Powder Burn

by William W. Johnstone

  “There was a helluva lot of shootin’ goin’ on before that,” Lynch said. “And we burned the Injun’s shack down before Mace got shot. If it was a setup ambush, they sure waited a long time to spring it. We mighta cut and run too damn quick at that, but Hannah took off and left me to deal with ’em by myself. I didn’t have no choice except to take off after her.”

  Knowing there was no sense in continuing a blame game back and forth between herself and Lynch, Hannah said, “We need to decide what we’re gonna do now. Maybe we oughta go back there. I’m thinkin’ now that Tanner was by himself, and he just happened to come along after we smoked that Injun out. It was nothin’ but pure luck. He had us standin’ right out in the middle of the street without any idea he was around. One thing for sure, that Injun policeman is finished, so it’ll still be Tanner by himself. It’ll be a different story when there’s four of us goin’ back after him.”

  “Damn, I don’t know,” Tater fretted. “That man ain’t nothin’ but bad news. Maybe we oughta just get outta here and ride on up in the mountains, like we talked about before.”

  “He killed my boy,” Lynch insisted, lest they forgot. “He’s gonna have to pay for that.”

  “And Rafe and Mace,” Rubin reminded him. “Besides, if you never saw him, like you said, you don’t know for sure he ain’t got some help. Tater might be right, maybe we oughta go up in the mountains and get the hell away from this place.”

  Hannah listened without commenting until Lynch began to get heated up when it appeared that no one else seemed to suffer the loss of his son as much as he. Turning the small, smooth pebble over and over in her hand, the one she carried to remind her of her vow to her father, she spoke up then. “You ain’t the only one lost family ’cause of this man,” she said to Lynch. “Me and Rubin have more to settle with Will Tanner than you do. Our three brothers, Levi, Buck, and Luke, were all killed by that devil. And our pa died because of him, just as sure as if he had shot him down. So me and Rubin are goin’ lookin’ for Mr. Will Tanner, and that’s a fact.” She nodded solemnly at her brother, expecting a response equally determined. Instead, Rubin shifted his gaze, avoiding her eyes. “Ain’t that right, Rubin?” she demanded.

  Rubin shrugged, not wanting to buck his sister’s resolve, but still concerned about the risk of another meeting with Will Tanner. “Why, sure, Hannah,” he replied. “I’m as anxious to settle with Tanner as you are, but I wanna be smart about it. He’s done killed enough of our family, so we gotta be careful how we go after him. Right now, he’s lookin’ for us, too. Maybe we oughta lay low for a bit, like Tater said, let him think we’re gone from here. Then jump him when he’s give up lookin’ for us.” When he saw Hannah’s frown, he quickly added, “We gotta get him, though. I’m just sayin’ let’s be careful about it.”

  “Shit,” Hannah blurted, disgusted with her brother’s lack of passion. “I’m goin’ after that son of a bitch just as soon as my horse is rested up, and you’re goin’ with me. You owe it to Pa and your brothers.”

  Tired of listening to what had turned into a family squabble, Lynch interrupted. “You two can argue about that after we take care of our mutual problem. And the best way to do that is for the four of us to ride into that town and find him before he comes lookin’ for us. There ain’t gonna be no arguin’ about it, either.”

  “Is that a fact?” Hannah responded at once. “And who said you was callin’ all the shots?”

  Lynch, already steamed up considerably, responded in kind. “I say I’m callin’ the shots, that’s who. I was callin’ ’em a helluva long time before you and Rubin came along, wantin’ to join up with my gang, and that’s the way things are gonna stay. Ain’t that right, Tater?”

  “I reckon you’ve been the leader of the gang, all right,” Tater replied, although with not much enthusiasm.

  “Your gang, huh?” Hannah huffed. “I’m lookin’ at your gang. Ain’t but two of you left. Maybe you ain’t been so good at callin’ the shots.” She looked at Rubin again. “Be ready to ride as soon as my horse is ready to go,” she said. “Might be just the two of us, but if we go about it a little more careful, we’ll get the jump on him this time.” Having laid out her intentions, she led her horse toward the barn.

  “What if he comes chargin’ in here before we’re ready to ride?” Rubin called after her.

  “Then I reckon we’ll have his funeral out here, instead of in town,” Hannah called back to him without turning around.

  Jack Lynch stood tongue-tied for a few moments, frustrated and fuming to see his authority challenged by this infuriating woman. He inwardly cursed the day he had crossed paths with Hannah Cheney. He dropped his hand to rest on the handle of his .44 as he watched her walk away. She was a mighty tempting target, and he thought of the satisfaction he would enjoy when he silenced her impudent mouth permanently. The only thing that caused him to hesitate was the fact that he might need an extra gun in another confrontation with Will Tanner. He was still thinking it over when he glanced toward her brother and discovered that Rubin was studying his hesitation intently. He realized then that any move against Hannah would have brought instant retaliation. “I reckon your sister’s right,” he said to reassure him. “We need to rest these horses up some before we ride into town. If he’s got up a posse, we might need fresh horses after we take care of him.” He took his horse’s reins in hand and followed Hannah to the barn.

  * * *

  It was almost dark when the four outlaws pulled up at the head of the short street that ran through the town of Tishomingo. At Lynch’s insistence, they paused to take a good look before riding boldly up the street as they had before. “I swear,” Tater exhaled when he saw the burned ruins of what had been the Chickasaw police shack. The charred timbers of the building were still smoldering, left unattended now that the flames had died, the few spectators having returned to the routine of the day.

  After a few minutes with very little sign of life in the town, Hannah grew impatient. “I didn’t ride over here to sit lookin’ at this mud hole. Come on, Rubin, we’ll look in the stable first. This is where he was hidin’ when he started shootin’ at us.” She didn’t wait for his answer, but nudged her horse with her heels. Rubin followed dutifully.

  “Hold on,” Lynch said, and kicked his horse to catch up with her. “Don’t be runnin’ off on your own.

  Wilbur Greene walked out of the back stall to find himself facing the four sinister visitors crowded together in the small confines between the stalls. Startled, he backed against the rails of the stall, dropping the bucket of grain he was carrying. Thinking he might be facing his demise, he stood speechless until Hannah spoke.

  “Will Tanner,” she demanded. “Where is he?”

  “He ain’t here,” Wilbur blurted. “He’s gone.”

  “Gone where?” Lynch pressed, looking around him in case of an ambush. “Look in them stalls, Tater.” Back to Wilbur, he pressed, “How many men’s he got with him?”

  Not wishing to answer the outlaws’ questions, but afraid not to, Wilbur said, “There weren’t nobody with him. He went to take Tom Spotted Horse to see Doc O’Shea, down in Durant.”

  “When he shot Mace Weaver, he didn’t have nobody with him?” Lynch asked. He wanted to be sure Tanner was alone in this hunt.

  “No, sir,” Wilbur replied. “Wasn’t nobody in this town helpin’ him.” He wanted to make that perfectly clear to them.

  “I told you,” Hannah scoffed. Back to Wilbur, she asked, “How long ago did he leave?” When Wilbur told her that Will had left town right after she and Lynch had, she scowled while she tried to decide what to do. “How far is Durant?” When told it was twenty miles, she cursed and said, “Hell, he’s already there.” Wilbur saw no need to tell them that Will had carried Tom to Durant in a wagon and had gone to Tom’s cabin before he started out.

  “Well, it’s too late now,” Lynch said. “He ain’t likely to come back before mornin’.” He jerked his head around to look Wilbur in t
he eye. “He is comin’ back here, ain’t he?”

  “For a fact, I don’t know,” Wilbur replied, knowing that Will would surely be back to return his wagon. “I ain’t sure where he was headed after he took Tom to the doctor.”

  “We’re wastin’ our time,” Lynch declared. “He won’t be back till tomorrow. I’m goin’ back to our camp. We’ll find Mr. Tanner tomorrow.” He didn’t wait to hear Hannah’s opinion. “I better not find out you’ve been lyin’ to me,” he said to Wilbur, “or I’ll be back to pay you another visit. And it won’t be as friendly as this one.” He backed his horse out of the stable then and started back to the trading post on Blue River.

  Tater followed at once, and after a minute’s hesitation, Hannah followed, too, seeing no sense in staying. Lynch was probably right. At the earliest, he would not return until the next morning, but she felt sure he would bring Tom Spotted Horse back home. And I’ll be waiting for him, she vowed silently.

  * * *

  As she had promised herself, Hannah was waiting for Will’s return the following morning. She had selected a spot in a grove of cottonwoods on the bank of the creek that ran through the settlement. She could build a small fire there without being seen. From this position, she could observe the comings and goings easily. Rubin was with her, although with some reluctance, since she had routed him out well before daylight and ridden out without telling Lynch what she was up to. She had told Rubin that she was tired of arguing with Jack Lynch. “We don’t need him and Tater to do what we’ve gotta do,” she said. “Tanner’s by himself. Me and you can damn sure take care of one man, as long as we don’t let him get the jump on us.”

  The morning drifted into midday with no sign of the deputy and the wounded Indian. Hannah cooked some bacon to eat with the coffee she kept heated in the coals of her fire. Both hers and Rubin’s impatience became strained when the afternoon passed without a trace of the hated lawman showing up. Finally, it occurred to her that Tanner might have taken Tom Spotted Horse to his home instead of bringing him back to Tishomingo. She was at once disgusted with herself for not thinking that in the first place. “Damn it all,” she suddenly exclaimed, startling Rubin, who was stretched out by the fire. “He wouldn’t have brought that Injun back to town.” She gave Rubin a kick on the bottom of his boot. “Come on, we’ve got to find out where that damn Injun lives.”

  Since the post office was closer to their camp than the stable, Hannah went directly there, just catching the postmaster as he was in the process of locking his door for the day. Hearing the two horses pull up behind him, John Barton turned, preparing to explain that the post office was closed. He recognized one of the riders as a member of the outlaw gang that had attacked Tom Spotted Horse and immediately froze.

  “You can keep yourself from gettin’ shot, and save me the trouble of wastin’ a cartridge on you,” Hannah told him, her .44 already leveled at him. “All you have to do is answer one simple question. That Injun policeman’s got a cabin somewhere around here. Where is it?”

  There was no hesitation on Barton’s part, who was now staring fearfully at two guns trained on him. “Straight up the creek,” he blurted, “half a mile where the creek forms a bend around a low ridge, log cabin settin’ on the inside of the bend.”

  “Be sure you’re tellin’ me the truth,” Hannah threatened. “’Cause if that cabin ain’t where you say, you’ll be seein’ us again.”

  “It’s there,” Barton replied, his eyes wide with fear, afraid to breathe until the two turned abruptly and rode off in the direction he had indicated. He exhaled in relief only after he felt sure they were gone for good. He wished Tom Spotted Horse no further grief, but he was not willing to risk his life for him. The grumpy Indian doesn’t like white folks, anyway, he thought, absolving himself of guilt.

  * * *

  “There it is,” Rubin said when they came to the bend in the creek. He pulled up and drew his rifle from the saddle sling as Hannah pulled up beside him. There was no apparent activity around the log cabin, and there was no smoke from the chimney. But they remained where they were, watching it for a few minutes before approaching it. “There ain’t nobody there,” Rubin said when he spotted the padlock on the door. With some sense of relief, he turned to his sister, who was frowning upon this discovery. “Whaddaya wanna do now?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied, and nudged her horse to go forward, riding up to the cabin door. She dismounted and walked around the cabin, peering in the two small windows before declaring, “Nobody here and there ain’t been nobody here for a while. The doctor musta kept him in Durant.”

  “Maybe the Injun didn’t make it and they stuck him in the ground over there,” Rubin suggested. “If they did, then there wouldn’t be no reason for Tanner to come here to the Injun’s cabin.”

  “Maybe,” Hannah allowed. The situation only served to increase her frustration and intensify her desire to settle with Will Tanner. After a few moments trying to decide what to do, she said, “I reckon we can watch this cabin for a while to see if anybody shows up.” It was disappointing news for Rubin, but he said nothing. Just as they had done in town, they picked a suitable spot to keep watch on the cabin and wait.

  After a couple of hours, even Hannah’s patience waned to the point where she decided their wait was in vain. “We might as well go on back to the river,” she announced. “Ain’t nobody comin’ back to this cabin today.” Unaware that their intended victim had stopped halfway between Durant and Tishomingo that day, just ten miles away, they rode back through the little settlement to be sure. The first things they spotted were Lynch’s and Tater’s horses tied up in front of the stables.

  “Well, I swear, Tater,” Jack Lynch taunted as he walked out of the stable. “Lookee here. I do believe it’s our partners. They didn’t run for the hills after all.” Addressing Hannah then, he demanded, “Where the hell have you two been?”

  Hannah said, “Lookin’ for Will Tanner, while you two were layin’ in your bedrolls sawin’ logs.” She went on to tell them about finding Tom Spotted Horse’s cabin. “He didn’t bring the Injun back home. I don’t even know if the Injun’s dead or not. And Tanner ain’t showed up here all day, so I don’t know what the hell he’s up to.” She nodded confidently at Rubin. “One thing I know for sure, is that Tanner will be back lookin’ for us. So I think we’d best split up, two of us wait here in town, and the other two wait for him to show at the Injun’s cabin. Whaddaya say?”

  “As good as any, I reckon,” Lynch said, since he had no plan of his own. “Tater and I can wait here in town, since you two know where that cabin is.” That was all right with Hannah, so they parted again after agreeing that there was very little use in staying late that night. Both parties agreed to call the watch off after hard dark set in and return to the hideout on the Blue River. By that time, they figured Tanner would have rid himself of the wounded Indian and started tracking them. “And if that’s the case, then it ain’t gonna be long before he thinks about checkin’ that old tradin’ post we’re holed up in.”

  “Let him come,” Hannah sang out right away. “Save us the trouble of tryin’ to run him down.”

  “You know, we keep talkin’ about that jasper comin’ after the four of us without no help a-tall,” Tater said. “Maybe he ain’t as dumb as we think he is. Maybe the reason he ain’t showed up here is because he’s gone for some help.” There was a long moment of silence while the other three considered that possibility.

  “He wouldn’t have to go no farther than Atoka for the Choctaw Lighthorse lawman,” Rubin said.

  “More’n likely he’s already telegraphed Fort Smith to send a posse of deputies over here,” Tater said.

  “He killed my son,” Lynch reminded them once again, but the prospect of a posse of lawmen on his tail caused him to waver. It would take a while for a posse to get there, if they started out from Fort Smith. The problem was he didn’t know when they would have started out, or for that matter, whether the posse had to
come from Fort Smith. There were the Indian policemen to consider, as well as a troop of soldiers from Fort Gibson, even though that army post was about as far away as Fort Smith. “I reckon it would be the smart thing to make sure we know about any posse before we go after him,” he finally decided. “Won’t do us no good to ride blind into an ambush of lawmen.”

  “Until we find out what he’s gonna do, I vote we go on back to the tradin’ post right now, get our possibles packed up, and head up in them mountains northwest of here,” Tater said, “at least till we find out what he’s gonna do.”

  “You vote?” Lynch responded. “When did we start votin’ on anything? I’m the one givin’ the orders around here.”

  “He might be right,” Hannah said, to Lynch’s surprise, since she had been hell-bent to settle with Tanner from the beginning. But she had been thinking about the clashes her family had with the somber deputy down in Texas. Will Tanner was a loner. “But we might not get the chance for a decent shot at him if he’s ridin’ in the middle of a big posse,” she said. “He will come after us, and if he brings a posse and we ain’t here, most likely he’ll come alone when his posse quits. And if we go up in the Arbuckle Mountains to that hideout you were talkin’ about, he’ll have a helluva time tryin’ to get to us without us seein’ him comin’.”

  Lynch understood what she was thinking. “That is a fact,” he said. “That cabin sets halfway up a mountain, at the bottom of a waterfall, and the only way to approach it is up a narrow trail through a rocky draw.”

  “That cabin’s about a thirty-five-mile ride from here,” Rubin said. “What if he don’t come after us?”