Sanderson's Hill

by Nancy Howard

  Shocked at what he sees, and looking at Gavin, clearing his throat, and trying to get his composure back, the sheriff asks, “Sloan, does this look like the work of Hogg and his gang?”

  “Yeah, I'm sure of it sheriff,”, he says quietly. Shaking his head completely overwhelmed. Gavin has viewed this type of scene before, and he is well aware of what Hogg and his vicious cohorts are capable of. But viewing this type of slaughter again and again doesn't make it any easier for Gavin. Each time it becomes more and more difficult for him to process, as the images of their evil deeds linger on in his mind for days, and even months. Some of the images never completely going away, he never gets used to this kind of carnage.

  “Wasn't Apache renegades,” the sheriff asks him again? Wanting to make sure.

  “No. No I'm sure of that, this is the work of Hogg and his gang alright, I've seen it to many times now sheriff, not to be sure.”

  Then the deputy named Rogers spoke up, “Who is mean enough, just to kill little kids like this?”

  “Hogg that's who,” Gavin said. “Life means nothin' to him, or the four murderers that ride with him.”

  “So Sloan, just what the hell are we dealin' with here,” the sheriff asked? “In my twenty-five years as a law officer, I can tell you, I've never seen brutality like this.”

  “We're dealin' with five mean sonofabitches, that's who sheriff.”

  “How long you and Logan gonna be around?”

  “Long as it takes I guess. I don't even know for sure where they are, but I got a feeling they're close and if they're not, they'll show up again, count on it..”

  “How do you figure that,” the deputy asked?

  “Well they gotta know that the law ain't far behind them, and I am sure they're aware that I have been chasin' them for months now. Thing is that's why Logan and me joined up together, we figured that we could be more effective that way if we run into them. I wasn't sure how I was gonna take them alone, and neither was she.”

  “Well I for one, can tell you that you and her can stay around Rio Doso for as long as you like,” the sheriff said, looking squarely at Gavin.

  The sheriff then immediately turned his attention to the job at hand, and that is burying the dead, the Blakes and Tanners. It would take them all day to accomplish this. The men in the posse worked well into the night, burying the two families. While some of the men piled up and burned the livestock. This was a gruesome task, that saw grown men walking around with tears in their eyes, as they buried the little children, a couple as young as five. One by one they buried them. They did this task silently, prayerfully, and at the same time they all had a burning anger in their minds. The ones who had perpetrated these evil, obnoxious deeds had to be stopped, but how, and when. They're still out there, still on the loose, where they can kill again.

  The men in the posse also are fearful, wanting to get this done and return home, as quickly as possible. They fear for there own families. This could have been them, they could have met this same fate, because they too are small farmers and ranchers, who live in and around Rio Doso.

  What is also discomforting to them, is who can stop Hogg and his gang? Gavin and Logan? Hopefully. The sheriff and his deputies? He only has two. Are they prepared to stop this kind of gruesome brutality, if it comes to Rio Doso? No one knows, and that is what is so disconcerting. Even Gavin and Logan have joined forces to try to stop Hogg, neither of them were sure they could do it alone. Two people who are professional bounty hunters. They're used to dealing with the worst people in society, but even they're both not sure they could take Hogg alone. This was the talk among the men in the posse as they worked, and completed the gruesome task of cleaning up after Hogg and his murdering gangs dirty work.

  THE JOB IS DONE. IT's now past midnight, as the men in the sheriff's posse mount up, to begin the long ride back to Rio Doso. It was a ride of solemn silence, that seemed to take a longer, as the men in the posse road with the images of the dead children still lingering, vividly in their minds. Something that none of them will soon forget, since most of them are married and have children themselves. As they ride back they all wonder in their minds where Hogg and his gang are lurking, and when and where they'll strike next? That too is something that they can't get out of their minds. And they think what would they do if Hogg showed up at their home, how could they stop them? They know that they couldn't, but each of them knows the time may come, when the town will get its revenge with Hogg.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Logan arrived with the Sanderson's at their ranch house that same afternoon. As they ride up to the house, they are immediately met by a big black man about the same age as John, that he addresses as George. The two men exchange greetings, and John hands him the reins of the buggy. Then John walks around to the other side of the buggy, to give Catherine a hand, helping her down. Logan has dismounted Warrior, and is about to tie him to the hitching post, when John tells George to come back and get the stallion. He tells him to stable him and take good care of him. Logan has taken her saddle bags, bed roll, carbine, and what few belongings she has off of Warrior, as John motions for her to go on inside the house. They follow Catherine who has already entered.

  Right away Logan notices that the Sanderson house is very large, she'd observed that as she rode behind the carriage, up to it. It has two stories, and very large front porch that spans the full length of the house. The porch also has a swing and wicker chairs for setting in, with white picket fence railings all around it. The house is painted white with shutters on all the windows, and they are painted a dark green. The second floor has two dormers that seem to grow out of the roof above, that are the same color. The house sets up on a hill, above all of the other out buildings on the ranch. Logan noticed when she got off of Warrior that she could see for miles in all directions around the house. She also noticed that when they road onto the property, that the ranch is named Sanderson's Hill. Now she sees the correlation of that name, as it pertains to where John and Catherine's house is located.

  Logan enters the front door and is awe stuck right away, as she just stands there gaping at what she sees. She's never been in a house like this one, ever. Seeing the inside of the Sanderson house for the first time, causes Logan to think back to the places where she and her dad lived when she was growing up. She remembers moving around a lot, and that all of the places they lived in were little better than shacks.

  “It's so beautiful,” she remarks. Half talking to Catherine, complimenting her on the house, and half saying it to herself as well. Catherine smiles hearing Logan's compliments about her home. She is already realizes, that Logan has never had much.

  “Come with me dear, and I will show you where you can put your things.”

  Logan followed Catherine up the stairs, still wide eyed and still gawking at her new surroundings. Once at the top, she follows Catherine down a long hallway, to a bedroom. There are four that Logan counts on this upper floor, and she sees one has the door closed. Three are open, Catherine walks into the one that faces the back of the house. “This is one of our guest rooms Logan,” she says, turning around. “Its been sometime since we've had someone sleep in here, so I'll have Zelda our maid, put clean bed sheets on it for you.”

  “Thank you mam, for letting me stay here in your house with you, Mrs. Sanderson,” Logan said.

  “You're quite welcome Logan. John and I want you to make yourself at home. And it's Catherine.”

  “I will,” she says, with a smile. “Yes mam, I mean Catherine.

  Catherine smiled back at the young woman, and closed the door behind her as she left the room. Down inside she is very happy that Logan has come here, and is staying in their house with them. Even if it's because she as been hired by John to run off cattle rustlers, and this could be temporary. Having Logan, a young woman like their daughter in the house again, is something that has been sorely missing from Sanderson's Hill Ranch.

  Gone with Jenn was her laughter, her grace, charm, and beauty. A
nd now suddenly Catherine has this girl Logan here, and down inside she hopes she will stay, at least for a little while. She knows that no one could ever replace her Jennifer, and she may end up wanting Logan to leave. But down inside, her intuition is telling her that's not going to happen.

  Logan turns around and sets down on the bed. It's a big soft bed with a down mattress, and huge soft down pillows. It is so high Logan's feet barely reach the floor, and it's just like the one she thought about in her camp the night before.

  She thinks about Catherine and what a fine and beautiful lady she is, and what a lovely home this is. This room itself is nicer than anything that Logan has ever slept in. It is big and spacious with a large walk-in closet. There's a vanity with a big mirror, that includes a chest of drawers and a stool to set down on. She gets up and walks over and looks out the window, that looks out over the open range. Logan thinks, she can see forever from here. Then she sets back down on the edge of the bed, still looking out the window. She can see the Sangre De Cristo mountains off in the distance, with their brooding storm clouds building up in the heat of the day. Down inside she longs for, and even aches for someplace like this. Someplace permanent that she can call a real home.

  She thinks back to when she entered the dress shop in Rio Doso, where she bought her new dress today. It's the way she's perceived that bothers her most. Especially the way women perceive her. She knows that some think, that just because she's a bounty hunter, that she's a bad person. Which Logan knows is not true.

  Logan likes pretty things just like any girl, she just hasn't given herself the time to acquire them. She looks at the bag still laying on the bed next to her, that has her dress in it. She pulls it out, and lets it hang down in front of her. Wondering if and when she will get to wear it?

  It is late afternoon as Logan ponders these things again. Right now though she's tired and she lays down on the big soft bed, and stares at the ceiling briefly, before quickly falling off into a nap. After sleeping for several minutes, Logan hears a soft knock on the door that awakes her.

  She raises her head up, and gets up off of the bed, rubbing her eyes and answers the door, it's Catherine.

  “Did I wake you dear,” she asks? “I'm sorry.”

  “Oh that's okay, I just drifted off. Does John need me?”

  “No, no dear it's nothing like that. I just wanted to let you know that we will be eating dinner at six-thirty. John and I discussed it, and decided we would like very much for you to join us.”

  “I'd love too,” Logan says, smiling.

  Catherine returns the smile at Logan's response, and says, “oh, I also wondered if you'd like to take advantage of the time before then, to take a bath and freshen up. You've got time to do that you know.”

  “Would I? Yes mam I would,” Logan says, with enthusiasm in her voice. She hasn't bathed in a several days, and the offer of a bath, is music to her ears.

  “Oh, and one more thing.”

  “What's that,” Logan asks?

  “Would you please wear your pretty new dress to dinner tonight?”

  “Yes I will. I promise.” She said smiling at Catherine. Having the question answered, as to when she to when she would wear the dress.

  “Good, come on down stairs dear, and I'll show you where you can bathe. I'll have Zelda get you some clean towels to dry off with.”

  Logan quickly closes the door to the guest room and follows Catherine back down the stairs, and into a room that is adjacent to the dinning room. She looks in and sees a big tub of steaming hot water waiting for her, that she cannot wait to get into.

  TWENTY MINUTES LATER Logan gets out of the tub and reaches for a towel and quickly begins to dry her hair, then wraps it around her head. Then she picks up the big white fluffy towel that Zelda laid right next to the smaller one. Before she begins to dry herself off though, Logan plants her face deep into the towel, taking a deep breath into it, smelling its fresh cleanliness. It smelled so good, and she thinks that a girl could get used to this, even her, a bounty hunter.

  After she is dry, she wraps the big towel around herself, tucking it in at the top and securely around her. Only then did she notice that her clothes were gone. Zelda had taken them when she brought the towels in, and Logan didn't even notice, nor is she unhappy about it. They were really dirty, and needed to be cleaned badly. She picks up her boots which are still there on the floor next to the door, opens it, and walks bare footed into the big dinning room.

  She stops for a second to take the time to look at it, before she makes her way to the stairs. She takes the time to peer into John's, study out of curiosity. Then she walks across from it, and stands below the archway and looks into the parlor. Thinking again that the Sanderson ranch house is so very beautiful. She suddenly hears men's voices outside, coming toward the front door. So she quickly turns and runs up the stairs, holding onto the towel wrapped around her head.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Logan takes the towel off her and she stands in front of the mirror, looking at the image she sees. With a towel still on her head and wrapped around her still wet hair, she looks at her lanky well conditioned body. It is something that Logan rarely does, look at herself. She realizes that she is very attractive young woman, but thinks to herself she has never given herself the time to feel that way. She's not taken the time to be a typical girl, because she's a bounty hunter. She thinks to herself, that tonight at dinner she can allow herself to feel that way, for just a little while.

  She sets down on the vanity stool and unwraps the towel that is around her head, and begins to dry her hair again. She rubs it a long time, getting it as dry as she can. It has gotten way to long. She picks up the brush laying on the vanity and begins to gently brush it, using long, gentle strokes to get the tangles out. She takes her time with her hair, she wants to spend as much time as she can brushing it out, before she gets dressed.

  Logan lets the dress drape down over her, as she shimmers and shakes herself until it looks satisfactory to her. She pulls her hair outside of the dress, letting it lay softly on her back and shoulders. Then turns this way and that in typical female fashion, to make sure everything looks the way she wants it too.

  She does this, because it matters to her, she wants to look as nice as she can before she goes downstairs to dinner. She also wonders what the others will think when she does go down. She has heard the Sandersons greet other dinner guests, and she wonders if she will be under scrutiny. Never before has Logan cared about her appearance so much, it does matter to her this evening.

  She looks at the clock and it says six twenty. She is finished dressing, and opens the door and goes out into the hall, to make her way to the stairs.

  She could smell dinner being cooked while she was in her room, the aroma of which has made her stomach growl even more. Logan is starved, she has not eaten all day, except for the spearmint candy she ate in town earlier, and coffee that morning in camp.

  Logan enters the dinning room where she is quickly greeted by compliments from everyone present, about her appearance.

  “Well, well Missy, don't you look lovely,” John comments, with approval.

  Catherine was standing next to him and immediately says, “Yes, she's beautiful.” She smiles, in approval at Logan.

  Logan is blushing and smiling back at her, and at everyone in the room, as she relishes in compliments that she rarely has ever heard. Thanking them all.

  Logan is completely taken by the accolades toward her. She can't ever remember, much of anyone telling her she is beautiful, other than Gavin. He has always thought she is beautiful and he's told her so. Believing even him though has been difficult for Logan, until now, as she hears it from people she's only just met. These are kind of people that she wants to hear it from.

  “Bill, Jane I'd like for you to meet Logan Kincaid,” John said introducing her. “Logan this is Bill and Jane Chatfield.”

  “Nice to meet you both,” Logan said. Offering her hand in friendship to shake, which
they accepted. “I remember you from the bank this afternoon.”

  “Yes I'm the bank president Logan. You're the same girl who took care of that drifter out in the street this morning, that was trying to hurt that saloon gal?”

  “Logan smiled sheepishly, and said, “yes sir. I'm one in the same.”

  “You're a bounty hunter,” Jane asked?

  “Yes mam,” Logan responded. In a rather subdued tone.

  “You don't look like a bounty hunter?”

  “No not really, not tonight anyway,” Logan said, smiling. “I clean up nice though.”

  To which everyone laughed.

  John then explained, “I've hired Logan, to help me with the rustling problem I'm having out on the north side of the property. She's staying up here in the house with us while she's here, because obviously, it wouldn't be a good idea for her to stay in the bunkhouse. We thought that she would enjoy having dinner with all of us this evening.”

  To which the Chatfields smiled and agreed.

  After they were all seated, Logan said very little during dinner. And after they all finished eating, she listened to the conversation about another rancher named Henry Baker. Logan learned that Baker is an Englishman, and is supposedly a very rich man, and owns the property right next to John and Catherine. Logan also learned that Baker has been buying up land in the area, at a very rapid rate. His property is now nearly as big as Sanderson's Hill, which has John worried a bit.