The Mavericks

by Leigh Greenwood

  Zeke took the pistol from her and shoved a rifle and a box of shells into her hands. “We always keep two horses hidden down by the river. That’s saved our lives a couple of times.”

  Josie followed Zeke from the house and down to the Babocamari River, which formed the south boundary of their ranch. Cows had been off the land for more than two years now, and the undergrowth had come back thick and lush. Even though the ribbon of trees was narrow, it would have been difficult to find the horses without knowing where to look.

  Josie’s horse danced nervously when she tried to mount him. Zeke gave her a leg up. “Do you know where Hawk took the mares?” she asked as she adjusted her skirt under her.

  “Back to the Whetstone Mountains.”

  “How can we find them?”

  “Hawk will leave a trail.”

  “Won’t Gardner and the sheriff be able to follow it, too?”

  “They won’t know what to look for. We’ve developed our own system over the years.”

  After he mounted, Zeke led the way out of the trees. He paused a moment to look around before pressing his horse into a canter. It took Josie a moment to catch up. “How are we going to get past them without being seen? There’s no cover between the river and the mountains.”

  “I’m more worried that Hawk didn’t have enough time to get the horses into the mountains before Gardner caught sight of them. You can’t run mares hard when they’re so close to foaling.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I won’t know until I find Hawk or Gardner.”

  Josie didn’t want to find Gardner and the sheriff. She was certain they’d use Zeke’s escape as an excuse to kill him. They didn’t know she’d been hiding in the bedroom and had heard everything, but she wasn’t sure a jury would believe her instead of a sheriff and a wealthy rancher. After all, she was just a woman who sang and danced for any man with the price of admission. Men might say they were mesmerized by her beauty, but only at certain times and under certain conditions. At all others times, she was like every other woman, a second-class citizen. “There are horse tracks everywhere. How can you tell which ones to follow?”

  “You look at the ones on top.” He pointed to the jumble of prints. “The Appaloosa mare is bringing up the rear.”

  “How can you tell?” All she could see was a jumble of hoofprints.

  “Hawk lived with the Comanches until he was eleven. He taught me how to read a trail. No two horses have exactly the same hoofprint.”

  She’d have to take his word for it. They all looked the same to her. “How do you know we’re on the right trail? These prints might have been made yesterday or the day before.”

  Zeke pointed to the limb of a mesquite bush. “Hawk bent the end of that branch to point in the right direction.”

  She couldn’t see anything but branches armed with sharp thorns. “Do you think Gardner saw that?”

  “With all these fresh hoofprints, he wouldn’t need to look.”

  “That ought to keep them busy for a little while,” Hawk said.

  “What do we do now?” Suzette asked.

  “We wait for Zeke to come up behind them.” Hawk and Suzette had managed to get the mares safely into a box canyon, but with so little cover, Hawk had been fairly sure he wouldn’t have enough time to elude Gardner and the sheriff. This was going to come down to a fight. He wondered how determined Gardner was to take their horses.

  “What do you think they did to Zeke?” Suzette had hunkered down next to Hawk, feeling uncomfortable with a rifle in her hands.

  “They probably tied him up so he couldn’t warn me.”

  “What about Josie?”

  “I’m sure Zeke told her to hide.” He just hoped she’d had enough sense to do it. Josie had made it clear several times that she wasn’t in the habit of doing what other people wanted.

  “Then Josie could have untied him after they left.”

  “I expect they’re on Gardner’s trail right now. I want you to keep a close watch on the way into the canyon. I’m going to make sure nobody tries to circle around behind us.”

  The rocky slopes above the canyon were covered with enough juniper and pinyon pine to provide cover. Hawk hoped Zeke would arrive before Gardner’s men had time to work their way into position above them. As his gaze swept the slopes, he cursed Gardner for causing Suzette to be caught in a gun battle. She had responded with courage and determination, but she didn’t know a thing about having to fight to defend her property—or herself. But was Gardner really the one to blame? If Hawk hadn’t let himself fall in love with Suzette, she wouldn’t be in this position. It was his fault she was here.

  No, dammit, it wasn’t his fault. Even a half-breed deserved the right to have a home, own property, marry, and have a family without fear it would be taken away or destroyed. He’d followed the white man’s rules, so the rules should protect him, not put him at the mercy of men so riddled with prejudice they’d lost all sense of right and wrong. He had a right to own a ranch in Arizona, and he had a right to live on it with Suzette. Dammit, he wasn’t going to let anybody drive him away.

  “Can you see anything?” Suzette asked.

  “Not yet, but I expect they’ll move soon.”

  “What will you do?”

  “Stop them.”

  “What are you going to do when we come up behind them?” Josie asked Zeke.

  “One of two things,” Zeke said. “We can capture them and take them into Tombstone, where they’ll probably be released before we can get back to the ranch.”

  “What’s the other option?”

  “We can shoot it out with them.”

  Chills ran down Josie’s spine. She would love to see Gardner and the sheriff in jail, but she didn’t want Zeke to kill either one of them. She was certain that people would find some way to convict him of murder.

  “What if I’m the one who kills them?” she asked.

  “It won’t make any difference. Hawk and I will get the blame.”

  It rankled that she couldn’t take responsibility for her own actions, but this was no time to worry about the unfairness of life. “I used to hunt coyotes that were after our chickens and pigs. I can shoot them without killing them. Will that help?”

  Zeke grinned. “It’ll help a lot. Now let’s get a move on. I expect they’ll be trying to circle around and come at Hawk from above.”

  “What will he do?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s got no idea what Suzette can do in a fight.”

  “She’d face the devil himself before she’d let anybody hurt Hawk.” She knew because that was the way she felt about Zeke.

  “Hello up there. We’ve got you blocked so you can’t get out of the canyon. You might as well give up.”

  Hawk recognized Gardner’s voice. Apparently, he rather than the sheriff was directing this attempt to take the horses.

  Suzette turned to Hawk, her eyes revealing tension and fear. “Don’t let him spook you,” Hawk told her. “He knows he can’t get to us without some of his men getting hurt, so he’s trying to convince us to give up.”

  “What if they come after us?”

  “We’ll abandon the horses if we have to, but they’ll never catch us.”

  “But they’re your horses.”

  “We can always buy more horses. I’ll never find anybody else like you.” He caught sight of a man moving through the rocks well within range. Apparently, Gardner wasn’t willing to wait any longer. Hawk waited until he caught sight of a leg behind a pinyon pine, then took careful aim at the man’s thigh. They heard the man scream over the noise of the shot ricocheting off the canyon sides. “One out of action and five to go.”

  The sound of a shot told Zeke the fight was about to begin. He had to get closer quickly if he was going to be any help. “Stay close behind me,” he said to Josie as he urged his horse into a rapid trot. He’d figured out which canyon Hawk was using. Now he needed to locate Gardner and the sheriff. He’d be at a disadvan
tage, because he was below them. Zeke altered his direction and moments later caught sight of a man peering up from behind a boulder. “We’ll go the rest of the way on foot,” he said to Josie. They dismounted, ground-hitched their horses, and started forward.

  “What are we going to do?” Josie asked as she dodged around a large barrel cactus with a few yellow flowers on top.

  “We have to find cover before they know we’re here. I’m heading for the rocks at the base of that shoulder.”

  That didn’t look like enough cover to Josie, but Zeke knew more about gun battles than she did. He’d been fighting for his life since childhood.

  “Hurry.”

  The urgent whisper was unexpected. “What’s wrong?”

  “One of the men is circling out of Hawk’s sight. We need to get to cover before I take a shot. Once I do that, they’ll know where we are.” Moving forward in crouched positions, they ran for the nearest cover. When they reached it, Zeke fell on his stomach and pulled Josie down beside him. “Don’t stand up unless I tell you.”

  “I can shoot.”

  “I know, but so can they, and I don’t think they’ll balk at shooting a woman.”

  “Do you think Suzette is okay?”

  “Hawk would abandon the horses before he’d let anything happen to her.” He didn’t take his eyes off the man trying to circle behind Hawk. “I’d do the same for you.”

  Then he calmly raised his rifle, aimed, and fired.

  “Zeke’s here.” Hawk was relieved he didn’t have to carry this fight any longer by himself.

  “How can you tell?”

  “That shot came from behind Gardner’s position.”

  Just then, one of the men stood up with his hands in the air.

  “Get down, you fool.”

  It sounded like Gardner’s voice, but the man didn’t move. Instead, he tossed his rifle aside and came out into the open. Hawk was shocked when he heard a rifle shot and saw the man crumple.

  “Gardner shot his own man.”

  “He must be crazy,” Suzette said. “How does he expect to get away with that?”

  Hawk fired several shots into the rocks where Gardner was hiding in hopes a ricochet would hit him. The only result was to send two men searching for new hiding places. That exposed them to Zeke, who fired off quick shots at both of them. The men turned and ran from the rocks toward Zeke with their hands in the air. Hawk fired a couple more shots into the rocks to keep Gardner from shooting them before they could surrender.

  “What’s happening?” Suzette asked.

  “Gardner and the sheriff are the only ones left. They don’t have any choice now but to give up.”

  But it didn’t happen right away. For the next hour, Zeke and Hawk took turns firing shots into the rocks where Gardner and the sheriff were pinned down. Feeling certain the two men couldn’t escape, he sent Suzette to keep the horses calm. After about forty-five minutes, Hawk heard a grunt. He thought one of the men had been hit by a ricochet, but neither came out and both continued to return fire sporadically. Finally Hawk decided the stalemate had gone on long enough. He called Suzette back.

  “I’m going to work my way down. I want you to fire an occasional shot into their position to keep them tied down.”

  Suzette looked scared. “I can’t do that. I might shoot you.”

  Hawk couldn’t help smiling. “I know enough to keep out of your way. They’ll be shooting up here as well.”

  “What if I fire into the air?”

  “They’ll know it. You have to shoot into the rocks where they’re hiding.” Hawk wanted to take Suzette into his arms and kiss away her fears, but that would have to wait until later. He knew she had the courage to do what was necessary—she just had to convince herself. He gave her a quick kiss. “I’m counting on you. Can you do it?”

  She swallowed hard but nodded.

  Hawk hadn’t gone fifty yards before he caught sight of Zeke coming in his direction. Moments later they met.

  “How’d you get Suzette to shoulder a rifle?” Zeke asked.

  “She didn’t want to, but she didn’t like the thought of me with holes in my hide. What about Josie?”

  “By the time I got tired of waiting for them to give up, she was so mad she was ready to go after them herself.”

  “What do we do now? We can’t both go in from the same side.”

  “Your skin’s practically the color of the ground, so you get the honor of going around to the other side.” Zeke grinned. “I’ll wait right here. Just signal me when you’re ready.”

  Hawk muttered a couple of curses but grinned once he was out of sight. It took him several minutes to work his way around the other side of Gardner’s position. Once he did, he started grinning again. Choosing his position where he could see Zeke leaning against a rock, he shouldered his rifle and put a shot into the dirt at Zeke’s feet. He chuckled when Zeke scrambled to his feet and crawled out of sight.

  “Son of a bitch!” Zeke yelled. “You’re supposed to shoot at Gardner.”

  “I had to make sure you were awake.” He laughed aloud at Zeke’s curses.

  “Gardner, you and the sheriff might as well come out. We’ve got you covered on four sides.”

  “Liar!”

  “Let’s give him some proof,” Hawk called out. Rifles booming from all directions nearly covered the sound of the sheriff’s voice.

  “Stop! I surrender, but I can’t move. I’ve been hit.”

  “Send Gardner out, and we’ll come and get you,” Hawk said.

  “I’ll see you in hell first!” Gardner shouted.

  Hawk decided the only way to get Gardner was to go after him. While the others kept Gardner pinned down, he worked his way through the rocks. Gardner and the sheriff were in a small ravine between two high walls of rock. The sheriff was seated on the ground, leaning back against a rock, his shoulder bloody. Gardner went from one side to the other, firing in both directions. Discarded shell casings littered the ground. Hawk couldn’t rush Gardner because he was too far away. The sheriff caught sight of Hawk and immediately seemed to understand what Hawk needed. He called Gardner over to exchange his nearly empty rifle for a fully loaded one. When Gardner turned toward the sheriff, Hawk leapt over the rocks. Running on moccasined feet, he reached Gardner before the man heard him. As Gardner turned, Hawk’s fist caught him on the jaw with a blow so powerful Gardner’s eyes rolled back in his head and he sank to the ground.

  “You can save yourselves the trouble of taking us to Tombstone,” Gardner said. “I’ll be out of jail in less than an hour.”

  Hawk and Zeke were headed back to the ranch with all six men securely tied to their horses. None of their wounds were critical. Hawk had packed them well enough to stop the bleeding until they could get to a doctor in Tombstone. Gardner was lucky he hadn’t killed the man he’d shot, but he was insisting the man had been hit by a ricochet. Everybody knew it wasn’t true, but Zeke didn’t trust any of them to stick to the truth once they were out of his control.

  “I’ll go to Tombstone to testify against you,” Josie said. She was still enraged that Gardner would shoot one of his men as casually as he would a wild animal. They halted before the ranch house.

  “Nobody’s going to believe a black woman,” Gardner sneered, “particularly one who works in saloons. You might as well let me go right now.”

  The front door of the ranch house opened and a man with white-blond hair about Hawk and Zeke’s age stepped out. “Maybe not, but I think they’ll believe me.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  A wide grin split Zeke’s face. He jumped off his horse and walked over to the man and pumped his hand energetically. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought I’d come see how my boys were doing before we headed home together. I didn’t expect to see Jordy driving the herd toward my ranch, or Adam hiding down by the river. Why didn’t you tell me you were having trouble? It goes against the grain to see my boys running from horse thieves.” />
  “Who the hell do you think you are, calling me a horse thief?” Gardner demanded.

  “That’s Hen Randolph, you idiot,” the sheriff told him.

  Gardner’s complexion lost color. Everybody in the Territory knew how Hen Randolph had faced down the whole Blackthorne clan of thieves and rustlers just over ten years ago. Nor had anyone forgotten that his whole family had come from as far away as Texas and Wyoming to back him up.

  “We weren’t trying to steal the horses,” the sheriff said. “We just wanted these two to prove they owned them.”

  Hen walked over to the sheriff and looked up at him with the ice-blue eyes that had caused more than one seasoned gunman to suddenly decide he needed to be elsewhere. “Why?”

  The sheriff looked at Gardner, then back at Hen. “Mr. Gardner believed it was unlikely they could have the money to buy horses of such excellent quality.”

  “I can assure you they had the money to buy their stud horse, because they bought him from me, and he wasn’t cheap.” Hen switched his gaze to Gardner. “As for the mares in question, they bought them from Luke Maxwell. You probably know him as Luke Attmore. I guess you’ve heard of his brother, too.”

  Gardner lost a little more color. For years Luke Attmore had been one of the most famous hired guns in the West. Chet Attmore’s reputation might have been as well known if he hadn’t retired so soon.

  “They didn’t tell me that,” the sheriff said.

  “As far as I can see, they weren’t required to tell you anything. What are you doing so far from Benson?”

  “Gardner’s men tried to steal Zeke and Hawk’s horses several days ago.” Josie had dismounted and come up to Hen. “He tried to kidnap me, but Zeke stopped him. We took Gardner and his men to the sheriff”—she nodded to indicate the sheriff—“but he didn’t believe us and let them go. Suzette and I overheard them planning to steal the horses, and we came back to warn Zeke and Hawk.” Josie turned and pointed at Gardner. “He tried to kill one of his own men when he wanted to give up. I saw him do it, and I’ll testify to it in court.”

  “I think we should all go to Tombstone together.” Hen turned to Josie. “I’m sure the sheriff will listen to you this time.”