Rocky Mountain Lawmen Series Box Set: Four John Legg Westerns

by John Legg

  After Rabbit Tail had eaten Morgan asked, “You think you can travel some, boy?”

  Rabbit Tail nodded. “We’re going back to the village?” he asked.

  “You are. Me and Big Horse’ll drop you off and leave Rough Wolf to get a proper funeral and burying.”

  “What about you and Big Horse?”

  “We still have business to tend to.”

  “I want to go.”

  “No,” Morgan said flatly. “We were damn fools for taking you in the first place. You almost got yourself killed. There’ll be plenty of time when you’re older that you can do that.”

  “You’re wounded, too.”

  “Not as bad as you sire. I can get around on my leg well enough. What’re you going to do if you need to shoot a gun or a bow?”

  Rabbit Tail shrugged.

  “Don’t worry about it, Rabbit Tail,” Big Horse said. “You have gained honors.”

  “How?” Rabbit Tail asked sullenly.

  “No horses were taken from us. You were wounded while keeping the ponies safe, even as Rough Wolf died to save the ponies.”

  The boy was only partially assuaged.

  “We best get moving,” Morgan said, getting to his feet.

  They saddled their horses. When that was done, Big Horse placed Rough Wolf’s body across the dead man’s horse. Just before leaving, Big Horse walked up to where Rabbit Tail was sitting on his pony. Big Horse had a rope tied to the horses he and Morgan had ridden up the trail. Big Horse handed Rabbit Tail the rope.

  The boy took it without comment or question. Like so many other things, he was expected to care for the stolen horses as well as his own. It annoyed him now, since he really only had the use of one arm. He decided he could hold his reins plus the rope to the other horses in one hand. But still, his wounded arm ached like nothing he had ever experienced before. He wanted nothing more than to be allowed to go back to sleep, a nap from which he hoped he could awaken completely recovered.

  “How do you like your new horses, Rabbit Tail?” Big Horse asked.

  “Eh? What?”

  “I asked you how you like your new horses.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the outlaws’ horses.

  “Mine?” he asked, face beaming.

  “Yours,” Big Horse said.

  They took their time, but they did not dally, either. The trip out was somewhat easier, since it was mostly downhill instead of up. But most importantly, they were making the journey in the daylight.

  Once they hit the scrub desert beyond the foothills of the Wind River Mountains, they opened up some, putting the ponies into a brisk trot. It was only midafternoon, and Morgan thought there might be a chance he could get back on Murdock’s trail before the daylight was gone.

  Morgan was running out of energy, though, by the time they reached the village. Even though his two wounds were relatively minor, he had lost some blood, and it was barely a week and a half since he had been wounded in the shoulder. All the wounds were taking their toll on him.

  He was surprised to see Orv Ashby there. But he was really surprised to see Ashby’s family still in the village. Morgan asked Ashby about it.

  He laughed. “They were treated so well that they have made many new friends here.” He shook his head in amazement. “So Grace said she wanted to stay a little longer.”

  Screams woke Washakie’s village. Morgan and Cloud Woman rushed out of their lodge. A woman named Red Moon stumbled into the camp. She was screaming, and she was covered with blood. Her sister, Antelope, rushed out and grabbed her. It was as if Red Moon suddenly knew she could collapse; she went down in a heap, pulling Antelope with her.

  Shoshoni rushed to the two women, shouting questions. Red Moon was babbling, but even the Shoshoni could not understand what she was saying.

  Finally, at Washakie’s request, Morgan fired off two quick shots from one of his Smith and Wessons. That quieted the crowd enough for Washakie to shout, “Bring Red Moon into my lodge.”

  That was done, and then all the warriors filed in, filling every inch of the large tepee. The women and the children stayed outside, pressing as close as they could get to the skin lodge to hear what was happening inside.

  Big Horse sat down on Washakie’s right side and Morgan sat on Big Horse’s right, near enough that the big Shoshoni could translate for him.

  “Where’s Orv?” Big Horse asked Morgan when the lodge was full.

  “He told me last night he wanted to get back to the agency as soon as possible,” Morgan responded. “So he planned to leave a couple hours before dawn. I heard him shooing his family out of my lodge sometime this mornin’, but I was beat and didn’t pay much attention.”

  It took some time for Antelope to calm her sister down and they could determine that none of her injuries seemed mortal. Then Washakie said, “Tell us what happened.”

  “We were camped on the Little Wind, in the big bend it makes. Big Heart wanted to hunt, for we were low on meat. Yesterday afternoon, men came. White men.” She would not look at Morgan.

  “How many men?” Big Horse asked.

  “Six, I think. Maybe seven.”

  “Did one of them wear a string around his neck with human ears and fingers?” Big Horse asked.

  “No.”

  Morgan was dumb struck. He had been certain it was Murdock and Nordmeyer, the only two who apparently had escaped. “Jesus,” he muttered, “that’s all we need—another band of white outlaws raiding Shoshoni camps.”

  “Then what happened?” Big Horse asked.

  “They killed Big Heart and the two youngest, Puma and Brown Arm, and shot me. I fell and pretended to be dead. When they weren’t looking I crawled to the riverbank. I stayed behind some reeds there and watched. They captured Laughing Elk.” She paused for a drink of water from a gourd spoon.

  “Who’s Laughing Elk?” Morgan asked.

  “Red Moon’s daughter,” Big Horse responded. “She’s about fifteen winters.”

  Morgan nodded, a sick knot in his stomach.

  “Each of them took Laughing Elk.” Red Moon was crying heavily now, and her words were said with much wailing. “Two of them twice that I saw. When it got dark I ran as long as I could, then walked through the night to get here.”

  “What did these men look like?” Big Horse asked. “They all looked like him,” Red Moon said, pointing to Morgan.

  “There are differences among even the white people. Stop being angry at our brother and think what these men looked like.”

  “One I saw was very vicious when he took Laughing Elk. He looked nice, though, before that. Neat, clean, all the hair gone from his face.”

  “Shit,” Morgan breathed. “That’s Ward Haggerty.”

  Big Horse nodded. “Any others you can remember?” he asked.

  “One I didn’t see at all. Another was tall and very thin. He had hair on his upper lip. Another was short and plump. He looked funny. Two looked much alike. Maybe they were brothers. Fairly tall, dark hair, funny noses.”

  “Good God,” Morgan muttered again. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out some papers. While everyone waited, wondering what he was up to, Morgan sorted through the papers and pulled out two. He handed those to Big Horse. “Ask Red Moon if those are the two men,” he said.

  While Big Horse conversed quickly with Red Moon and showed her the pictures, Morgan absentmindedly shoved the other papers away.

  Red Moon nodded vigorously.

  Big Horse handed the papers back to Morgan. “You don’t need that translated, do you?” he asked grimly.

  “Nope.”

  “You know them?”

  Morgan nodded. “You remember the time Foster told us about some of Murdock’s men? I mentioned that I had been tracking these two and their brothers before I got here?”

  “Yes. Are they the ones?”

  “Yes. Kevin and Jess Spangler.”

  “This isn’t good, my friend,” Big Horse said solemnly. He sounded a little worried.

>   “It sure as hell...” He paused, and then snapped, “Let’s get out of here.” He rose.

  Big Horse followed him, and they shoved their way through the milling mob of women and children. Morgan spotted Cloud Woman. “Go saddle my horse. Now!” he told her.

  She looked at him in question, but then turned and ran for their lodge.

  “You better get your horse, too.”

  “You mind telling me what this is all about?” Big Horse asked sharply.

  “Orv Ashby. Him and his family’re ridin’ out that way heading for the agency. There’s every chance they’ll ride right into the shit balls’ camp.”

  “Damn.” He paused. “But don’t you think the outlaws’ll be gone by now?”

  “It’s likely. But what if they’re not? We can’t take that chance.”

  Minutes later, Morgan was on his horse. He had just explained to Cloud Woman where he was going and why. “There’s a strong possibility that he’s safe,” Morgan finished. “And if that’s true, the outlaws’ll probably have moved on. If that’s the case, I’m going to follow them.” He kissed her and then climbed into the saddle.

  Big Horse was waiting for him, and the two swatted their horses, galloping out of the village. Less than an hour later, they came on Ashby’s party. With the agent were his wife, his three children, and three Shoshoni warriors acting as an escort.

  “What’s wrong?” Ashby asked as Morgan and Big Horse rode up and stopped just in front of Ashby. He looked worried.

  Morgan explained it. Then Morgan pointed. “The place it happened is a mile or so that way,” he said.

  “Dear Lord,” Ashby gasped.

  “Right. I want you to turn back, Orv,” Morgan said. “Head back to the village.”

  “But I must get back to…”

  “I know,” Morgan interjected. “But unless you want to risk your wife’s life, and the lives of your children, you’ll turn back.”

  “Do you think those outlaws are still there?” Morgan shrugged. “There’s no tellin’ without ridin’ over that way. Which me and Big Horse plan to do.”

  “But what if they’re not there?” Ashby asked. “I’ll have wasted several hours of traveling time.”

  “Just because they’re not there doesn’t mean they’re not somewhere around here. I think it’ll be safer in the village, and it’s closer than the agency. You push those horses a little and you can make it back there pretty quick.”

  “What’ll you do after you get to the spot?”

  “Depends on what we find. I expect the outlaws are gone, and if so, I’ll head out after them straight off.”

  Ashby stood thoughtfully a few moments, then nodded. “We’ll turn back.”

  “Good,” Morgan said. He leaned close to Ashby so he would not be overheard. “Did your wife explain everything?”

  Ashby nodded, but anger clouded his face.

  “How’re she and Bonnie handling it?”

  “Well enough under the circumstances.”

  “How about you?”

  Ashby smile weakly. “The same,” he said. “It’s not easy living with the knowledge some men tried to…”

  “No need to talk about it,” Morgan said calmly. “Just remember, though, Grace and Bonnie are countin’ on you. You have to be strong enough to get them through all the shame and hurt. You can’t do that by showin’ any weakness.”

  Ashby nodded, his face etched with determination. “You’re right, and I know it. I’ve tried to be optimistic about all this. It’s hard, but I think I’ve pulled it off so far.”

  Morgan nodded. “All right then, you best get movin’. The sooner you get going, the quicker you’ll be in the village.”

  Morgan and Big Horse watched as Ashby and his party turned and began riding slowly back the way they had come. Then the two trotted off, slowing only when they were a hundred yards or so from the campsite. At about fifty yards they dismounted and, using their horses for protection, moved ever closer.

  There was no one living at the campsite. The three bodies had been picked at by the scavengers of several sorts, and they were a gruesome sight.

  Big Horse was already poking around the area, looking for tracks or sign of any kind. Finally, he told Morgan, “Murdock’s been here. Either that or someone’s got his horse.”

  “You sure?” Morgan asked skeptically.

  Big Horse nodded. “What I’d like to know,” he said, “is what the hell he was doin’ here.”

  “Me, too. I got my suspicions, though.”

  “So, tell it.”

  Morgan kneaded his wounded shoulder, trying to get a little more movement out of it. “I think Murdock and the shit balls he had with him in the canyon were supposed to meet more men here. Or somewhere near here. The ones he was to meet got here first and found Big Heart and his family. They killed Big Heart and had some fun with Laughing Elk,” he added, throat constricting at the very thought. “Then Murdock and Nordmeyer came along. I expect they stayed the night, abusing the girl, then rode on to Flat Fork.”

  “But why would they meet here?” Big Horse asked. “Why didn’t the new men just wait in Flat Fork?”

  “Well, since I’m guessin’ on all this anyway, I’d say it was because they all planned on going on another raid.”

  “Would’ve been a hell of a big raid.”

  “Since Murdock had the stones to raid Washakie’s village with only seven or eight men, he certainly would be willing to try it with fifteen or so. He’d be smart enough to know that Washakie would have the village on alert now, which is why he’d want a much larger force than last time. And Murdock’s crazy enough to try it.”

  “That’d seem to cover all the particulars, wouldn’t it? Except for where they are now.”

  “You checked for sign. Didn’t you find anything? I’d wager they headed for Flat Fork this morning.”

  “Why?”

  “Where else’re they going to go? Murdock lost a good portion of his gang in Flat Fork a few days ago. Yesterday he lost another batch of men. He needs more gunmen, and he won’t be able to get them anywhere else but Flat Fork.”

  “So we head for Flat Fork?”

  A Morgan shook his head. “I,” he said, emphasizing the word, “will head for Flat Fork. You will head for Washakie’s village.”

  “You aren’t leaving me out of this,” Big Horse said. “Yes, I am. I used to tell Two Wounds this all the time. You—or any Shoshoni—would be dead a minute after you got into Flat Fork. Those shit balls’d use you for target shooting. Besides, I’m afraid Murdock might be really crazy now after his losses. There’s a chance he might hire damn near everyone in Flat Fork and take an army out to decimate Shoshoni villages. If that’s true, the People’ll need you more than I would.”

  “I hate when your reasoning is impeccable, you white-eyed devil, you.” He sighed and held out his hand. “You watch your ass, white man.”

  “You too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Shotgun in hand, Morgan pushed through the doors and into the Bighorn Saloon. Everyone looked up at him, but he focused directly on Del Murdock and the two Spangler brothers. Between Murdock and Kevin Spangler was Laughing Elk. She was naked, as far as Morgan could see, and had a rope around her neck. She looked frightened and battered. Five other outlaws also sat at the table.

  The bartender started to bend, and Morgan figured he was going for a scattergun, so Morgan fired one barrel of his shotgun. The bartender went down. Morgan turned back to face the table of outlaws and calmly reloaded the weapon.

  “Let the girl go, shit ball,” Morgan said in a raspy voice. His rage was at full boil just beneath the surface. Controlled, it might make him invincible—or so he thought.

  “You talkin’ to me, tin star?” Murdock asked.

  “Ah, yes, with all the shit balls sitting at your table, you might be confused as to which one I was addressing. In this case, yes, it was you.”

  Murdock laughed a little. “Shee-it, Marshal,” he sai
d, “you want to poke an Injun bitch, go out and get your own.” His companions thought this hilarious.

  Morgan shifted ever so slightly to his right and unloaded both barrels of buckshot into the two men sitting at the end of the table. Morgan did not know either of them, but they fell in bloody, shredded clumps.

  Morgan looked back at Murdock, whose face had stiffened in anger and, possibly, some fear. “You Spangler boys, how’d you get mixed up with shit ball there?” he asked as he reloaded his shotgun again.

  “We ain’t tellin’ you shit,” Kevin Spangler snapped.

  “No harm in tellin’ him, Kev,” Murdock said. “He ain’t gonna be alive long enough to make use of any of the information. Go on and tell him.”

  “We’re cousins,” Kevin Spangler said. “Once some asshole of a lawman killed...” His eyes got very wide. “You were the son of a bitch killed our brothers,” he said quietly.

  “Yep. And unless you and your shit-ball friends here want to end up like them, I’d suggest you toss your guns down now and give yourselves up.”

  “Sure, Marshall. Sure,” Kevin Spangler said unctuously. He began rising slowly from his chair. Then, suddenly, there was a six-gun in his hand.

  Morgan didn’t hesitate. He loosed both barrels of the shotgun. Kevin Spangler took a full load of buckshot in the chest and went down, his pistol clattering across the floor. The other blast hit nothing but wall, as everyone else at the table began moving.

  Murdock shoved straight back and then rose, kicking the chair away from him. As he moved, he kept his grip on the rope around Laughing Elk’s neck. She was pulled up and backward, until her back bounced up against Murdock’s front. He dropped the rope and swept his left hand around her, holding her in place with a hand cupping the girl’s right breast. It was obvious now that she was entirely naked. With his other hand, Murdock pulled a pistol and started firing at Morgan.

  Morgan dropped to one knee. He figured his main target now was Nordmeyer, who probably was the most dangerous of the men right at the moment. Morgan felt the cold calmness spreading through him like it always did at such times. He brought the Smith and Wesson up in his right hand and fired twice. One bullet clipped Nordmeyer, who was moving to his own right. The other missed entirely.