Jessie watched their neighbor ride away in a sturdy buckboard. He was joined beyond the house by three men who took guard positions on both sides and behind their boss. Fletcher traveled at a leisurely pace, his departure creating little dust. Jessie saw him constantly look from right to left as he surveyed the land he craved. “It’s working, Papa; we have him plenty worried. If he weren’t nervous, he wouldn’t have come here to threaten us.”
“How can a man look and sound so innocent and be so dang guilty!” Jed stormed. “No wonder they all believe him. He’s like Lucifer, Jess; he can fool you if you aren’t sharpeyed and careful.”
After Jed walked away, Mary Louise joined her thoughtful sister. “He’s a real man, Jessica. How can you and Father suspect him of such wickedness? I was horribly embarrassed when Father was so rude to him.”
“If you had to clean up after his evil deeds like we have, little sister, he wouldn’t look so good to you!” she snapped. “I guess you realize now he lied about moving to Dallas!”
“What’s biting your backside?” Mary Louise asked with a frown.
“Secretive men,” Jessie replied, then hurried back to her chores.
* * *
Jessie told Navarro about their talk with Fletcher. “The liar!” she concluded.
“What if he is telling the truth, Jessie? What if somebody is trying to force out both of you? We don’t have any proof it’s him. He’s only our best suspect.”
Jessie stared at him. “Don’t you start that nonsense, too. Mary Louise is convinced it isn’t him. That smooth talker even has Papa questioning himself.”
“The next time he comes around, I want to meet him and size him up. A man gives away a lot in his voice and gaze. Sometimes there are clues in his words if you listen close.”
“That hasn’t worked for me where you’re concerned. But it has with Fletcher. I’m positive he’s guilty, Navarro. I would never go against him if I weren’t.”
“I’ll take your word and keep working on him for you.”
Miguel called for Navarro to come give him a hand. Jessie watched her love walk away. She didn’t know how long she could hold him here. He certainly did not intend to become a ranch hand. Her emotions were in a maelstrom. If they left Fletcher alone or only responded blow for blow, Navarro would have little but hard ranch work to occupy him. If they attacked continuously and won, Navarro would leave. Either way, she couldn’t keep him very long.
Wednesday, things got worse. Scout and fifty steers were shot. “Scout was a trained longhorn who led our cattle to market,” Jessie explained to Navarro. “He kept the herd calm, moving, and under control. He’ll be a big loss. We’ll have to get the others skinned. Some will have to be cut up and buried. We can’t save this much meat or get it into town to sell.”
“It’s a good trail, Mr. Lane,” Navarro told Jed. “I’ll follow it while it’s fresh. They didn’t even try to conceal it. That’s strange.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jessie said.
Navarro shook his head. “You have too much work to do. I’ll go alone.”
“There could be trouble,” she argued. “It might be an ambush. I’m—”
“All the more reason not to go, Jess,” Jed interrupted.
“We can’t let Navarro take such a risk for us, Papa.”
“I’ll be careful, Jessie.”
Navarro reported back at dusk. “The trail led to Fletcher’s land, but he had men riding fence so I had to turn back. By now they’ve destroyed it.”
“I can’t go blow for blow this time. I don’t murder innocent critters to get even. We can’t rustle his herd, either. That’s too dangerous. Let me think a while.”
Sheriff Toby Cooper arrived Thursday to question them about the windmills and fife. The lanky lawman looked distressed to be suspecting the Lanes.
“Where would we get dynamite?” Jed scoffed. “That’s crazy! And we wouldn’t start a fire, either. It could spread to my land. Ever seen a prairie fire? You can’t stop one. I think Fletcher did those things so he could point a finger at me and away from himself. That rich bastard can afford to replace them all a thousand times without feeling a pinch in his pocket. If I wanted to hurt him, I’d shoot the bastard!”
“Don’t do that, Jed, or I’ll have to arrest you. I’m riding over there. I’ll see what he has to say.”
“Ask him about Scout and my steers!”
Cooper returned Friday afternoon. “All of his men swear they’re innocent, Jed. I checked that trail you mentioned, but it headed south about a mile on his land, then vanished. Did your men happen to notice those horses weren’t shoed?”
“They were shoed with iron, Sheriff,” Navarro corrected. “I followed them to the boundary, but his men were all around so I had to turn back.”
“Not what I saw. I think we got renegades in the area again.”
“Somebody changed them to fool you. It’s not Indians.”
Toby Cooper eyed the stranger whose looks said he was part Indian. “That would be hard. I used to track for the cavalry. If anybody rubbed out the old tracks and made new ones, it didn’t show. That takes real talent.”
Navarro shrugged. “All I know is what I saw and trailed: shoe prints.”
“We all saw them, Sheriff. They were shod horses. Did you check his barns for unbranded mounts?” Jessie inquired.
“Yep. None there. No strangers or extra men around. No wounded ones, either.”
“Because he’s hiding them somewhere. He’s real smart, Sheriff.”
“I don’t know, Jed. A lawman can’t follow a trail that isn’t there. I’ll be coming around more. I don’t want you two killing off each other. Mind if I stay the night? It’s late for striking out.”
“You can bunk with the boys, and take supper with us in the house. We have to get back to work. Make yourself at home. Look around all you like.”
Saturday, three men dug fresh pits in the spring-softened ground. Then others helped move the Lanes’ and their hand’s outhouses to new locations. The dirt was used to fill the old holes, and another task was completed.
For days, Mary Louise had been doing her chores and helping Gran in the garden without complaints, to everyone’s surprise and pleasure. Yet Jessie couldn’t forget her sister’s hateful words several weeks ago.
Nothing terrible happened until Tuesday, six days after the cattle killings. It was dusk when billowing smoke was sighted and checked on by one of the hands riding range. Pete hurried to the house and rang the bell. “Fire! Fire in the hay shed!” he shouted as the clanking alarm sounded louder than his voice.
The men responded quickly. Barrels were loaded on rapidly hitched wagons, then filled from the well. The storage shed, where stock gathered in the winter to be fed, was three miles from the house. Last year’s hay was dry, and it burned with ease and speed. The main concern was to contain the blaze. Everyone went to battle the fire except Gran, Tom, Mary Louise, and Jessie. The redhead stayed behind and inside the locked house to stand guard over the family with her Winchester. All peered out windows.
Jessica saw clouds of thick smoke rising and expanding against a darkening blue horizon. She knew the fire was a large one, but rolling hills obscured any sight of red flames. She frowned as the words “blow by blow” came to mind. This was twice Fletcher had used their strategy against them. She assumed it was only to terrorize them, since more hay could be grown this summer or purchased in town for any winter needs.
Agonized bawls and frightened “moo-ooo’s” caught her ear. Her gaze darted to the barn that was slightly right to the front of their home. She knew her sister had milked the three cows, who stayed near the barn at night. Jessie sensed something was wrong. “Get my pistol and lock the door behind me,” She told Gran. “I have to check on them. Don’t come out for any reason.”
“Don’t go out there, child. The men are gone.”
“Maybe they were lured away for a reason, Gran.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t g
o out there alone.”
“They could be firing the barn and bunkhouse, Gran. Or killing the bulls.”
“What if lots of men are out there, Jessie?”
“I’ll fire shots and scare them off, then ring the bell if we have trouble back here. Don’t worry; I’ll be careful. I’ll sneak out the back way and work around.”
Gran locked the door behind her. Jessie peered around the corner of the house. It was almost dark, and the waxing moon would give little light. The animal’s cries compelled her forward. She made it to the bunkhouse without a problem and, hearing nothing inside, continued on to the chuckhouse. She eased around it and saw movement in the enclosed, small pasture where the milk cows stayed at night.
Jessie knew the dark shadow was not a Box L hand. Her squinted eyes searched for more movement, but could detect none. The cows had ropes around their necks that were tied to posts, holding them captive. One stamped and shifted and bawled. Another wriggled and cried out.
Jessie fired over the cow’s backs several times. When she heard running in the other direction, she raced around the barn and past the smithy to cut off and hopefully capture one of Fletcher’s men for the sheriff. But the villain had a head start and less obstacles than she did, and got away. He leapt on his horse behind a shed and galloped away. Jessie fired more shots at him, but despite her skill, he moved too fast and was too far away to wound or kill.
“Jessie!” Gran called from the front door. “You all right?”
“Fine, Gran! He’s gone! I’ll check on the cows!” She assumed the large bulls were safe. No shot had been fired from the man who surely couldn’t get close enough to the powerful beasts to harm them in silence. She reached the crazed cows and tried to calm them as she did during her morning milking chore. The animals looked wild-eyed and they stomped their hooves and bawled. She couldn’t see much in the darkness and through the fence.
Jessie propped her rifle against a post and fetched a lantern from the chuckhouse. She wriggled through the fence, then moved with caution closer to the nervous creatures. She held the lantern high to examine them, singing and talking softly. She fell silent. Her free hand clamped over her mouth, and she feared she would lose her supper. Disbelief and fury assailed her. With tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat, she checked all three cows. She couldn’t help but sigh in relief that she had saved one from torment.
Gran and Tom headed to join her where a lantern revealed her location. “What is it?” they both kept asking the stunned girl.
“Go back!” she suddenly shouted, as if coming out of a trance.
“What’s wrong?” they persisted, halting their steps.
“I…have to shoot two of them. Fletcher’s bastard sliced off their teats! Get in the house. You don’t need to see this. Hurry!” she ordered the shocked people who hadn’t moved. She didn’t want the cows to linger in agony.
On the way to the house, Gran rang the alarm bell that carried sound for miles. She hoped the men could hear it over the commotion of the fire and would respond quickly. She hurried Tom inside and closed the door.
Jessie took careful aim and shot the first cow, then the second. They hit the ground with heavy thuds. It was one of the hardest things she had ever done; the cows had almost been like pets. She calmed the last one and led it into the barn, confining it there. She cleaned the mess as best she could. Later, she wouldn’t recall wiping blood on her clothes.
The dazed redhead called Ben and he came running to his mistress. She leapt on his back and galloped to the gate to the adjoining pasture. She bent over, unlatched it, flung it wide, and rode inside. She rounded up the protesting bulls and herded them close to the barn and house. She turned Ben loose nearby, then trudged to the dead bodies and bright lantern.
Riders came in, dismounted, and, sighting the lantern, hurried to her. Jessie didn’t realize tears were slipping down her flushed cheeks.
Matt rushed to the woman he loved, scrutinizing her. “Are you hurt?” he asked. “There’s blood on you, Jessie. What happened?”
She gazed into his concerned eyes and uttered in torment, “He cut off their teats, Matt; the bastard mutilated our milk cows. The fire was a trick to lure you men away. I had to shoot them. I got the bulls near the barn. They’re safe.”
Matt pulled Jessie’s head against his chest as she wept. His hand behind it kept it there, as did his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t cry, Jessie. It’s over.”
Jessie cried in his consoling embrace.
“I’m sorry, Jessie. We should have left guards here. We’ll never leave you and the house unprotected again,” he vowed, stroking her unbraided locks.
“Por Dios,” Carlos murmured as he held up the lantern and the men examined the grim scene. “What devil would do such a thing? The man is demente!”
“Where is the third one?” Miguel asked, glancing around the area.
Jessie lifted her head, wiped at her eyes and cheeks, and replied, “In the barn. I heard the commotion and came to investigate.”
“That was dangerous, amiga.”
“I know, but something was wrong. I spooked him before he got to her, thank God. He got away. I wish I had killed him!”
“Don’t worry, chica, we’ll make him pay.”
“How, Carlos? He’s too clever and mean.”
“We’ll get him, Jessie,” Navarro vowed from nearby. He wanted to hold her and comfort her as the foreman was doing, but he held his jealousy in check. “We won’t be fooled again. I promise.”
“Thanks, Navarro. Where are Papa and the others?” she asked, afraid to look at or move toward her love. She needed his embrace, but couldn’t have it.
“They stayed behind to make sure all sparks were doused. I think he needed time to settle down. We heard the bell on our way in. We got here as fast as we could, but not quick enough,” Matt told her.
“This was over when Gran rang the alarm.”
The others arrived and the horrid tale was repeated. Jed stared at the dead animals. Despair flooded him, knowing it could just as easily be his family lying there instead of cows. This brutality knifed at his heart. “Maybe I should sell Fletcher some land with water, that section from his place to the Calamity, to stop this trouble. Less land is better than none.”
“No, Papa! Navarro and I will stop him. You’ll see.”
“The trouble’s gotten worse since Navarro came and we started fighting back. Tarnation, Jess, that could be you and Ma lying there!”
“But it isn’t. He’s running scared, Papa. We can’t give up now. Not ever!”
“I’m the one scared, Jess, not Fletcher. It’s real bad now. No man likes being broken, but I have to think of my family.”
“He won’t break us, Papa. We can’t let him win. We won’t be pushed out of our home and off our land. Our land, Papa. He has no right to it. We stand and win, or we stand and die as fighters. We’re Lanes, and Lanes don’t back down.”
“She’s right, Jed,” Matt agreed, placing his arm across the back of her waist.
Navarro spoke up. “Even if he breaks you, sir, he won’t be satisfied. You’ve resisted and attacked him. He’ll probably take back his offer or lower it. He’ll be expecting us to retaliate, so he’ll have guards posted. We need to wait a while, then attack again.”
“Every time we do, he does worse,” Jed argued.
“If you back down now, sir, he’ll win. Jessie’s right; he’s worried and desperate. He can’t keep attacking forever. He knows we’ll be on guard, too.”
“I’ll do it your way for a while, Jess. But if it gets worse, I’m making a deal with him so I can protect my family.”
“He won’t deal, Papa. He wants it all. If you suggest a deal, he’ll know you’re weakening. Then it will get worse, far worse. Are you ready and willing to give up everything we’ve built here to a man like him? Can you grovel before that bastard and ask him to take away your heart and soul, your life, Papa? Can you leave Mama, your two sons, your papa here with that f
ilthy vermin? Can you let all the blood, sweat, tears, and hard work end this way? Can you, Papa? If so, tell me now. But I’ll stand against him alone if you say yes. I won’t let him get away with all he’s done and take our land, too. I won’t.”
Chapter Eleven
Jessie’s words and intense emotions had the desired effect on Jed Lane. He hung his head in shame and dismay. “You’re right, Jess. I’m not thinking clearly. I’ve never been a coward, until now. I just can’t stand to lose any more of my family. We have to keep guards posted around here from now on. You go on into the house. Me and the boys will take care of this mess.”
Jessie embraced her father. “You’ve never been a quitter, Papa. I knew you were only upset. I didn’t mean to speak so rudely, but I had to clear your head. It will be hard to fight Fletcher, but we’ll win; I know we will,” she said with heartfelt confidence. “Don’t get discouraged. Good night, Papa, boys, Matt, Navarro. I’ll see you all in the morning. We can make decisions tomorrow when we’re all rested.” Jessie left.
As the men worked, Navarro contemplated what he had learned tonight. Jed was not as hard or cold as he had believed. Navarro knew the agony of being broken, and he had had only himself to consider and defend. He now knew how love could control a man’s actions. Jessie had made him believe in himself, in the future, and in love. She had become his world, his soul, his golden dream. But she had entered his life when it was too late to save him. If only he could share everything with her. She was the proof love existed, that life was worth living.
Dare he, the fugitive wondered, stay and put a claim on her, then see if Jed would accept their decision? No, the law would never forget about his crimes. He had been sentenced to twenty years for a gold robbery and he had killed a man to escape what they called “justice,” then robbed others to survive. What did it matter if he were innocent of the original charge? He was guilty of many others. If Fletcher discovered the truth about him, he could be used as a weapon against these good people. He had to take that risk for a while longer, as he couldn’t leave them defenseless. He was ensnared in a bottomless trap and there was no way out for him, ever. And no matter what it took, he couldn’t pull Jessie in with him to perish.
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