by Rita Hestand
"Go on," Lilly encouraged.
"Well, I waited until it got real quiet, then slipped out the back door. Butch and Jason had passed out in the front room. Dan had gone to bed and was sleeping. Anyway, I looked for the north star like you told me to." Charlie glanced at Cord.
Cord smiled.
"Then what happened?"
"Well I walked for a long while, but stepped in a prairie dog hole and hurt my ankle. It wasn't light enough to see them."
"What's this about stealing a horse?" Lilly asked with a frown, knowing he was leaving things out.
"Well yeah." Charlie looked down, as though ashamed of what he'd done. "I had to Ma. Dan followed me, and the only thing I could think of to get him with was a rock, so I found one and threw it and it hit him in the head. Then I stole his horse. But when I got real thirsty, I stopped to get water from a cactus like Cord told me about. That's when the horse ran off. Then Don Diego found me." He looked at both of them. "Am I in a lot of trouble?" His expression looked prepared for the worse.
"Under the circumstances I'd say you've more than paid for your troubles." Cord smiled. "Get some sleep, oh, wait, where were you when you hit Dan?"
"I don't know, at first I headed North, but when daylight came, I was lost, I think that's when I got off course. When we rode here it looked like we were coming from the northwest."
"Good, get some sleep, we'll talk later."
Lilly kissed him on the cheek. "We're glad you are alright. You rest and stay off that ankle. It's pretty swollen. We'll talk later though.
"Yes, Ma'am."
He smiled, laid his head back on the pillow and went to sleep.
Cord and Lilly went back to the kitchen.
"Did you talk to him?" Maria asked anxiously.
"Yeah, I'm gonna ride out and see if I can find Dan." Cord told Lilly and Maria.
"Why don't you get Don Diego to go with you?"
"Yeah, I might do that. It might take some time to find him alone."
After Cord kissed Lilly on the cheek he winked and told her not to fret any longer and left.
Don Diego rode out with him, he showed him where he found Charlie.
"We better go toward the Dubs place from here." Cord told him.
Don Diego nodded.
They rode for some time and then they stopped at a rock. Cord naturally figured Charlie would either hide from the blaring sun here or hide from Dan. Since there were little other places to hide.
But when they stopped they saw the blood splattered on the rock. It startled them that Charlie had done so much damage to Dan.
"He must have hit him pretty hard. He shouldn't be that hard to find now." Cord told him his voice amused at Charlie's good aim.
Another half hour they found a stumbling Dan trying to walk back to his place.
There was no sign of the horse.
When Dan collapsed, they came up to him.
He opened his eyes and frowned, "Damn that Charlie, he hit me with something and ran off."
Cord smiled. "He sure did."
They helped him up on Cord's horse and they rode back to the ranch.
"Why ain't you taking me home?" Dan asked when he was able.
"I want you to tell me exactly what happened, and then we're going to town to tell the Sheriff." Cord told him.
"Where's Jason and Butch?" Dan asked looking from one to the other.
"Butch is dead, Dan. I killed him, had to." Cord said quietly watching the emotion that Jason lacked cross Dan's face.
"You killed my brother?"
"We'll talk about that when we get settled." Cord told him.
Dan reached for his gun, but it wasn't there. He forgot, he lost it when he stopped on the prairie to kill a rattlesnake. But he must have blacked out after that time and he hadn't remembered the gun until now.
Dan wasn't in the best condition when they got back to Maria's. She doctored his head and wrapped it. Dan held his head as though to steady himself.
As they all sat around the kitchen table, Cord began drilling Dan with questions.
"Now I want you to tell me what happened, step by step and don't leave anything out."
"It wasn't my idea, it was Jason's." Dan blurted.
"I figured that," Cord nodded his tone indulging.
"It was simple, I was supposed to get Charlie to go fishing with me, we had a fish fry, and he spent the night. Jason sent a note, telling you that we had Charlie and we weren't turning lose of him until you showed up. That was the plan. But Charlie ran off, and I had to find him before Butch and Jason got up or all hell would break loose."
Cord nodded, "I kind of thought that's what you planned."
"I didn't plan anything, Jason did. Where is Jason?"
"He's in jail," Pedro said as he came in the house.
"Jail, what for?" Dan cried.
"Well hell, Dan, kidnapping is a crime." Cord laughed.
"Did you really kill Butch?" Dan asked, his face screwing up in misery. Cord didn't know if the blow on the head had him dizzy or if he was emotionally wrought about his brother.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so. He gave me no choice. Him and Jason started firing, I fired back." Cord explained. "Bullet were going everywhere. Hell, Dan, they were set to bushwhack me. What do you expect?"
Dan got quiet. "Butch could get pretty mean. He swore too much, drank too much, but…he was my brother." He looked down now, his face somber.
"Guess someone should get over there and bury him. We had to leave him, because of Charlie." Cord explained.
"I'll bury my brother…" Dan said, his glance sobering now. "That is unless you are taking me to jail too."
Cord stared at him a minute. "We'll go with you and then we'll go to town because you have to talk to the Sheriff and explain what happened."
"But what if he arrests me too?"
"He won't. Jason was behind it all. It's Jason we want behind bars, Dan. But let me tell you something right now, if you ever try to hurt anyone around here again, you'll go to jail. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir." Dan said, hanging his head.
"Brother or no brother."
When Dan got quiet Cord stared at him.
"I'm sorry about Butch, but when you have a showdown, someone is bound to get hurt. It's best you learn this now. All plans don't work the way they are supposed to."
Dan looked at him with regret, "Maybe so, I wish it had been Jason instead of Butch though."
"You don't get along with Jason?" Cord's head twisted in question.
Dan studied the question then eyed them all, "No one gets along with Jason. He spends most his time telling me and Butch how dumb we are. Butch didn't have much brains, but left up to him, he'd have had a showdown with you and left the kid out of it. I didn't want to get Charlie involved."
Cord nodded and told Lilly to stay there with Charlie and Maria. She agreed.
An hour later they were standing over Butch's grave. Dan had no words for his brother. Pedro made the sign of the cross and Cord nodded, "Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen."
As they rode to town, Dan glanced at Cord, "Thanks for saying them words over him. I didn't know any."
"Sure," Cord nodded.
Chapter Eighteen
Dan related the entire story to the Sheriff, and they all looked at Jason who was sitting on the bunk of the bed in the cell, staring at the floor. Jason cast Cord a smirk.
"You got anything to say about this Jason?" The Sheriff asked taking his hat off and running a hand through his brown hair.
"No, but Cord's bunch wasn't hurt. And Cord killed my brother, Butch. Ain't you gonna arrest him? Last I heard killing wasn't legal, Sheriff."
The Sheriff scratched his head. "I would, but your brother Dan here said you set Cord up to murder him. So I guess it is your own fault that Butch is dead, Jason. It was all your plan and it kind of went sour. Now didn't it?"
"My fault, now look here Sher
iff, I want him arrested for killing Butch." Jason protested.
"We'll let the Judge decide all this at the trial. But in all fairness," The Sheriff looked at Cord. "I've got to let Jason go too now."
"Let him go?" Cord frowned at the Sheriff. "Why?"
"Because Charlie was alright, unharmed. And you weren't killed as he planned. According to what was just said, Charlie went willingly with Dan, so the kidnapping charge might be dropped altogether. But don't fret, there will be a trial for the kidnapping and intent to kill, especially the intent to kill. And Jason if you run before the trail, I'll come after you myself. Understood?"
Jason nodded and smiled at Cord.
Dan came up to the cell. "You mean he can go home with me?"
"For now, yes. But don't leave Jason."
"Understood Sheriff." Jason smiled and waited until the Sheriff let him loose to give Cord a cagey smile and walked out with Dan.
Cord walked outside and stared at Jason. "Next time you better get a better plan. Or better yet, just face me with your gun and be done with it. There's no use in involving innocent people in this, Jason. Even you should know that."
"I'll look forward to a next time Cord. You killed Butch, and I'm not forgetting that." Jason eyed him.
"I didn't think you would. But as I recall bullets were flying from all directions. And it was a planned ambush, Jason. We both know that too. But you aren't a good enough gun to face me in a gunfight, so I figure you'll plan something else." Cord started to walk off. "Something stupid, I'd imagine."
"You can bet on that. Only next time I'll figure it all out better, you can count on that."
"He did speak some pretty words over Butch's grave, Jason." Dan offered.
"You buried him?" He glanced at Cord who was walking off.
"Yeah." Dan answered.
"Where?"
"On the place," Dan assured him.
Jason nodded. "Missed my own brother's funeral."
Dan and Jason walked off together, as Jason put his hat on and glanced over his shoulder at Cord.
"What are we gonna do, Jason?" Dan asked as they headed for their horses.
"I got a plan." Jason muttered under his breath.
Dan took his hat off and dusted it on his leg, "Not another one!"
"Shut up." Jason barked.
***
When Cord got back to the ranch, Lilly was sitting out on the porch shelling peas. Cord eyed her for a moment before he ever got off his horse. Just knowing that she and Charlie were alright made Cord relax, but seeing her like this reinforced how much he was looking forward to marrying her. Two weeks, he didn't know if he could stand it that long. She looked so good to him now he wanted to swoop her in his arms and take her straight to his bed.
She looked up and a slow smile spread over her face.
"Everything all right?" He asked as he joined her, leaning against the railing and staring at her as though he couldn’t take his eyes from her.
"Everything is fine," She said softly, her eyes going to his.
"How's Charlie?" He asked.
"He's hobbling around on a crutch that Juan made him."
"He didn't rest long." Cord smiled. "I thought that long walk he had might have slowed him down a little." Cord studied her.
"Did you take Dan to the Sheriff?" She asked.
"Yeah, he's fine now, got a powerful headache, but he'll be fine." Cord told her. "Obviously Charlie's got a good right hook."
He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair then set it back on his head.
"Shelling peas, huh?" He asked with a sexy grin.
"Maria's cousin brought her some, so she gave me some so here I am." She looked at him. "I like fresh from the garden as well as the next person."
When he stared at her, she burst out.
"What are you smiling at?" She asked with a grin, "Want to help me?"
"Sure, why not." He grabbed her up in his arms and carried her inside, peas and all.
She yelped, but when his head dipped to take her lips she let out a long groan. "I'm so glad you are back." She murmured between hot kisses. "How did it go?"
He sat down in a chair and cuddled her into his arms. "We'll talk about that later, right now I've got other things on my mind."
"Cowboy," she chuckled between kisses, "You steal my breath away."
"Hmm…I want to steal more than that." He ravaged her mouth, with another hot kiss.
"Cord," she laughed, "It's the middle of the day."
"Can't help it," He smiled into her eyes. "I'm thirsty for your kisses."
When he finally raised his head he shot her a sexy grin, "Sweetheart, you make a man forget his troubles."
She stroked his cheek, "I'm anxious for our wedding day too." She coed, a finger stroking his cheek.
"Are you?" He asked and that was all it took to make him kiss her again. Lilly had the sweetest kisses in the world, and he aimed to help himself as often as she'd let him.
But when Charlie and Juan came running in they broke it up, and it was probably a good thing, because Cord was just two steps away from carrying her to the bedroom.
"Aw…for cryin' out loud, they are at it again," Charlie complained as his face turned a bright red when Lilly started to reprimand him.
Cord loosened his hold of Lilly and chuckled. "Someday you'll want a girl of your own Charlie."
Charlie and Juan studied that statement a minute. "Me? Never!"
"Me neither," Juan said.
"Yeah, and it won't be that long from now." His mother smiled.
Charlie looked at Cord, "Did you find Dan?"
"Yeah, we found him."
"Was he…all right?'
"He was fine. Gave him a bit of a headache, but he'll be just fine."
Charlie sighed aloud, "That's good."
"Don Diego even found his horse. We buried Butch and went to talk to the Sheriff."
"Did they lock Jason up?" Charlie asked with big eyes.
"Well they did, but they let him loose."
"Let him loose? Why?" Charlie shouted, with a frown.
"Because you were all right, and I wasn't dead. There will be a trial though. I'll have to go to that too, because I killed Butch."
"But, only in self-defense." Lilly cut into the conversation.
"That'll have to be proved too."
"I was there; I saw what happened."
"Just formalities more or less." Cord told her.
"But Jason will probably try something else." Lilly fretted.
"I'm sure he will." Cord nodded. "But now it's just him and Dan. And neither of them will challenge me to a gunfight. No, it'll take some time for him to figure out what he can do next."
"I wanted to go home after we got through fishing and eat, but Jason kept saying you gave me permission to stay the night. Did you Ma?"
"No Charlie, I didn't and wouldn't." Lilly affirmed. "You should have known I wouldn't."
"I didn't think so. I knew better than to go with Dan, but sometimes, well, I don't know why I went with him except he promised he had a lot of catfish in his creek, and he was right. There were lots. We had a good size string of them. If I hadn't heard Jason and Butch talking about setting up an ambush for Cord that night, I probably wouldn't have left the cabin."
"You could have gotten into all kinds of trouble. You know that don't you?"
"Well geez, Ma. I hurt my ankle, nearly died of thirst and got lost." He told her. "Ain't that punishment enough?"
"I suppose it is. I don't care if you want to try something new every now and then, but I want to know about it before you do, or go. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am." Charlie nodded.
Lilly shook her head. She didn't want to go over all the catastrophe's that might have happened though, it might have scared Charlie.
"Let's just be thankful everything turned out as good as it did. Besides, you did pretty good Charlie. You remembered about the cactus, and the north star. You kept your head. I'm proud of you." C
ord told him.
"Charlie is mucho brave, isn't he?" Juan smiled.
Lilly laughed, "I guess he is."
"I gotta admit, I was worried I might have killed Dan. It sure weighed heavy on my mind. I saw blood spurt and knew I'd hit him pretty hard. But I wasn't going to hang around to find out." Charlie laughed. "Still, it made me think it don't take a whole lot to kill a man, does it?"
"No, Charlie, it doesn't. And you don't have to have a gun to kill them either. But all in all, you did good son." Cord smiled and rubbed his head. "It's things like this that make you learn valuable lessons. Next time you're in a tight situation, you'll realize it faster and know a little more than you did."
The boys went outside and Lilly got up to put the peas on the stove.
"I hope there isn't a next time, Cord." Lilly said as she walked up to him. "And I hope Jason won't pull anything else."
He leaned to kiss her on the tip of her nose and smiled. "There will be a next time, honey. Jason is not going to let this go. Especially since I killed Butch. Now he's got a reason to come after me."
"I'm sorry Butch is dead, but better him than you!"
"Don't worry honey, I'm not gonna die." He took her in his arms and held her close. "I got too much to live for."
Chapter Nineteen
Jason rode into Terrell that day, his eyes going around the town with interest. This town buzzed with excitement. The railroad had been built through here and people were moving here from all over. New businesses were going up everywhere. People milled the streets. Just the kind of town Jason liked. Plenty of business opportunities in a town like this, Jason figured.
He fastened his horse to the railing in front of the saloon and went in. The fastest way to find someone was to go to the local saloons and ask. So that's what he did.