by Jake Logan
“Ha. You want me to leave this bottle with you?”
Slocum reached out and took it. “Thanks,” he said. Tipton went on in the house. Slocum took out a cigar and lit it. Then he sipped at his second drink until he finished it and poured himself another. He was sitting there smoking and sipping when he heard the door open behind him. He twisted his head and saw Jamie come out onto the porch.
“How’s the patient?” he asked.
“He’ll be all right,” Jamie said. “He took a shot in the shoulder, so he won’t be much good for anything for a spell, but it’ll mend.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Slocum. “You want a drink? Carl left the bottle with me.”
“After a day like today,” she said, “that sounds pretty good. I’ll just go get me a glass.”
She went into the house but was back in a jiffy, handing the glass to Slocum. He poured it full and gave it back to her. She sat down where Carl had been and sipped the drink.
“Ah,” she said. “That’s just what I needed.”
“Yeah,” said Slocum. “Me, too.”
“Slocum?” she said.
He looked at her. “Yes?”
“I was pretty smart with you that first day you were here,” she said. “I want to apologize for that.”
“Oh, there’s no apology called for,” he said.
“I just want you to know that I’m glad you’re here.”
“Thanks.”
She finished her drink and held the glass out toward Slocum. He gave her a curious look. “You sure you want another one?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said.
He poured the glass full a second time, and she took a long sip. Even in the darkness, he could tell that her face was flushed, and he had already taken note of the fact that her voice was slightly slurred. He was having mixed feelings about this little encounter. He thought again about Carl and Myrtle. What would they think if they found out that he was taking advantage of their daughter? But then, Jamie was a grown woman. She had her own mind. And just now, in the dim light of the night, she looked especially appealing. He was trying to decide what to say next when she saved him the trouble.
“Slocum,” she said, leaning in close to him, “kiss me.”
He leaned over and their lips met. Tenderly at first, then the kiss became more passionate with tongues probing and dueling with each other. At last they broke away. Slocum leaned back in his chair.
“Jamie,” he said, “this shouldn’t go any further.”
“I know you’ll ride away when this is all over,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about hurting me.”
“Your folks trust me,” he said.
“I’m a grown woman,” she said. “And everyone is asleep.”
“Not those two cowhands lurking around the house here,” he said.
“Oh,” she said. “Well, then, you go on in to your room, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Slocum tried to think of another reason that he should put a stop to this before it was too late, but nothing would come into his mind. He stood up, taking his glass and the whiskey bottle. “Well,” he said, “I’ll just say good night to you then. I’ll be going to my room.”
As he moved to the door, she smiled and said, “Good night, Slocum.”
Slocum was undressed and sitting on the edge of the bed with a drink in his hand when the door opened and Jamie slipped in. She closed the door behind herself quietly. She looked at him and smiled. A bit of moonlight was slightly illuminating the otherwise dark room. As she walked across the room, she took off one piece of clothing after another and dropped them to the floor. When she reached the bed, she was naked. She put one knee on the bed on each side of Slocum’s legs and sat down straddling his thighs. With her arms tight around him, she kissed him furiously on the mouth. Slocum’s hands stroked her bare back. She leaned into him until he fell over backwards onto the bed. Already he could feel his tool start to rise.
“Oh, Slocum,” she said, for she could feel it as well.
She crawled off of him and moved to the middle of the bed, getting onto her hands and knees. She turned her head to give him a coy look. “Do you want to take me from behind?” she said.
“Just like a stallion and mare,” he said.
He crawled in behind her and, on his knees, moved in close. Taking his engorged cock in his hand, he felt around for her waiting slit, and he rubbed the head of his member up and down until it was dripping wet with desire. Then he found just the right spot, and he thrust forward, deep into her lusciousness.
“Oh,” she said. “Oh. Oh. Oh.”
Slocum thrust in and pulled out again and again. Faster and faster. He pounded himself against her round, bare buttocks with loud slapping sounds.
“Oh. Oh. Oh,” she said.
He thought that he could finish quickly like this, but that wouldn’t be fair to her, so he stopped suddenly all the way in. He kept still, savoring the pleasure of the feeling inside her.
“Oh, that’s good,” she said.
Slocum slowly slipped out. “Why don’t you get on top and ride me?” he said.
“Oh, yeah.”
Slocum lay down on his back, his rigid tool standing almost straight up. She looked at it with delight in her eyes. Reaching out, she took hold of the slimy rod, then swung one leg over as if she were mounting a horse. Astraddle of him, she poked around with his rod until she found her own wet hole. Then she slid down all the way.
“Ah, my God,” she said.
She started to rock back and forth, slowly at first, moaning and groaning with pleasure at each movement. “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah,” she said. Her motions became faster and faster yet. At last she was humping furiously, moving as fast as she could. “Oh. Oh. Oh.” Slocum knew that he could not last much longer. He was relieved when she moaned out long and loud, and he knew that she was coming. He, too, was just about finished. He felt the building pressure in his heavy balls, and then he felt the sudden release gush over and over, shooting her full of his thick juices. Finally she stopped moving. She took a few deep breaths, and then she allowed herself to fall forward, pressing her breasts to his chest, pressing her lips to his.
“Slocum,” she said, “I am glad you’re here.”
11
Maw slapped Butcher hard across the face. “Ow, Maw, what was that for? Didn’t I do good?”
“You done just fine, boy,” said Maw. “The only thing is that I never told you to steal no cattle. I’m the one around here supposed to do the thinking. From now on you remember that.”
“But, Maw, Hump and them rode off and left us, and then there was all them cows, and we had to come back home anyhow, so we just thought we’d bring them along.”
Maw put her arms around Butcher and began petting his head. “It’s all right now,” she said. “If you’d have asked me, likely I’d have told you to go on ahead and do it. You done good. It’s just that you didn’t ask me. That’s all.”
“It won’t happen again, Maw.”
“See that it don’t.”
Across the room Skinny Clark lurked in as dark a shadow as he could find. He was hoping that Maw’s rage didn’t turn on him. He was relieved when she changed the subject.
“You boys sit down at the table now, and I’ll fetch you some coffee and something to eat.”
Skinny and Butcher took places at the table, and Maw poured them some coffee. Then she put a platter of bread on the table and went for something else. They heard horses ride up outside. Maw went to the door and opened it to see Hump and the rest of her brood dismounting.
“Take care of the horses and then come on in,” she said.
“Maw, my ear’s been shot off. I’m bleeding to death,” Hiram whimpered.
“I said take care of your horses and then come on in,” Maw bellowed. “I’ll look at it then.”
“Aw, Maw,” whined Hiram, but he started leading the horse toward the corral with the rest of the boys. Maw slammed the door a
nd went back to her work. She sliced off a chunk of brisket and put it on the table for Butcher and Skinny. Butcher took a knife to it. The two were still greedily stuffing their mouths with meat and bread and slurping coffee when Hump and the rest came in.
“Shut the door,” Maw said. “You wasn’t born in no barn, and I ought to know.”
Oscar, the last one in, shut the door. Hump was about to sit down, but Maw stopped him. “You wasn’t told to sit down,” she said. Hump stood back up and backed away from the table. “You all line up here in a straight line,” Maw said. They all lined up next to Hump. Maw went to the end of the line and slapped Oscar across the face.
“Maw, what—”
“Shut up,” she said.
She stepped to the next one and did the same. When she came to Hiram she looked at the bloody side of his head.
“You’ve done got yours,” she said. The next in line was Goofball McGiver. “You deserve it as much as any, but you ain’t mine to slap,” she said. She continued slapping her way down the line until she came to Hump. She stopped and looked him hard in the face.
“Maw,” he said, “What’s this—”
She drew back and slapped him hard, harder than she had slapped any of the others. Before he had time to react to the first slap, she smacked him again on the other cheek, and then again and again.
“You’re the oldest, Hump,” she said. “You’d ought to know better. You don’t go off on your own. You come to me if you think you got a plan. Ask me about it. Do you understand me? Well, do you?”
“Yes, Maw,” said Hump. “But we didn’t think that you was going to have us do anything right away. We thought the time was right and—”
“Was the time right?” she said.
“Well—”
“What did you accomplish?”
“Well, they was waiting for us, and—”
“And you got one horse killed and your brother’s ear shot off. You see what happens when you act on your own?”
“Yes, Maw.”
“Now, I want you to listen to me. All of you.” She turned on Butcher and Skinny who were still stuffing their mouths. “I said all of you. Put that down and listen.” The two laid down the food that was in their hands and stopped chewing, looking at Maw intently. “From now on, no one does anything that I ain’t told you to do. I mean you two as well, you Skinny and Goofball. You ain’t my own boys, but as long as you’re hanging around here, you do what I say. You got that?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Skinny said.
“Yes’m,” said Goofball.
“Now,” she said, “the only ones that done any good tonight was the two you left behind. Butcher and Skinny brought home a bunch of Tipton’s beef.” She grinned, and the boys relaxed. She was over her rage. “Well,” she went on, “they used to be Tipton’s beef. Now all you boys find yourself a place to perch, and I’ll get you something to eat.”
“Maw,” said Hiram, “what about my ear?”
“Oh, hell,” she said, “it’s quit bleeding. It’s all scabbed up. When you’ve et you can wash it off.”
“But it’s shot off.”
“It ain’t shot off,” she said. “It’s just shot in two. It looks to me like both pieces is still hanging onto the side of your head. Now do like I said and shut up about it.”
. . .
“A big section of fence was cut out last night, and a whole mess of cattle was drove out going toward the Beamer’s place,” Randy Self said.
“Damn,” said Tipton.
They had just finished breakfast when Randy had knocked on the door. Tipton and Slocum each still had a coffee cup in their hands and were still sitting at the table. Myrtle and Jamie were in the kitchen cleaning up, but when Jamie heard Randy talking, she stepped through the door to listen. In another moment, Myrtle appeared in the doorway wiping her hands on a towel.
“You want us to go after them?” said Randy.
“Hell, yes,” Tipton said. “I’ll ride with you.”
“I don’t advise it,” said Slocum. “Not just yet.”
“What?” said Tipton, turning to face Slocum. “Why the hell not?”
“It looks to me like that attack on the house last night might’ve been just to keep our attention here while they drove off them cows. If that’s the case, they’re liable to be laying in wait for us.”
“But we outnumber the bastards,” said Tipton.
“We’re still better off getting them over here on your own range,” said Slocum. “We want to be in the clear when that marshal shows up. They won’t do much with the cattle for a few days anyhow.”
“So what do we do?” Tipton said. “Just sit here on our thumbs?”
“Let’s you and me and a couple of the boys take a ride into town and have a talk with the judge,” Slocum said.
“At least we can get clear with the judge before we do anything else.”
“All right,” said Tipton. “Let’s go get it over with.”
Soon Slocum, Tipton, Charlie Hope, and Joe rode into Breakneck. They tied their horses in front of the judge’s office and went inside. Judge Aubrey Lennon stood up as they walked in and shook hands with Carl Tipton.
“Hello, Carl,” he said. “What brings you in here?”
“Well, you notice I come in force,” said Tipton. “That’s just in case any of them damn Beamers is lurking around on the road or in town.”
“Can’t say I blame you for that,” said the judge. “I got some news for you. Good and bad.”
“What’s the good news?” said Tipton.
“The sheriff’s come around. He’ll be down for a spell yet, but he’s talking. It was Hump Beamer who shot him. He was looking at him right in the face when it happened.”
“I knew it,” said Tipton.
“Well, I think we all did,” said Lennon, “but now we got proof.”
“What’s the bad news?” Slocum said.
The judge looked over at Slocum with a long face. “I got an answer to my wire,” he said. “We can’t have a U.S. marshal here for another couple of weeks.”
“Anything can happen in that time,” Slocum said.
“Yeah,” the judge agreed.
“Listen here, Aubrey,” Tipton said. “The Beamers attacked my house last night. We were ready for them, and drove them off without anyone getting hurt. But about the same time that was happening, some of them stole a herd of my cattle and killed Ace. They shot up Trotter, too. He managed to get back to the ranch house and warn us. Aubrey, we got to do something.”
The judge paced the floor and stroked his chin whiskers for a moment. Then he turned to face Tipton again.
“I got me an idea,” he said. “We got the goods on Brace for his attempted murder on you and for escaping jail. And now we got the goods on Hump for shooting the sheriff and breaking Brace out of jail. I’ll put out a notice that they’re wanted men. That’ll make them fair game for anyone bold enough to shoot at them.”
“What about the rest of them?” Tipton said.
“My guess is that if anyone should go after Brace and Hump, the others will stand up for them. If they were to get shot down in the process, well, that’s just the way it is.”
“How soon can you get that done?” Slocum asked.
“If you men want to hang around town for a while, I’ll have it all taken care of.”
“You can find us over at the Hogneck,” Tipton said. “Let’s go, boys.”
They walked out of Lennon’s office and straight across to the Hogneck. Tipton called for a bottle and four glasses and led the way to an empty table where they all sat down. In a couple of minutes, Goosey brought the bottle and glasses, and Tipton paid him. Then he poured a round of drinks.
“Thanks, Mr. Tipton,” said Joe.
“Yeah,” said Charlie. “Thank you.”
“Drink up,” said Tipton.
Slocum looked around and noted with pleasure that Bonita was nowhere to be seen. These two cowhands likely knew all about the old m
an’s affair, but he still did not really want to witness any more of it if he didn’t have to. He picked up his drink and took a sip. It was really a little early in the day for him. Still, the whiskey was good.
“I wish Aubrey would hurry it up with that business,” Tipton said. “I don’t like being away from the ranch while all this is still up in the air.”
“It’ll be all right,” Slocum said. “Randy’s got a good handle on things. He’s got the guards out in all the right places, and there ain’t no cows on that range where the Beamers hit before.”
“They could hit somewhere else,” Tipton said.
“Not likely,” said Slocum. “Where they hit was the easiest place for them to drive the cows on over to their place. I think we’ll be all right for a spell.”
“They’re a bunch of chickenshits,” said Tipton, “and that’s for sure.”
“We’ll take care of them,” said Slocum, “just as soon as that judge gets that paperwork done.”
“We’re all ready to go,” said Joe.
“Yeah,” said Charlie. “You know we’re all with you.”
“I know that, boys,” said Tipton, “and I thank you for it.”
With four men drinking, the bottle was soon empty, and Tipton called out to Goosey for another. Goosey brought it right away, and Tipton paid again. Again, he poured the rounds.
“Goosey,” he said, “you seen any Beamers around town this morning?”
“No, sir,” said Goosey. “Ain’t seen any of them for a few days. Not since Slocum killed that one out in the street.”
“Okay,” said Tipton. “Thanks.”
“Why don’t you try to relax a little, Carl,” Slocum said. “We’re fixing to be in control here.”
“I guess you’re right about that, Slocum, but there’s killing to be done. Lots of killing.”
“That’s my job,” said Slocum.
They had just about finished the second bottle when Aubrey Lennon came walking in with a stack of papers. He walked straight to the table where Slocum and the others were sitting, and he tossed the papers down in front of Tipton. They were wanted posters offering a reward of $100 each for the capture of Brace Beamer and Hump Beamer for attempted murder and for jailbreaking.