by Tell Cotten
I dismounted and tied Desperate to a tree branch, and then I went on a-foot. It was very brushy, and I made myself invisible as I crept forward.
I went forward about two hundred yards or so, and then the ground sloped downwards into a dry, old lakebed. It was a very steep incline, and I stood near the edge as I looked around.
There, squatting beside a campfire at the other end, was Jake. He was with two other men, and they seemed to be talking something over.
I tried to get a good look at the two strangers, but they were too far out. However, the biggest one did look sort-a familiar.
It was while I was standing there on that steep bank that my foot slipped. I fell down, and before I could catch myself I slid feet-first down the bank and into the lakebed.
My fall made a loud noise, and all three of them wheeled around sharply.
I was irritated at myself, but I had to forget about it and face the current situation.
A quick look told me I was boxed in. My only option was to take them head on.
I stood, and then I made sure that my Colt pistol was still in place.
Meanwhile, Jake and the two strangers spread out, and they just stood there as they waited for me.
I took a deep breath and stepped out to meet them.
Chapter seventy-one
I walked slow and deliberate, and my eyes didn’t miss a thing.
Them spreading out was bad. That meant I would have to turn and shoot at each one, and I wasn’t going to have that much time.
I was in trouble, and my mind worked furiously.
The big man I thought I had recognized was to my left. Jake was over to my right, while the stranger stood directly in front of me.
As I got closer I recognized the big man, and I wasn’t surprised. It was Cliff Curtis, and I could tell that he recognized me too.
Jake let out a low, vicious laugh.
“Well now, if this ain’t a real nice surprise,” Jake sneered. “Boys, this here is Joe Lenders, the straw boss of the outfit!”
Cliff Curtis was puzzled, and he narrowed his eyes.
A desperate plan had come to mind, and I didn’t stop walking until I had reached the campfire.
I spotted a couple of cups and a pot of coffee beside the fire, and I was relieved to see it.
“Mind if I get me a cup of coffee?” I asked.
“Go ahead,” Jake scoffed. “It’s going to be your last.”
I squatted on my heels and poured myself a cup. Now, at the moment I really didn’t want any coffee, but I was sure counting on it now to save my life.
I was taking a chance as I squatted down like that, for if any one of them had decided to draw I would have been out of position for a fast draw. But I was trying desperately to buy some time, and I was also trying to make a distraction.
Cliff Curtis spoke up.
“I ain’t sure what’s going on here, but I do know that this ain’t Joe Lenders,” he said.
“What?” Jake asked with a startled look. “How do you know that?”
“Because I’ve rode with him,” Cliff answered.
“Then who is he?” Jake asked irritably.
“Rondo Landon,” Cliff replied.
I couldn’t help but grin as Jake looked at me in surprise.
“Of course!” Jake exclaimed. “I knew I’d seen your face before!”
I put the cup to my lips and took a quick sip.
“Took you long enough to figure it out,” I said.
Jake’s eyes went flat and hard, and I knew that he was fixing to draw. But I needed to stall him, because I still needed a bit more time.
I stood slowly, and I held the steaming cup of coffee in my left hand. Meanwhile, my gun hand hung ready by my side.
“So, I take it you boys are in with Kinrich,” I said.
Cliff nodded, and his voice almost had an apologetic sound to it.
“That’s the way it is, Rondo. We’re going to be hitting your herd any day now.”
“And it’s going to be a lot easier with you outta the way,” Jake sneered.
“Who says I’m outta the way?” I asked innocently.
“You’re fixing to be,” Jake replied curtly.
I was running out of things to say, and I was also running out of time. All three of them stood posed and ready, and I knew they were about to draw.
It was time to get that distraction I so badly needed.
I jerked my cup sideways and purposely spilled hot coffee all over my hand.
“Ouch!” I hollered.
For a split second, everybody’s eyes went to my hand. In that same instant, I dropped the cup, drew my gun, and in one thundering sound shot Jake dead center in the chest with two shots. Meanwhile, in the same quick motion, I then dove to my left and rolled over on the ground while bullets flew over me.
I came up on one knee and fired at the stranger in the middle. Both my shots took him in the belly, and he went flying backwards.
I turned to Cliff.
Cliff was just bringing up his six-shooter, and he got off a quick shot.
His bullet whipped by my head while I took aim and fired only once. My bullet took him in his shoulder, and the impact spun him around violently and made him drop his six-shooter.
Cliff started to bend over and pick it up, but I stopped him.
“Touch that gun and I’ll kill you!” I said tersely. “I’ve still got one more bullet with your name on it.”
Cliff knew he was beat.
“Take it easy,” he told me as he raised his one good arm. “I’m done for.”
“Step away from that gun,” I ordered roughly.
Cliff obliged, and I went on.
“There’s only one reason I didn’t kill you. I want you to take a message to Kinrich.”
Cliff looked up, and there was a flicker of hope in his eyes.
“What’s the message?” Cliff asked.
“Tell him to lay off, and let us pass,” I said.
“I’ll tell him, but he won’t do it,” Cliff warned.
“I know it, but at least he’ll have been warned,” I replied. “Now get going before I change my mind.”
Cliff needed no more encouraging. As fast as he could he climbed up on his horse, and I kept my gun trained on him until he was out of sight.
As soon as he was gone, I reloaded and holstered my pistol.
It was then that I heard a rustling sound from behind. I twirled around, and my six-shooter was back in my hand when I saw Lee coming out of the woods.
“I’m having the hardest time believing what I just saw,” Lee said as he rode up. “Would you mind doing that again?”
“What are you doing here?” I demanded as I ignored Lee’s comment.
“As soon as I got back to the herd Ross told me to come after you,” Lee explained. “We figured you might need some help, but after seeing what I just saw I know different now.”
“I got lucky, is all,” I replied.
“Lucky! No, that wasn’t luck,” Lee answered back matter-of-factly. “You killing Lieutenant Porter was impressive. But this…,” his voice trailed off as he shook his head in disbelief.
Lee carried on some more about it, but I didn’t care to hear it. The fact that I had just killed two more men made me irritable, and I wanted to get away from here as soon as possible.
Lee had a small shovel in his pack, so we got busy and dug two graves. We got them buried, and then we picked up Desperate and headed back to the herd.
I wasn’t very talkative, but Lee was, and I had to listen to him brag on what he had just seen the whole way back.
Lee was impressed, but I wasn’t.
Being a feared gunfighter was the last thing I wanted. But, it seemed like there was no way of avoiding it.
Chapter seventy-two
Cliff Curtis had mentioned that Kinrich would be hitting the herd any day now, and Ross looked worried when I told him that.
We were just about to ride out to the herd the next morni
ng when Ross pulled me and Lee aside.
“Lee, there’s something I want you to do for me,” Ross said.
“Name it,” Lee replied.
“I’d like you to backtrack a ways and see if you can find Yancy,” Ross said. “Tell him to be expecting a move from Kinrich any day now.”
Lee nodded thoughtfully.
“That’s a good idea.”
Lee started to ride off, but I stopped him.
“Could you give Yancy a message from me too?” I asked.
Lee turned in the saddle and looked curiously at me.
“What’s the message?”
“I want you to tell him that I’m planning on turning myself in when this is all over,” I said. “And make sure and reassure him that I ain’t in with Kinrich. Him knowing that might come in handy when the shooting starts.”
Lee frowned.
“Are you sure you don’t want to think this over some more? Once I tell Yancy it’ll be too late,” Lee warned.
I shook my head stubbornly.
“No, I’ve thought on it all that I need to.”
Lee sighed and shook his head.
“All right, Rondo, I’ll tell him,” Lee said, and then he kicked up his horse.
After Lee was gone, Ross looked at me with a thoughtful look.
“If Kinrich’s planning on hitting our herd soon then he’s got to be close by,” Ross reasoned.
“Probably is,” I agreed, and then I asked, “You want me to ride on up ahead and look around?”
“Might not be a bad idea,” Ross said. “But you be careful.”
“Always am,” I replied, and then I took out going north.
I had traveled through this country some when I was with Kinrich, and I knew the country somewhat. In fact, I remembered a place that Kinrich liked to camp at, so I decided to ride over there and have a look.
The thought came to me that if I could find out where Kinrich was camped that we might attack him instead of waiting for him to attack us. It would be a bold and risky move, but well worth it.
I rode briskly, and an hour later I was about five miles north of the herd. It was a hot, damp morning, and already my face was covered with sweat.
It was then that I rode across a pair of horse tracks. It was a shod pony, and the tracks went due west.
I pulled up Desperate and looked the tracks over curiously.
I figured the tracks had been made sometime during the morning. And, just like Jake’s tracks had been, these tracks were as straight as they could be.
Curiosity got the best of me, so I fell in with the tracks and followed after them. I made good time, for they were real easy to follow. In fact, they almost seemed too easy, as if the rider wanted to be followed.
But why would anybody want to be followed?
The thought made me uneasy, and I reached down and checked my six-shooter. It was loaded and ready for anything, and just knowing that made me feel better.
The country I was riding through was mostly open, with long, gentle slopes. But up ahead loomed some deep canyons that had plenty of places a feller could hide in. Matter of fact, up ahead was where I had camped with Kinrich before, and these tracks were heading straight for it.
I pulled up Desperate when I reached the base of the canyons, and I took a slow look around as I studied my surroundings. This had the feeling of a trap, and I was wary.
I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. So, I kicked up Desperate, and we topped out on the canyon.
It was then that I smelled smoke. It was campfire smoke, and it was close.
I dismounted and tied Desperate to a tree branch, and then I went on a-foot.
I made a little turn. Then, directly in front of me, I saw the camp. It was a small camp, and I only saw one horse tied to a nearby tree.
I looked over by the fire, and that’s when I saw him. This feller was by himself, and he was smoking a cigarette as he leaned up against a log.
The scene before me looked mighty familiar, and it was almost as if I had stepped back in time.
I stepped out into the open, and the man didn’t even flinch. I walked on up to the fire, and only then did the man look up.
He looked me over silently, and his cold glare was a look that I knew all too well.
“Took you long enough,” Ben Kinrich finally said. “I left you a trail so easy a blind man could have followed it.”
Chapter seventy-three
Ben Kinrich sat before me; the man who had once been my friend.
I could tell with just one look that this was no longer the same person. His boyish smile was gone. Instead, it was replaced with a cold, tight smile, and there was an extra hardness in Kinrich’s face that I had never seen before.
Lee had been right. The man in front of me was nothing more than a killer, and a mighty dangerous one at that.
“Got your message,” Kinrich stated matter-of-factly. “’Fraid I’ll have to disappoint you.”
“Hate to hear that,” I replied. “I was hoping you’d let us pass.”
“Nope,” Kinrich replied, and then with a curious look he asked me, “How’d you figure out that Jake was with me?”
I smiled.
“Never trust a man that’s named ‘Mr. Smith’ or ‘Mr. Jones,’” I said. “Remember?”
There was a small smile that tugged at the corners of Kinrich’s mouth, but that was all.
“By the way, you might like to know that I killed ‘Mr. Jones,’” I said.
“Oh?” Kinrich asked.
I explained.
When I finished Kinrich nodded slowly, and then it fell silent as Kinrich eyed me.
It was an odd look. I could see anger and hostility, but there was also a sort of professional carefulness in his eyes.
“What happened to you after the Injun fight?” Kinrich asked. “After we got split up I went back to the valley, but you never showed up.”
“I’m sorry, Kinrich,” I said sincerely. “I just couldn’t take being an outlaw no more.”
“You quit on me, Button,” Kinrich said, and his eyes shone angrily. “I saved your life, Button, and I also taught you everything worth knowing. Why, I even took you under my wing when you had no place to go. Nursed you back to health after you’d been shot, and even offered to quit and get ourselves our own outfit, just the two of us.
“But I reckon you didn’t want that,” Kinrich said darkly. “You just left, and you didn’t even come and say goodbye. After all we had been through, I figured you would have had better manners than that.”
“Sorry you feel that a-way,” I replied. “But I just had to leave.”
“Why?” Kinrich wanted to know.
“You said it yourself: out west men make up their own rules,” I said. “Well, being an outlaw was against my rules. It just took me a while to figure that out.”
Kinrich didn’t reply. Instead, he just shook his head in disgust.
“It’s also against my rules to kill an honest, good man,” I continued. “And, that’s just what I did when I killed that lawman.”
“Thought you were tougher than that,” Kinrich muttered. “Besides, you didn’t kill that lawman. I did.”
That statement really startled me. And, that’s just what Kinrich wanted, for it made me lose my focus for a second. Just like my spilling the coffee had distracted Jake and the others, Kinrich’s statement did the same to me.
Soon as he said it he drew, and I was a split second slower.
Kinrich shot straight and true, and before I even had my gun out I felt a hard blast in the shoulder. The impact spun me around violently. I hit the ground hard, and everything started spinning out of control.
Kinrich jumped to his feet with his six-shooter in hand.
I was helpless. I couldn’t move, and I had dropped my six-shooter. All I could do was look up at Kinrich.
“Sorry, but you’ve cost me four men,” Kinrich explained. “You killed two, and Brian Clark had to take Cliff home. I needed to get yo
u outta the way.”
I was hit hard. But, I still had my senses about me, and I was thinking only of one thing.
“What did you mean when you said that I didn’t kill that lawman?” I gasped.
Kinrich shrugged.
“Just that. He came out of that bank blasting, and you were the first thing he hit. It was while he was shooting you that I took care of him.”
“But I remember firing my gun!” I protested.
Kinrich nodded.
“You did. Your shots took out the bank window. Shattered it to bits.”
By now everything around me was really swirling, and I was feeling numb all over. But there was a rage building in me like I had never felt before, and it kept me alert.
“All this time you’ve been making me carry the blame,” I said through clenched teeth.
Kinrich shrugged again.
“Didn’t know it mattered so much to you,” he said.
I couldn’t answer. I was feeling weak, and things were getting real dim.
“Well, I gotta be going,” Kinrich said.
Kinrich started to leave, but then he turned back.
“I should kill you, but you did save my life a couple of times. This makes us even, and I ain’t in the mood to be handing out anymore favors. Next time, I’ll be shooting to kill.”
I tried to reply, but couldn’t. Darkness started closing in, and I must have passed out, because I don’t remember anything else.
Chapter seventy-four
It was deep into the night, and our coffee was long gone. Both Yancy and Judge Parker were leaning forward as they listened intently to my every word.
“So there it is. Now you know the complete truth,” I said.
Judge Parker and Yancy glanced at each other, and then they stood and stretched. I wanted to, but I was hurting too bad.
“And that’s the last thing you remember?” Yancy asked as they sat back down.
I nodded.
“I don’t even know what day it is,” I admitted.
“It’s a Tuesday,” Yancy said.
I nodded.