“Howdy,” he said, walking up to the counter and resting one hand on it, the other on the butt of his gun in the holster at his side.
“Howdy, Johnny. You here for supplies? You got a list?”
Johnny nodded, handing him the paper. “Hope you got all this stuff. I’m not too keen on comin’ into town these days.”
“Yeah, I heard about what happened. I ain’t seen hide nor hair of Bekker or his men. Heard you got one of ‘em.”
“Got one, killed another. But yeah, we’re hopin’ the sheriff gets him so we can go back to livin’ normal.” Johnny turned and looked over his shoulder, taking in all the store. There were two other people, both familiar to him, so he turned back to Darren who was scanning the list.
“Yeah, I got all this. Stay here; I’ll get it all for ya.”
“You know how much?”
“Nah, I’ll count it up when I’ve got it all in front of me.”
Johnny nodded and leaned on the counter, once again turning his head to look around the store. He lifted his head to one of the men, who nodded at him.
“Howdy, John,” the man said, walking over with a box of ammunition and a box of nails.
Johnny grinned. “Howdy, John.”
They both chuckled.
“Heard about Bekker attacking your farm. Got any idea why a man would do something like that?"
Johnny was overcome with the strong suspicion that John Zane was implying there were some misdeeds going on at the Mason ranch. He felt a tightness in his chest and pushed it back down. He shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.
“I’ve got an idea, yeah. He’s a corrupt bastard who needs to be hung by his neck. And he will be, eventually. Lawmen will catch up with him sooner or later.”
Zane nodded. “I’m sure they will. You got a couple of ‘em, didn’t ya?”
Johnny lifted his chin once. “Yep.”
“Well, that’s good.” He had what Johnny thought was an odd look on his face but he didn’t want to assume anything. He wasn’t one of Bekker’s men but he might be a sympathizer. There always seemed to be people, according to the reports the sheriff had, that were willing to hide the military man turned outlaw.
“Yeah.” Johnny didn’t really want to talk to the man. He was getting a bad feeling from him. He studied Zane’s face for any clue why he would be suspicious of him. There was something about the way Zane was looking at him. He tried to keep his own face neutral and even managed a smile. “How’s that wife of yours?”
Zane’s face seemed to relax. “She’s doing well. You know, we’re about to have our third child.”
“Well, well, well. Best of luck to Barbara. I know she must be ready for it to be over.”
Zane laughed, which was Johnny’s intention. It relieved him to see Zane more at ease but still wondered what all that had been about. “Believe it or not, she’s a lot less worried than I am. She’s done it twice before and her ma says it gets easier each time. She’d know. She had eight kids.”
Johnny chuckled. “Barb’s got seven siblings?”
“Yep, two girls and five boys.”
“Good Lord. That’s one strong woman right there. You thinkin’ of breakin’ that record?”
Zane laughed again, shaking his head at the same time. “Aw no. I don’t want that many little ones runnin’ around.”
“Guess you can’t predict it though, can ya?”
Zane shrugged. “Yeah, I guess whatever God wants to give us, He’ll give us, right?”
Johnny smiled. “That’s right, my friend.”
“How about you? You got a woman yet? I hear you’re engaged. That right?”
Johnny felt a tingle of apprehension. He hesitated before answering. “Yeah. Flo. Florence Radcliffe. You know her?”
Zane nodded, to Johnny’s surprise. “Yeah, she’s that girl that came out here all by herself, right? Made a life for herself here, I guess. I don’t know her much but Barb does. I think Flo might have done some housekeeping for us at one point but I’m not there during the day, so I never saw her. Barb liked her. Said she was a sweet girl. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“Invite me to the wedding. I’d love to be there.”
Johnny nodded. “Will do.”
He was glad when Darren came back, a large box in his hands filled with the items on Johnny’s list. “Here ya go, Johnny,” he said, setting it down on the counter.
“You had everything?” Johnny picked through the items in the box, verifying it was everything he needed.
“Sure did. That’s gonna be five dollars and 30 cents.”
Johnny paid the man and picked up the box. “Thanks, Darren. I’ll see you next time. John.” He nodded at Zane, who returned it with one of his own. He left the store with the box, going down the steps quickly and rounding the corner to the alleyway. He stopped abruptly. On the other side of his wagon were two people; a man and a woman. They were at the other side of the alley, near the back of the buildings.
He recognized them both.
The man was hovering over the woman in an intimidating manner, one finger up in her face. It was Marian. The man yelling at her was one of Bekker’s crew, who went by the name of Kyle Daniels. Johnny could hear what he was saying.
Johnny set the box gently in the back of his wagon and crouched behind it to stay hidden for a moment. Marian looked angry and unintimidated, despite what the man was growling in her face.
“You’re gonna tell me what you know, lady,” Kyle hissed. “We seen you hanging around Johnny Mason. You know a lot about those two, don’t you? You’re gonna tell us what you know.”
“I’m not going to tell you anything!” Marian exclaimed. Suddenly Johnny was quite proud of her. A smile crossed his face. She was surprisingly confident, and loyal to him and his father. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it for himself.
“You will tell us or you will pay for your silence. You don’t owe them anything. Especially not Johnny. He’s marrying someone else. You know things. We want to know what we can use to get John to do what we want.”
Marian snorted and pulled away from him, which meant she was now pressed against the wall. Kyle put his hands on both sides of her head, flat against the building behind her. “You’re gonna tell us what we want to know.”
“I don’t know anything to even tell you,” Marian said in a stern voice. “Johnny’s Pa has never done anything wrong that I know of. I don’t know what I could tell you in the first place.”
Johnny had heard enough. Marian didn’t deserve to be harassed because of his father’s past. He came out from behind the wagon and approached the two as quietly as he could, stepping carefully on the dirt ground. His boots made little noise and Kyle was still talking.
Marian turned her eyes and caught sight of him. She immediately moved her eyes back to Kyle and then looked in the other direction, as if she just didn’t want to look at the bandit.
Johnny didn’t hesitate another moment. He broke into a run and threw himself on Kyle.
Chapter 25
Marian gasped and jumped away from the man as soon as Johnny landed on Kyle’s back. Johnny spun Kyle around and threw him to the ground. He looked up at Marian. “Go get the sheriff! This is one of the men in the Wanted posters.”
“I thought so!” Marian said, spinning on her heel and dashing down the alley, calling over her shoulder, “We’re gonna talk about this, Johnny!”
Johnny didn’t have time to react to her when Kyle pulled back his fist and punched Johnny so hard his head twisted painfully to the side. A sharp sensation ran down his spine and his jaw was immediately on fire. He reacted by lifting one arm to block the next blow while at the same time throwing a punch to Kyle’s gut.
It must have been unexpected for Kyle because all the air left from his mouth in a loud “Oof!” and he bent over at the waist. Taking advantage of that, Johnny lifted his knee and rammed it into Kyle’s face. Kyle fell back, yelling out, one hand going up
to cover his now bleeding nose. “Ya broke my nose!” the bandit yelled, lifting both arms and attacking Johnny like a wild bear.
His blows came from all directions. Johnny felt like a punching bag. He twisted and turned with each blow, trying to relax so tension wouldn’t make the damage worse than it already was. When he saw an opening in the flurry of fists, he punched Kyle as hard as he could.
He was grateful for the small window of opportunity, since it worked out in his favor. Kyle stumbled backwards, shaking his head back and forth. He looked dizzy. Johnny took advantage of his opponent’s weakened state and pounced.
He gave Kyle back the beating he’d just taken and added on a few kicks when the man was on the ground. Kyle was covering his face with both arms, his legs pulled up so his knees were at his chest.
“You killed my dog!” Johnny screamed, the pain of the blows he’d taken and the sorrow of losing his animal friend overwhelming him. He kicked out again, aiming at Kyle’s head. “You killed my dog!” he screamed again, regretting the tears that came to his eyes but unable to stop them.
“I didn’t do it!” Kyle cried out from behind his arms. “I didn’t stab that dog. I didn’t do it!”
“Who did?” He leaned down and grabbed Kyle by the top of his head, gathering the man’s brown hair in his hand and yanking his head back so he could look directly in his face. He clenched his teeth together and growled through them. “Who stabbed my dog?”
Kyle looked terrified. “It… it was Brad. Brad Clinton. He… he was the guy. He’s the guy you want. Not me.”
Johnny pulled his gun from his holster and pressed it against Kyle’s temple. He was just inches away from the man and regretted it only because Kyle’s breath stank of tobacco and alcohol and his body reeked of sweat. “You’re gonna pay for what Brad did. I’m sure you would have stabbed my dog if you would have been there.”
“No, no, no.” Kyle shook his head back and forth, despite the gun to his temple. He put his hands together in a begging manner, his eyes and voice pleading with Johnny. “I wouldn’t. I love dogs. I really do. I love them. I… I’ve got one of my own.”
Johnny cocked the gun, his lip curling in disgust, his jaw clenched tight with fury. “You think I believe your lies?"
"Please. Please, Johnny, I’m just doin’ what I’m told. I ain’t done nothin’ wrong.”
“You tried to kill my family.” Johnny kept his voice low and intimidating. “You helped try to burn down my house. I’m sure you’ve killed other people and destroyed other property. You’re a dungpile in my compost bin. Waste of space.”
“I’m sorry about your dog.” Johnny was shocked to see Kyle begin to cry. It was disgusting. “Stop that!” He lifted his gun and, instead of shooting him, he clocked Kyle on the side of the head with the butt, knocking the outlaw out.
He heard running footsteps behind him. The sheriff was heading his way, one hand on the grip of his gun. “He alive?” Sheriff Campbell called out.
Johnny nodded, putting his hand in front of Kyle’s mouth to feel for his breath which came and went steadily. He rolled Kyle over and pulled his hands behind his back. The sheriff held out a pair of wrist restraints for Johnny to put on Kyle, which he took gratefully.
“Good God, Johnny, you got to get to the doc. You got blood all over you.”
“Not sure it’s mine,” he said. “Scum’s nose bled like a stuck pig.”
“Still, you look awful. Marian, you know how to dress wounds. Get him to the doc and then bring him over to the jail. I’m gonna want to know exactly what went on here.” He moved his eyes from Marian to Johnny. “From both of you.”
“Didn’t she tell you what happened?” Johnny pulled Kyle up, forcing him to consciousness. The outlaw grunted, keeping his head down, his mouth and chin covered in dark red blood from his nose and his beard dripping with it.
“She did.” Sheriff Campbell took hold of Kyle’s arm, yanking him from Johnny, making the outlaw cry out softly. “Awe, does that hurt, boy? Get on. Get on down there. Go on, ya wrangler.” He lifted one foot and booted Kyle in the rear end, forcing the man to stumble forward but not much because the sheriff kept his hand gripped on the back of the man’s shirt collar.
“I’m goin,” Kyle grunted.
When his eyes lifted to look at Marian, Johnny barked, “Get your eyes off her!”
The sheriff looked at Marian. “Get that man to the doc. Come over when you’re done. He needs to be checked out and cleaned up.” He moved his eyes to Johnny. “Go on with her. I know you gotta be hurtin’. You got roughed up.”
Johnny sighed, nodding. “I’m goin’, I’m goin’.”
Marian put her arm around Johnny as if he needed help walking. He rested his arm over her shoulders, grateful to take some of the weight off. He didn’t realize until that moment that his entire body was in terrible pain. He was, in fact, bleeding from several places on his body where the skin had been broken by the impact of the punches. He could only hope his face wouldn’t be too severely damaged. He looked down at Marian, for the first time noticing one eye was swelling up. His head was pounding.
“I guess I do gotta go get checked out. I don’t feel… too…” He saw darkness surrounding him and almost passed out. His arm jerked on her shoulder as he nearly went down to his knees.
“Johnny!” Marian cried out, placing one hand flat and firm on his chest to help keep him on his feet. The motion brought him back to his senses.
“We better get to the doc’s office.” He pushed himself to take the steps. When he came out onto the street, he knew it was going to be hard to make it without dropping at least to his knees. His entire body was on fire.
“I… don’t think I’m… gonna…” He fell to his knees, holding himself up on all fours.
“I’m gonna get the doc.”
“No need.”
Johnny didn’t look up but recognized John Zane’s voice immediately.
“I’ve got him.”
The next thing he knew, a strong, warm arm was wrapped around his middle. Zane took him into his arms and hauled him to his feet. He stretched one arm around Zane’s shoulders.
“Thanks, John,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome, John.”
Not another word was said as John practically dragged Johnny to the clinic, which was down two blocks from where they were.
He tried his best to put one foot in front of the other and help Zane help him. But by the time he got to the clinic, he was ready to let go.
“Stay with me, John,” Zane murmured, taking him into the clinic. “Stay with me.”
Johnny’s eyes closed. He felt someone else come up on his other side. It had to be another man because of the girth. The two men helped him to the back and he was lying in a bed in no time.
He turned his head to the side and tried to open his eyes. He could only open one, but he saw Marian, Doc Baker and Sheriff Campbell hovering around the bed. He wondered where Zane had gone. Had he passed out? How long had he been out? He could tell they were talking but their words sounded jumbled to him.
He tried to tell them he would be fine. He tried to tell them not to worry about him. But he couldn’t get the words to come out.
Marian came into his view, leaning over him. She looked worried. She touched his cheek with her soft hand and he flinched from the sudden pain that shot through him. She jerked her hand away. He noticed tears in her eyes.
True Love Leaves no Doubts: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book Page 15