him, Jack. I’ve got an errand.”

  When he left, Jack stared at the door, then said bitterly to Luke Mott, “Like to hear how he explains this thing to Silas Head!”

  Mott nodded slowly. “You know what he’ll say to that, Jack. He’ll tell Caudill to wipe out Winslow—and I ain’t sure Ash can cut it!”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  AT THE ANCHOR RANCH

  When Dan Winslow put the run on two of Arrow’s toughest hands, the news spread out over the valley with astonishing speed. By nightfall of the next day, the news had spread to practically every rancher, settler, and sheepherder in the county. But then the reports of the eyewitnesses began to reflect different views, rumors spread quickly, and within a week, the simplicity of the thing had been lost.

  By the time Silas Head returned from the cattlemen’s meeting in Cheyenne, there were plenty of men to warn him that his absolute dominance of the valley had been badly shaken. He heard it first when he got on the train, from the conductor, A.B. Tettleman, whose son-in-law had been in the Palace Saloon when the confrontation had taken place. Silas Head knew the man to be an inveterate gossip, but when Tettleman sat down and told him the story, he felt uneasy—though he waved the gossipy conductor off with a shrug, saying, “Just another saloon fracas, A.B.”

  But he thought about the matter more than once, and when he got off the train, he immediately went to Lyle Coppenger, his lawyer, to find out the truth of the matter. Coppenger, a rotund man of forty-five who knew everyone in the central part of the territory, was a shrewd politician. He rolled his cigar around thoughtfully, removed it, then said, “Silas, it’s funny how things run along, not changing much. Then one thing happens—and the whole thing is turned upside down.”

  “Just one man whips a couple of men in a saloon brawl,” Head shrugged his heavy shoulders. “Don’t mean much.”

  “I think it does,” Coppenger said quickly. “Some men just seem to be natural leaders. Men just follow them, watch them to see what they’re going to do. Now every two-bit rancher and fifty-acre sodbuster in this part of the world has seen Arrow get knocked for a loop by Dan Winslow. And they’re watching him like a hawk to see what he’s going to do next.” Coppenger shook his head. “That fight changed everything, Silas. Before it happened, Arrow was the big outfit who’d never been put down. Now a man has taken your best shot, and he’s made you look pretty weak. If I was you, Silas, I’d look at my hole card pretty close.”

  Silas Head had not made himself a king in his world by ignoring danger signs, and when he got back to his ranch, the first thing he did was greet his daughter—who kissed him and asked at once, “Did you hear about Longly and Peace?”

  “I want to hear it from Ash,” Head nodded. He sent for the foreman, and when Caudill entered, Head said, “Diane, why don’t you go do some sewing?”

  Diane shook her head instantly. “I want to hear about it, Dad,” she answered. “Ash won’t tell me a thing.”

  Head frowned, but as usual gave way to his strong-willed daughter. Turning his frosty blue eyes on Caudill, he demanded, “What happened?”

  Ash Caudill had been burning with anger ever since the fight in the Palace, for he was not a man to take defeat easily. But now he knew that he was in for a bad time from Head. He spoke quickly, telling about the fight, then said, “Winslow and his bunch played it smart, Mr. Head. Next time—”

  Head glared at Caudill, anger roughening his speech. “No, they didn’t play it smart, Ash—you played it dumb!” He proceeded to give Caudill a tongue lashing that left the foreman pale, his lips tight, and his eyes filled with fury. Yet he had enough control to keep from lashing out at the owner, and finally Head finished by saying, “I pay for an army to keep these sodbusters and two-bit cow outfits in line—and you let one man buffalo the whole crew!”

  Diane had listened carefully, and now she asked, “Dan Winslow beat Longly to the draw that bad, Ash?”

  “He’s as fast with a gun as any man I’ve seen,” Caudill admitted.

  “Faster than you?” Head demanded at once.

  “Won’t know until it happens.”

  Diane wasn’t finished. She leaned forward and asked, “I can’t believe Dan Winslow destroyed that brute Ollie Peace. That brute’s half killed every man he’s fought. Did Winslow get hurt much in the fight?”

  Caudill glared at her but didn’t dare to lie. “No, but he didn’t use his fists. He used his boots and busted Ollie over the head with a full bottle of whiskey.”

  Diane smiled suddenly. “You mean he didn’t fight fair, Ash? I didn’t know that you were interested in a little set of rules. I guess from now on you’ll count to see that we have the same number of men in a fight as they have! I don’t remember that you ever thought of doing that before.”

  Her taunt brought two spots of color to Ash’s cheeks. “It may be funny to you now, Diane, but it won’t be when we start losing our graze to these little fellows!”

  “Diane, I want to talk to Ash,” Head snapped.

  Diane walked to the door, but paused to give the two men a smile. “Maybe you ought to hire Winslow.” A thoughtful look crossed her face, and she murmured, “He must be quite a fellow!”

  As soon as she left the room, Head said, “This won’t do, Ash. I’ve spent my life building Arrow into the biggest spread in this part of the territory. I don’t propose to lose it because you can’t handle your job.”

  Caudill stared into Head’s eyes, then nodded. “I told you it would be easier to buy Winslow than to fight him. Now it’s too late for that. But there’s only one way to stop him, Mr.
Head. Don’t waste your time thinking on anything else.”

  Head was a hard man. His life had been spent among hard men, and he had outlasted them. Violence had been as much a part of his early days as the air he breathed. He had taken his land and held it against Indians, drought, and as tough a set of roughnecks as can be imagined. But for a long time he’d been so strong that it hadn’t been necessary to carry on a full-scale war. Now he was thinking of the old days, and it was only after a long silence that he said, “All right, Ash. A man’s got to fight for what’s his. Always been that way, and I reckon it’ll never change.”

  ****

  After the fight at the Palace, Winslow, heading for Doc Matthews’ office, had found himself flanked by Gus Miller, Smoky Jacks, and Sid Kincaid. Jacks, his eyes still bright with the excitement of the fight, said, “Been waiting a while to see them jaspers get the skids put under ’em!” Admiration shaded the glance he threw at Winslow as he warned, “Don’t walk past any dark alleys, Dan. Ash Caudill won’t let this thing go.”

  “Smoky’s right about that,” Gus Miller put in. His dark eyes glinted, for the fight had pleased him as well as Jacks. “You can count on trouble, but call on me anytime. I’ve been waiting for a man to stand up to Arrow for a long time. I thought Willis Malloy was the man, but he got himself killed.”

  “That would be Hope Malloy’s husband?” Dan asked.

  “Yeah, he was a tough one,” Miller nodded. “Mean as a snake to his wife and kid, but ready to face up to Silas Head.” A thought came to him, and he said, “This is gonna make it rough on Miz Malloy. With Zane laid up, she’s got no way to run her place—and it’d be my guess that she’ll have trouble with Arrow.”

  Sid had listened to all this and now said, “Dan, with just the two of us, how are we going to handle it? I mean, we’ve got Rosa to think of. You and me, we can risk it, but if Arrow starts throwing lead, she could get hit by some fool just as easy as we could.”

  The three of them watched as Winslow stood there listening. His nerves were well-insulated, not easily touched by little disturbances or rumors. He gave the impression of a man wholly confident of himself, but now he seemed troubled by deeper things. He had been a tough man as he had thrown himself recklessly against Peace’s fists and Longly’s guns, but now he turned away from those fighting instincts. The stout bones of his face and his tight-closed lips betrayed the inner turmoil; everything in him that had any fancy or lightness he seemed to have put aside.

  Finally he said, “I’m thinking it was Rosa being at the Malloy place that got the boy beaten. She’s my responsibility, so I’ll have to do what I can to help, at least until he gets better. I’ve already said something to Hope, but I’d better go tell her what I’ve got on my mind.”

  “Looks like I’m out of a job,” Smoky Jacks said at once. He didn’t seem to be troubled by that fact and added, “Malloys are good friends of mine. Reckon I’ll give them a hand until Zane gets better.”

  Winslow nodded, pleased with Jack’s decision. “That’ll make things easier. Let’s go tell her.”

  They crossed the street, and five minutes later Hope met them at the door. She stepped back, her eyes wide with surprise at the delegation. When they were all inside, Winslow said, “Mrs. Malloy, I feel responsible for what happened to your brother, so I’d like to help with your place until he gets up and about.”

  Hope looked at him, but shook her head. “You can’t leave your own place, Mr. Winslow. What about the young woman? You couldn’t leave her alone there, could you?”

  “No, but I’ve got an idea—maybe not a good one.” He hesitated, then said, “Rosa’s going to be laid up for a few days with that bad ankle. If she could stay with you for a while, Sid and I could handle my place and yours, too.”

  “Why, she’d be more than welcome,” Hope said at once, but then she added, “I don’t know how safe it would be for her. Those men who beat Zane up may come back.”

  “Not them fellers, Hope,” Smoky Jacks grinned. “Dan here run that fancy gunman outta town, and Ollie Peace won’t be doing any fightin’ for quite a spell, and never with Dan.” He nodded when she looked at him with some confusion, adding, “That’s right, and the job was done complete. And by the way, I’ll be hanging around your place for a while if you can put up with me.”

  “But—I can’t pay you, Smoky.”

  “You can still bake them pies, can’t you?” the muscular young rider grinned. “That’ll do me for a while.”

  Hope knew that he was doing it out of friendship and said gently, “That’s like you, Smoky, to do a thing like that. God bless you for it!” Then she said, “We’ll be taking Zane home in the morning, Mr. Winslow. If you want us to take Rosa, we’ll be glad to have her.”

  “Fine! And it’s Dan, by the way.” Winslow smiled, the first one Hope had seen on him. It made him look younger, and when he said good-night and left with the others, Hope went to the window and watched as they moved down the street.

  When they disappeared from view, she sat down on one of Doc Matthews’ chairs, thinking about the visit, and rose only when Amos and Cody came into the room. Quickly she said, “Dad, Dan Winslow just left here—” She reported the visit, including his determination to help with the ranch.

  When she finished, Amos said at once, “Why, that’s wonderful, Daughter! We can make it fine with a little help. And I’ve been praying right hard that God would send somebody to give us a hand.”

  A shade of doubt clouded Hope’s eyes. “I’m not sure Dan Winslow is sent from God, Dad. He’s very hard. As a matter of fact, he’s already run the two who hurt Zane out of town, so they say. I didn’t seem to feel that he was a godly man.”

  Amos studied his daughter, then said gently, “Well, maybe God sent him our way to help us—and so that we could help him.”

  “Did he shoot ’em, Ma?” Cody demanded, his eyes big with excitement. “Them two who hurt Zane?” When she shook her head, he said with disappointment, “Dern! Wished I could’ve seen it!”

  “I hope you never see any shooting,” Hope rebuked him. Then she said, “Rosa will be coming to stay with us for a time—and Smoky Jacks, too.”

  Amos smiled at that, saying, “We’d better get some more supplies, then. You know how that cowboy can eat. But it’ll be good to have him around.” He saw the faint doubt in Hope’s eyes and asked, “Don’t you like the man, Hope—Winslow, I mean?”

  A trace of color came to Hope’s cheeks, and she said hurriedly, “Why, he’s nice to offer to help us, Pa.” But Amos knew that something was behind her hesitation, and a thought came to him: This Winslow is pretty tough—and Hope’s afraid to trust strong men. Two of them were enough for her, I guess. The thought saddened him and he said no more, but went in to see how Zane was doing.

  ****

  For several days after moving Rosa to Anchor, a tension hovered over all of them. Winslow sent Sid to watch the Circle W, with a stern warning, “If trouble comes turn tail and run. I mean that, Sid. I don’t want you getting killed over a few head of cattle.” He and Smoky Jacks had taken turns keeping a night watch over Anchor, both of them half expecting some sort of retribution from Arrow.

  Rosa’s injury healed rapidly, and after a week, she had only a slight limp. With Winslow gone most of the time, she fitted herself into the family with surprising ease. She had never been in the midst of such a warm family circle, and after an initial stiffness, grew fond of them all. She liked Amos from the start, and when he offered to teach her how to play the dulcimer, they spent much time on that project. Cody was shy of her at first, but after a few days pestered her constantly with questions and requests to play checkers—at which he was quite good. As for Hope Malloy, there was a kindness in her that Rosa had hungered for all her life, and had never found in her difficult life back in Texas.

  Much of her time she spent with Zane, who was able to sit up after three days, but still in severe discomfort. Hope was busy with her work, and it was natural that Rosa woul
d take over waiting on the injured young man. At first he was tremendously embarrassed when she came to wash his face and arms, but she laughed at him, saying, “You’re a dirty boy, Zane Jenson! Now, be still!”

  She read to him, though the choice of books was small. She had bogged down on some of the volumes of sermons that Amos Jenson loved, but discovered a real pleasure in reading aloud a thick novel entitled Ivanhoe, which Hope had given her. Zane was not much of a reader himself, and at first the two of them struggled through the book. But then they were both drawn into the story, and night after night Rosa sat beside Zane, reading in a low voice that grew excited when the action occurred.

  It was almost eleven o’clock on one of these nights that Rosa reached the part where the beautiful Rebecca is carried away by the villain. Zane was sitting up in his bed, braced against a pillow, and his light blue eyes flashed with outrage at the cruelty of the false knight. “By golly, I hope that Ivanhoe don’t put up with that!” he said angrily.

  “Shhhh—don’t be so loud!” Rosa warned him. She smiled at him, saying, “It’s just a storybook, Zane.”

  “Well, I don’t care!” Zane protested. “It makes me mad for a nice girl like Rebecca to get carried off by that guy!” He twisted in the bed to look more directly at her, then said, “You reckon that Ivanhoe will come to get her?”

  Rosa’s face was suddenly sad, and the amber glow of the lamp made her soft complexion stand out even more. Her lips were rounded and soft as she shook her head, saying in answer to Zane’s question, “I don’t think so, Zane. He’ll marry Rowena.”

  Her answer was so prompt that Zane was silenced for a moment, but then shook his head. “You don’t know that, Rosa. You ain’t read the end of that book yet.”

  “No, but I know it,” she said. She closed the book, putting a marker in place, then lifted her eyes to him. “Ivanhoe will marry Rowena because she’s his own kind.”