To Reap and to Sow

by J. R. Roberts

  FORTY

  Clint and Wes had talked a bit about what could be done to defend his farm in case anyone came back to try and claim the gold for themselves. At the time, Clint had been thinking more along the lines of getting the farmer ready to fight sometime after Clint had moved on. Now, however, it seemed they might be getting visitors a lot sooner.

  The first thing on Clint’s agenda had been to move the gold. That was done.

  The second thing was for Wes to be able to get his daughter and Lynn to safety if they happened to be there when something happened. Since Tina had grown up on the farm and Lynn had spent a good amount of time there as a child, both of them knew plenty of places in which to hide.

  Of course, getting either of the two strong-willed women to hide was going to be another task in itself.

  The final of Clint’s suggestions had been to try and get Wes prepared to convince armed men to leave his property when they were looking for gold. Although the farmer was more than willing to fight for his land and family, Clint was hoping to make sure Wes lived through the fight. That would involve a bit more strategy.

  “Did you place those guns where I told you?” Clint asked as he walked between the barn and the stable.

  Wes walked alongside him with his hands stuffed deeply into his pockets. “I don’t got more’n a few old rifles and a shotgun.”

  “That’s all you need. Did you place them where I told you?” Sensing the hackles on the old man’s neck rising, Clint rephrased that: “Did you place them where I asked?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t have much by way of ammunition.”

  “That would have been good to know before Tina and I went into town.”

  “Well, pardon the hell out of me! Maybe I was a bit more concerned with a strange man riding off with my daughter.”

  Clint looked over to Wes and asked, “You didn’t save one of those shotguns for me, did you?”

  The old farmer cracked half a smile and shrugged. “Tina’s old enough to do what she pleases. Hell, she’s had a mind to do whatever she wants since she was a child.”

  Having already trod this ground, Clint let the old man simmer down before continuing the conversation. He did, however, manage to steer Wes away from the stable.

  “I didn’t see much,” Clint said. “But I do know that Mark and his friend were with the gunmen who were riding out of town.”

  “Tina told me you were on the posse to go after those fellas.”

  “Sure, but that didn’t turn out too good. I was lucky to keep some of the posse from getting themselves killed. Normally, I’d track the gunmen down myself.”

  “And why not this time?” Wes asked.

  “Because I think I have a pretty good idea of where they’ll be headed.”

  “You said Mark saw my gold?”

  Clint nodded.

  “And you think he’d tell the killers about it?”

  “Seeing as how badly he got chased off the last couple of times he tried to come after me, I think so.”

  The old farmer looked up at his stable and let his eyes wander back toward the barn. “Damn,” he muttered.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “You two trying to hide out while we do all the work around here?” Lynn asked as she walked up to Clint and Wes. She wore a brown dress that showed the wear of working in the dirt for the last couple hours. She pulled a set of gloves off her hands and held onto them as she rubbed Wes on the shoulder.

  “Clint thinks there may be trouble,” Wes explained.

  “If you’re worried about Mark and Joey, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Lynn said. “They like to talk a whole lot more than they like to fight.”

  “Have they ever done any robberies?” Clint asked.

  Lynn laughed a bit and shook her head. “You mean like that bank robbery in town? If they were in on that, it wasn’t their idea. Mark used to talk about robbing eleven dollars from a general store. Actually, he used to brag about it.”

  “Nothing more than that?”

  She shook her head without a moment’s hesitation.

  “What about shooting anyone?” Clint asked. “He’s taken plenty of shots at me.”

  “And he didn’t hit much of anything,” Lynn replied. “That’s Mark Rowlett for you.”

  Even though Clint shared a bit of Lynn’s laughter, his smile slipped some when he asked, “How far do you think he’d go to get you back?”

  That caused her smile to slip as well. Taking a deep breath and holding up her chin, she told him, “Just about anything he could. He may not know much about how to treat a lady, but Mark sure doesn’t like letting one go.”

  “Would it surprise you to think he might have joined up with the bank robbers if it meant using them to come back here and take you out of here?”

  Some of the color drained from Lynn’s face, but her voice didn’t waver. “Not in the least,” she said.

  “Then I need to have a word with you and Tina.”

  “Tina knows all about Mark, Clint. I’ve told her plenty.”

  “It’s not about him,” Clint said. “I’d like to see how well you two can handle a gun.”

  FORTY-ONE

  When he’d first arrived, Mark thought there was no way in hell he’d want to buy what the whores at that trading post were selling. Once he’d managed to get Smalls and his men to work for him, however, Mark was much more ready to celebrate.

  Along with the whiskey, Smalls handed over a few coins to a short woman who was missing half her teeth. Mark allowed himself to be dragged to the woman’s room, hoping that he could close his eyes and still enjoy the next few minutes.

  “That’s it, darlin’,” the whore grunted as she straddled him and pumped her hips. “Keep it on just like that.”

  Mark moaned once and trembled slightly as a smile drifted onto his face. “Damn. That was pretty good,” he sighed.

  The whore was still pumping, but she slowed down once she felt that Mark was no longer moving. Suddenly, she looked at him as if she’d seen warts spring up from every pore of his body. “What? You mean that’s it?”

  “That’s plenty. You did your job.”

  Letting out a disgusted breath, she climbed off and pulled her slip down to cover herself. “Damn, that’s got to be the sorriest piece of fucking I ever seen.”

  Mark hiked up his britches and slapped the whore across her mouth. At that moment, he realized just how much he missed Lynn. Since the whore didn’t move, he slapped her again. “Get those legs open,” he said. “I want another poke.”

  Rubbing her cheek with the back of one hand, the whore started to pull up her slip and open her legs. As soon as Mark was close enough, she brought one of her legs straight up to slam Mark directly in the groin. “I’ll be damned if I’ll let an asshole like you lay another damn hand on me. Besides,” she added while stomping past him to the door, “you only paid for one.”

  The pain that went through Mark’s groin felt like a hot poker was slipping around inside of him. When he let out a shaky breath, he thought he might have pissed himself. Mark reached down to check, but realized he’d at least been spared that indignity.

  “I been to these whores plenty of times and I’ve seen plenty of things,” John said from the doorway. “But I ain’t never seen something as funny as that.”

  Mark was about to ask just how much the gunman had seen. On second thought, he decided it was just as good if he didn’t know.

  “Tommy and Vin want to get moving,” John said. “Soon as you find your other nut, you’d best come outside and lead the way.”

  Nodding as he struggled to his feet, Mark thought about how much better Lynn was than one of those whores. He missed her and was anxious to get her back. When Joey’s voice cut in on his thoughts, Mark almost took a swing at him.

  “These ladies aren’t all that bad,” Joey said. “Sounds like there was some hootin’ and hollerin’ in here.”

  “Just collect our things so we can get the hell out of this shit
hole.”

  In the few minutes it took for Mark to get outside, he’d managed to walk a straight line without wincing too badly. Judging by the grins on all three of the gunmen’s faces, however, Mark wasn’t about to fool anyone no matter how straight he walked.

  Just as he thought he might get away from the trading post with a shred of dignity intact, Mark heard Smalls shout to him.

  “You gonna be riding sidesaddle, boy?”

  Mark thought of a few nasty ways to answer the question, but was discouraged by the sight of all the gunmen who seemed a bit too anxious to knock him down a few pegs. So Mark grinned and shook his head.

  “Not this time,” he said. “It’ll take more than that to put a dent in me. Are we going to sweep through that farm?”

  “You’re gonna show me the gold,” Smalls replied.

  Mark looked around and noticed that Smalls was the only man on horseback. The other two had taken up positions on either side of Joey.

  “You didn’t think we’d just thunder off with guns blazing on your say-so, did you?” Smalls asked.

  “Actually, I thought we’d—”

  “Just take me close enough to get a look at it,” Smalls interrupted. “Then we’ll figure a good way to get it out of there.”

  Mark forced himself to seem like he was in control when he pointed out, “But there’s too much that can go wrong. What if the farmer sees us? What if we run into the law along the way?”

  “That posse was made up of a bunch of tenderfeet,” Smalls grunted. “And I ain’t about to worry myself about one farmer, neither.”

  “I told you there was another gunman there too. What if he’s there? Wouldn’t you rather go in with all your men behind you?”

  “Not when we could be riding into some kind of trap. Me and my boys here got prices on our heads that’d make you a rich man. We’ve had plenty of assholes try to bait us into some corner or another just so they could take an easy shot at us. Then there’s the chance that you could be making up the story about this gold just to save your own ass.”

  Shaking his head, Mark sputtered, “I’m not making it up. I swear I saw it right there—”

  Smalls stopped him with a raised hand and the cold hint of death in his eyes. “All I want is a look-see. If the gold’s there, we’ll come get the boys and haul it out of there. If there ain’t no gold, well…I got a few things in mind that’ll make getting kicked in the tobacco pouch seem downright pleasant. And if I’m not back with some good news, Vin and John will have some fun skinning your friend there.”

  Climbing into his saddle while fighting back a pained grimace, Mark said, “All right. Let’s go.”

  FORTY-TWO

  A shot blasted through the air and struck home loudly enough to be heard from a distance. Seeing that they’d dropped their target, the person behind the rifle let out a victorious cheer.

  “All right, all right,” Clint said. “You hit a bottle. No need to celebrate just yet.”

  Lynn straightened up and held the rifle propped against her hip as if she was posing for a photographer. “Considering that’s only after a few lessons, I think it’s more than enough cause to celebrate.”

  “See if you can spot the other target I set up for you,” Clint replied.

  Lowering herself back down so she was lying on her stomach, Lynn stretched her legs out behind her and settled in behind her rifle. The constant flow of wind caught her hair and a piece of her skirt, ruffling both but not disturbing either too much.

  Clint sat beside her on the roof of the house. His legs dangled over the side and he used one hand to keep his hat from flying off.

  “So,” Lynn said as she sighted along the top of her rifle and slowly searched the field in front of her. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Tina.”

  “Yep.”

  “She and I have always been close. One thing that bothers me, though…” After being still for a second, Lynn pulled the trigger and sent a single shot into the field. The shot was followed by the sound of shattering glass. “She always goes after any man who I spend more than an hour with.”

  Clint had been watching the bottle he’d placed in the field and was genuinely impressed that Lynn had found it and hit it so quickly. “Sounds like something you two should work out. Nice shot, by the way.”

  Lynn looked up at him for a few moments before grinning. “I’ve seen some men squirm when I bring that up.”

  “Well, there’s plenty worse things out there than two friends who squabble over things like that. Would either one of you try to steal a husband from the other?”

  “No,” Lynn replied quickly.

  “Then that’s all you need to know. Everything else is just bickering. If you don’t like that about her, maybe you shouldn’t be friends.”

  Lynn was still staring up at him for a while, as if she was mulling something over in her head. After settling her cheek against the rifle once more, she said, “We’ve come to an agreement about this very thing a long time ago. I just like to see how a man reacts when he hears about it.”

  “Why go through all that? Is it that much fun to see someone squirm?”

  “Sometimes, yeah.” With that, Lynn fired off another shot.

  “There’s no more bottles out there, you know.”

  Lynn was still grinning as she levered in another round. “The reason we bring this up with certain men is sort of…a test.”

  “Should I even ask what you’re testing for?”

  “To see if a fellow can handle both of us.”

  Clint looked down at her to see if she was kidding. Even though Lynn wasn’t looking back at him, he could tell she knew she was being watched. He could also tell that she wasn’t kidding.

  “My imagination is running wild,” Clint said as he shifted his gaze out toward the field.

  Lynn fired another shot and levered in another round. “When all this is over, maybe we could celebrate.”

  “Just us two, or…?”

  Allowing the question to hang in the air, Lynn fired a round into the field. This time, however, she hit something. A single crow flew up from the spot where the bullet had landed. Lynn levered in a round, sighted down the barrel and fired a shot.

  Clint let out a low whistle as he watched the crow spin in midair and drop to the ground. “I didn’t even see that one hiding down there. Very impressive.”

  “Thank you,” Lynn replied as she extended her arm so Clint could help her up.

  “Seems like you’ve got plenty of hidden talents.”

  “Play your cards right,” she said with a wink, “and some more of ’em won’t stay hidden too much longer.”

  As he helped Lynn climb down from the roof, Clint had a hard time focusing on the steps he was taking. His mind was elsewhere, sifting through the many wonderful possibilities that had arisen during their target practice.

  At least some of those possibilities had to do with Lynn’s marksmanship.

  FORTY-THREE

  It was early evening and Clint was getting restless. He wasn’t the only one. Wes, Tina and Lynn were feeling the same way. Fixing and eating supper had given them all something to do, but that didn’t hold them over for long. Eventually, Clint found himself with Wes riding the perimeter of the farm.

  “You think Tina’s going to be able to hold her own?” Clint asked.

  “Hell, yes,” the farmer replied proudly. “She’s always been a fine shot. I taught her myself when she was a girl. Lynn too.”

  “Yeah. I found that out a while ago. What about you? How are you holding up?”

  “Strangely enough, I wish those assholes would take a run at me sooner rather than later. If they don’t come soon, does that mean I’m supposed to live with a knot in my gut for years to come?”

  “If they don’t come soon,” Clint replied, “I doubt there’ll be a problem. I’d give it a few days to a week at the most. Anything past that is probably beyond the limit of the killers’ patience.”

  “Let’s
hope so.”

  As if answering the old man’s wish, a shot was fired in the distance. Both Wes and Clint looked that way and then looked at each other.

  “That came from the house,” Wes said.

  Although the farmer got his horse moving first, Clint had no trouble overtaking him. Eclipse raced forward and reached the house in no time. Clint pulled back on the reins before getting there and then motioned for Wes to do the same. The farmer slowed, but looked too anxious to keep still for long.

  “Until we see who’s shooting at what, we shouldn’t just run into anything,” Clint said.

  Wes nodded, but didn’t look happy about it. He seemed to feel a little better once he got his rifle in his hands. “I’ll head toward the house and you circle around the barn. Sound good to you?”

  “Sounds great. Let’s go.” With that, Clint flicked the reins with one hand and filled the other with his modified Colt. Eclipse responded to every subtle shift of Clint’s legs or feet, moving as if he could read Clint’s thoughts.

  “They’re over there, Wes!” Lynn shouted from the house.

  Clint couldn’t see where Lynn might have been pointing, but he could sure see the two figures rushing away from the barn. As soon as one of the figures leaned out to look back at the house, another shot was fired at him.

  “God damn!” Smalls shouted as he pulled his head back and ran a little faster toward the stable.

  As he steered to cut the men off, Clint sifted through various calculations in his head. He estimated things like how much he was moving in the saddle and how much farther it would be before he was in the Colt’s range. He didn’t have to wonder how long it would take for the other men to hear him coming, since both of them looked directly at him.

  Clint recognized one of them as Mark Rowlett. Although the other wasn’t wearing a duster, Clint was fairly certain he was one of the bank robbers who had been chased out of Thickett. That was more than enough for Clint to raise his gun and take the first shot that presented itself.