Tanner's Law

by Charles G. West

  Tanner had never seen a busier town than Virginia City. There were people everywhere, and it appeared that there was not a shovelful of dirt left unturned in the whole gulch. They passed claim after claim with men shoveling, or pushing wheelbarrows of dirt, or feeding sluice boxes. The thought swept through his mind that he might never find Ike Leach in this mass of people. He pulled his horse to a stop to let a bull-train of sixteen horses, pulling three wagons linked together, rumble by on the muddy street. He glanced at Jack, a look of dismay in his eyes.

  “I feel the same way, partner,” Jack remarked. “Too damn many people.”

  Tanner shook his head, but having lost none of his resolve, he said, “Might as well start lookin’. We’ll start with the saloons.”

  “Helluva idea,” Jack said, smacking his lips.

  For the next three days, Tanner searched every saloon and business establishment in Virginia City and Nevada City, but there was no sign of Ike Leach, and no one who remembered seeing him. Convinced that Ike had to be there somewhere, Tanner reluctantly left Virginia City to search the smaller towns along the gulch.

  Chapter 18

  “That’s a right nasty-lookin’ cut you got across your cheek there, Leach,” Bob Gentry remarked. “Looks painful.”

  “It ain’t nothin’,” Ike said with a scowl. “Damn horse rode me right into a tree branch.”

  “I had a horse do that to me once,” another man at the table said. “Rode me right into a spruce limb, tryin’ to knock me outta the saddle. I got me a limb about the size of my arm, and broke it across that nag’s face. It broke her of that trick.”

  “I expect that’s what I shoulda done,” Ike said. “Whose deal is it?” he asked, impatient to change the subject.

  “Mine,” Gentry replied, and picked up the deck to shuffle.

  The card game continued, having started soon after Ike came into the saloon shortly after seven. It appeared to be his lucky night, as the cards kept falling his way. Outside, a lone figure moved among the horses tied at the rail, checking the front left hoof of each animal. He stopped when he found what he was looking for, a horse with a broken shoe. Knowing it to be the horse he had trailed all the way from Tom Ellis’ claim, Johnny Becker went in the saloon to find the rider.

  His attention was drawn immediately to the tall thin man seated at the poker table with his back to the corner. The fresh slash across his face looked like it could have been caused by a grazing bullet. Johnny studied the thin man’s face. There was a menacing look about the man, enough so that Johnny was hesitant about confronting him alone. In his judgment it would be wiser to summon the group of miners who had descended on Ellis’ claim when they heard the shooting. He sidled over to the bar. “How long do you expect that game’ll go on?” he asked the bartender.

  “Them fellers?” the bartender responded. “Hell, till I run ’em out. They’d play all night if I let ’em.”

  Johnny nodded, stood there for a moment, then moved casually toward the door. Once outside, he jumped on his horse and hightailed it back up the gulch.

  The hour was late, but the game continued, even though no one at the table was enjoying it but the dark sinister-looking man with the slash across his face. With a smile of satisfaction never seen before by the others at the table, Ike raked in pot after pot. “Damn if I don’t believe I’ve lost about all I can stand for one night,” Bob Gentry complained as he threw his cards in.

  “You ain’t quittin’, are you, Gentry?” Ike taunted. “I figured you for more guts than that.”

  Of like mind, the other two players threw their cards in as well. “That’s enough for me, too,” one of them said. “It’s time I was gettin’ back to my place,” the other chimed in.

  “Ain’t even gonna try to get your money back?” Ike was gloating. He leaned back in his chair, unable to suppress a wicked chuckle, as the three losers ambled toward the door. It was the biggest payday he could remember that he had come by honestly. “Come back tomorrow,” he called after them. “Maybe your luck will change.”

  In the dimly lit doorway, a broad-shouldered man dressed in animal hides and carrying a Spencer rifle stepped aside to let the three cardplayers pass. When the door closed behind them, he stood searching the room until his gaze fell upon the gaunt man seated at the table.

  Still chuckling to himself, Ike watched his benefactors until they went out the door. The smile on his face froze when he suddenly discovered the shadowy figure standing where there had been no one moments before. He couldn’t see the face, but he immediately felt a sense of alarm. He pushed his chair back from the table as the specter stepped into the light. “Tanner Bland!” Ike blurted involuntarily, his eyes wide with terror. He grabbed for his pistol. Like the angel of death himself, Tanner calmly leveled the rifle and pumped a slug into Ike’s chest before the horrified man could draw his revolver from his belt. Still alive, but mortally wounded, Ike fell back in the chair, his face a twisted mask of terror as the relentless agent of doom walked slowly toward him. Cocking the rifle, Tanner fired a second shot into the dying man’s body, still walking forward until standing directly over him. The third and last bullet split Ike’s forehead.

  Tanner stood before the body, sprawled now in a grotesque posture in the chair, scarcely able to believe that it was finally over, and Jeb and the others could at last rest in peace. Aware of the total silence around him, as several pairs of eyes stared wide in frightened shock, he turned and slowly made his way toward the door.

  Outside, he was startled to find himself facing six armed men, miners from the look of them—no doubt vigilantes—and all with rifles or shotguns aimed at him. “That ain’t him,” Johnny Becker said. “He wasn’t here before.”

  A gray-haired man, who looked to be in charge, said, “Keep your guns on him, boys. He might be a friend of the other one. Johnny, go in and see what the shootin’ was all about.” He directed his next words toward Tanner. “All right, mister, you can just step down off that porch and drop that rifle on the ground.”

  Tanner stepped down to the street, but he did not drop his rifle. “You’ve got no quarrel with me. The man I shot was a murderer. I’ve done you no harm.”

  “Is that a fact?” the gray-haired man replied. “Well, I reckon we’ll see about that. Cut him down if he so much as blinks an eye, boys.” Glancing up at Johnny coming back out the door, he asked, “What did you find, Johnny?”

  “The one I saw before’s inside, deader’n hell. This’un shot him.” He pointed to Tanner.

  Standing patiently, Tanner said, “I told you that. He was a murderer.”

  “I don’t doubt that he was,” the gray-haired man said. “I don’t know what you two were arguing about, probably over splittin’ poor Tom Ellis’ gold dust, but we don’t stand for wild gunmen like you in Junction, and somebody’s gotta hang for Tom’s death. Now, drop that rifle like I told you.”

  Thoughts raced through Tanner’s mind like lightning as he stood facing the six armed men. So this is the way it’s going to end, he thought. One thing he knew for certain—he had no hope if he dropped his rifle. I’d rather be shot than hanged, he thought. After a long moment, he spoke. “I told you, I didn’t have anything to do with your friend’s death, but if you’re thinkin’ on hangin’ me, then I’m takin’ somebody with me. I expect I might be able to get two of you, but I’m sure I can get you.” He nodded at the gray-haired man.

  Not expecting to find himself in that situation, the spokesman for the lynch party hesitated. Not willing to back down in front of his neighbors, he blustered, “You’re talkin’ crazy, mister. We’ve got you outnumbered six to one.”

  “I expect you’d best make that six to two.” The voice came from behind the group.

  Tanner almost smiled as the sudden announcement caused immediate concern within the citizen posse. They began to shuffle around in obvious discomfort. All parties were startled when another voice called out, “Maybe you’d best make that six to three.”

  S
training to see who had decided to join in his defense, Tanner looked beyond the hitching rail to see a figure emerge from the shadows. The walk seemed familiar, and when the man stepped into the lantern light, Tanner exclaimed, “Trenton!”

  “Howdy, brother,” Trenton replied.

  Taking advantage of the hanging party’s loss of resolve in the face of certain casualties, Jack Flagg took command. “All right, this little set-to is over. Tanner here didn’t have nothin’ to do with your friend’s killin’. You fellers go on back and bury him. The man you needed to hang is in there dead.”

  There was little hesitation. The posse broke directly for their horses. The gray-haired man hurriedly said, “Justice has been served,” and rode after the others.

  Shocked almost speechless, Tanner moved to meet his brother. Equally speechless at that moment, Trenton stared into his brother’s face, scarcely believing he had found him. Then as if on signal, they embraced in a big bear hug while Jack Flagg watched amazed. Tanner was the first to speak. “Trenton, what the hell are you doin’ out here?”

  “I came lookin’ for you,” Trenton said.

  Tanner called Jack Flagg over. “This is my brother Trenton,” he said before responding to Trenton’s remark.

  “Lookin’ for me? Is everything all right at home?” He looked around as if expecting other surprises. “Is Ellie with you?”

  “No, she’s at home.”

  “How in hell did you find me?” Tanner still found it hard to believe.

  “I got to Fort Laramie a day after you left. The fellow in the post trader’s store remembered you. I tagged along with an army surveyor’s team. Otherwise, I don’t know how I would have gotten here.”

  “You still haven’t told me why you came all this way to find me,” Tanner insisted.

  “Why don’t we get on our horses and mosey the hell away from here,” Jack said interrupting the reunion. “Before them miners come back with a bigger posse.”

  “I expect that’s a good idea,” Tanner said. “Come on, Trenton. We’ve got a camp up at the other end of the gulch.”

  Back in camp, Jack announced that he was going to boil a pot of coffee, and discreetly excused himself in case the brothers had a private matter to discuss. Trenton joined Tanner while he watered the horses. He stumbled over his words at first, but was finally able to speak his piece.

  “I came out here to find you because there’s somethin’ I’ve got to say to you. I can’t live with myself any longer till I get it said.”

  “Why don’t you just come on out and say it?” Tanner said.

  “All right. Tanner, I feel like I stole Ellie while you were away still fightin’ in the war. I swear, we all thought you were dead. Ellie wouldn’t have ever married me if she thought you were still alive, and I can’t make her a decent husband knowing I cheated you out of your life. I know I broke your heart, and I don’t know what to do about it other than to say that she’s rightfully yours and I’ll step aside if you come home.”

  Tanner didn’t say anything for a long moment while he thought about what Trenton had said. “I’ll bet Ellie doesn’t know that’s what you came out here to say,” he finally said.

  “No. I told her I had to find you to sign some papers to make sure you were part owner of the farm.”

  Tanner turned his head toward his gray Indian pony, stroking the horse’s neck while he spoke. “Well, brother, I’m glad to see you, but you wasted your time if that’s all you wanted to tell me. You don’t need to apologize to me for anything. You know, I was gone from home a long time. A man can change in that length of time, and that’s what happened to me. I didn’t know how I was gonna tell Ellie that I’d changed my mind about gettin’ married. And I was just tickled that things worked out between you and her.”

  Trenton’s eyes misted with the emotion he was experiencing. “You mean that? You and Ellie were always—”

  “A long time ago,” Tanner interrupted. “You go on back home and take care of that wife of yours. You’ve certainly got my blessing. I wasn’t cut out for farmin’.”

  “You don’t love her?”

  “Of course not,” Tanner replied. “Haven’t for a long time.” When he felt safe to turn and face Trenton again, he could see the relief in his brother’s face, as if a great load had been lifted. “Me and Jack’ll see you back to Fort Laramie. Then we’ve got some business to tend to in an Arapaho village down in Colorado Territory. Right, Jack?” he said as he passed by the rambunctious little man.

  “That’s right,” Jack cheerfully agreed. When Trenton walked over to fetch something from his saddlebags, Jack said just above a whisper, “I overheard what you just told your brother, and I reckon I’ve been around you long enough now to know when you’re lying like a blind dog.”

  “You ain’t as smart as you think you are, partner,” Tanner said. In his heart, he knew it was all a lie. He had loved Eleanor Marshall for as long as he could remember, and he would always love her. In this hostile world, that was the only thing he knew that would always be true.