by Tell Cotten
He turned around and saw me sitting there. I expected him to be mad, but instead he waved me over.
“How much money have you got?” He asked.
I started to protest, but Kinrich cut me off.
“You wouldn’t have none of that money if it wasn’t for me, so hand it over!”
I was angry, but I didn’t want to argue in front of everybody. So, I dug deep in my pocket and pulled out a wad of bills so thick that it could have choked a cow.
Kinrich grabbed it from me and turned back to the table.
The game got started again, and right away I could see a difference in the way Kinrich was playing.
I had been watching Kinrich deal with a keen eye, mainly because I had been worried that he would cheat. So far he hadn’t been, but on his first deal after taking a break I could tell that Kinrich was stacking the deck.
Kinrich was good, and I reckon the only reason I knew he was cheating was because I had been playing against him for so long.
I wanted to do something, but I knew Kinrich might even kill me if I exposed him. So, I kept my mouth shut and watched in disbelief as Kinrich cheated deal after deal.
It wasn’t long until Kinrich had all his money back. Soon after that the last town feller went broke, and then it was down to just Kinrich and Chino.
Kinrich quickly pulled way ahead. Chino just sat there, and his face was expressionless.
Finally, Chino had to go all in. Kinrich was dealing, and Chino needed two cards.
Chino hadn’t hardly said a word all night, but he said some now.
“I’ll take two cards off the top,” he said in a loud, clear voice.
Everybody in the room heard him, and it got real quiet as everybody waited for Kinrich to say something.
“What did you say?” Kinrich finally asked.
Chino looked Kinrich straight in the eyes.
“You heard me.”
The cowboy that was with Chino started to say something, but Chino raised his hand and cut him off.
“Money might come easy to you, mister. But I work hard for mine, and I don’t take it lightly when a card sharp tries to take it from me.”
Kinrich didn’t say anything. His hands were on the table, and he was out of position for a fast draw. So, he slowly started straightening up as he tried to get ready.
All night Kinrich had been wearing his hat down low, and I figured he had done it on purpose so that folks wouldn’t see his scalp.
But in the heat of the game Kinrich must have forgotten about it. His hat was now pushed back, and it revealed his scalped head.
Chino saw this, and he narrowed his eyes.
“It’s too bad one of my blood brothers didn’t finish you off good and proper. I reckon that’s what a card sharp like you deserves,” Chino said.
That did it. Kinrich’s face turned hard as stone, and he slowly stood.
Chino also stood while the rest of us backed off and gave them room.
They faced up to each other and planted their feet, and they watched each other closely. Their hands hovered over their guns, and they were as ready as they could be.
It happened suddenly.
Both men grabbed for their guns, and they brought up their six-shooters at the same time. They both fired, and as their shots mixed together there was a loud, deafening explosion that filled the room.
Chapter thirty-two
I’ll never know how Kinrich came out of it alive.
Right after the shooting happened there was a thick, smoky haze in the room, and there was a salty, burning smell of gunpowder that burned my nose.
As the smoke cleared I saw Kinrich.
He just stood there with a wild, almost insane look on his face. And there was Chino, lying on the floor.
The cowboy that had been with Chino raised his hands. He stepped forward, knelt beside Chino, and took hold of his wrist and checked for a pulse.
After a moment he looked up at Kinrich, and his face was dark.
“He’s dead,” the cowboy said in a subdued voice.
“That’s sorta the idea,” Kinrich said roughly. “I see you’re wearing a gun. Do you want a piece of me too?”
The cowboy shook his head.
“No, but you can sure bet that my boss will.”
“Unless you want your boss dead, I’d tell him to forget it,” Kinrich replied.
“Yancy Landon ain’t the sort of man to be forgetting,” the cowboy informed Kinrich. “You’d better have a mighty fast horse, ’cause you’re going to need one.”
I was startled by the cowboy’s words, but Kinrich didn’t seem fazed.
Kinrich started backing up, and he shot me a quick glance.
“Come on, Button, let’s go.”
That was the last thing I wanted. But, only a fool would argue with Kinrich when he was in the mood that he was currently in. So, I grabbed my hat that I had dropped and walked across the room.
I noticed that Chino’s friend looked at me strangely, as if he recognized me. But I had never seen him, so I thought no more on it.
“We’re walking outta here, and if you all want to stay in good health I’d recommend that none of you come out for a long time,” Kinrich said loudly so that everybody could hear.
Nobody made a move, and then Kinrich and I backed out through the swinging doors.
Kinrich waited a second, and then we hurried over to the livery stable.
A pony express rider couldn’t have gotten out of town any quicker than we did. We threw our saddles on our horses, and then we mounted up and rode down the main street in a dead run.
No one came after us, and soon afterwards we were all alone.
There was still a vicious glow shining on Kinrich’s face.
“Well, there’s one less Injun to worry about,” he commented when we finally slowed our pace.
I didn’t answer. I was annoyed, and I still couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“What’s the matter?” Kinrich turned in the saddle and looked back at me.
“You were cheating back there,” I said in a low, accusing voice.
“Says who?” Kinrich challenged me.
“Say’s me, that’s who!” I shot back.
I could tell Kinrich thought about denying it, but then he grinned wickedly and shrugged.
“So?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I shook my head in disgust, and Kinrich’s anger built up fast.
“Button, the only good Injun’s a dead one, and it’s time you learned that.”
“He wasn’t an Injun,” I fired back. “He was only a half breed.”
“In my book that’s close enough,” Kinrich answered. “Besides, the other half of him was a Yankee anyway.”
“But that doesn’t make up for you cheating,” I said. “I should have said something.”
Kinrich abruptly pulled his horse up even with mine, and he looked me straight in the eyes.
“You’d better be real glad you didn’t do that, Button,” he said, and his voice was low and solemn.
After that we ignored each other as we rode on through the night.
We were supposed to meet up with the rest of the boys in only a few days, so instead of going back to the valley we headed towards the designated hideout. It only took us a day to get there, and for the next few days we stayed close to camp and rested up.
During that time Kinrich and I spoke very little. I just couldn’t get over the fact that he had cheated, and I reckon Kinrich was sore at me for not seeing things his way.
Lee came riding into camp on the second day. We had been expecting him, because he always seemed to arrive early.
I was sure glad to see him. The tension between Kinrich and me was uncomfortable, and I hoped things would ease up a bit.
Kinrich and I were sitting around the fire as Lee unsaddled and picketed his horse out in the dark.
After that Lee came up to the fire. Then, after helping himself to a cup of coffee, he sat down and looked a
t us curiously.
“I rode through Midway last night,” he told us, but his eyes were on Kinrich. “There sure is a lotta talking going on over there.”
“Oh? What about?” Kinrich asked innocently.
“Seems like there was a big poker game in town a few nights back,” Lee answered.
“Is that so?” Kinrich asked with an amused smile. “What’re they saying about it?”
Lee took a swig of coffee.
“Well, they’re saying that you were cheating at cards, and a feller named Chino caught you. The two of you exchanged some words, and then you shot him.”
“’Cept for the cheating part, I’d say that was a pretty accurate description,” Kinrich lied. “But, it was a fair fight.”
“That’s not what the town folks are saying,” Lee replied. “They’re saying Rondo backed you up.”
“No, that ain’t right,” Kinrich said, and he shook his head with disgust. “Button was too busy drinking milk. I killed that half breed, and I didn’t need any help doing it either.”
“Well, Button’s getting half the credit whether you like it or not,” Lee answered.
Kinrich and I were both aggravated, but for different reasons. Kinrich was sore because he didn’t get all the credit, and I was aggravated for getting my name involved.
Lee finished his coffee and pulled out a cigar.
“So, what’s the job this time?” He asked Kinrich.
Kinrich had just refilled his cup with coffee, and he was anxious to talk about something else.
“We’re going to be rustling some cows,” he told us. “Around three hundred head, give or take a few.”
“Why?” Lee asked with a bewildered look. “There ain’t much money in it. Cows ain’t worth anything here in Texas.”
“They are in Abilene,” was Kinrich’s reply.
“We’re going to make a drive all the way up to Abilene?” Lee asked, and his mouth fell open in surprise.
“Well, we’ve got to do something with ’em,” Kinrich grunted back.
“How ’bout horses?” Lee wanted to know. “By the time we get to Kansas we’ll be a-foot if we don’t have any extra horses.”
Kinrich was getting tired of being questioned.
“You leave that to me. I’ll think of something.”
But Lee was worried, and he just couldn’t let it go. He pulled out a match, and as he bit off the end of his cigar he glanced up thoughtfully at Kinrich.
“Ben, there’s something else you should know.”
Chapter thirty-three
“Oh?” Kinrich asked.
Lee struck his match and lit his cigar.
“It’s about the feller you killed in Midway. Do you know who he was?”
“He was a half breed named Chino,” Kinrich replied.
“He was more’n that,” Lee said. “During the war he was a scout for the North, and he served under a feller named Yancy Landon.”
Lee turned to me.
“In fact, Yancy is also your cousin, Rondo. He’s the one who helped your Pa and me escape during the war.”
“I remember Pa telling us about it,” I spoke up. “But I’ve never met him.”
“Well, you will one of these days,” Lee declared, and added, “You know, come to think on it, Yancy favors you a lot.”
I remembered then how Chino’s friend had looked at me as if he had recognized me.
Lee continued.
“Anyway, Chino and Yancy were good friends, and Chino was working for Yancy when you killed him, Ben. They had just finished making a cattle drive up north somewheres.
“Now, in town I heard that Yancy took Chino’s death mighty personal, and he’s dead set on tracking the two of you down.”
“So?” Kinrich shrugged.
“Ben, I know Yancy,” Lee warned. “He was a well- known lawman back east before the war, and he’s mighty handy with that six-shooter of his. His brother Cooper is also a good tracker, and with us having to push three hundred head of cows up the trail real slow like they’ll find us in no time.”
“Well, for their sakes they’d better not, ’cause I reckon I’d just have to kill them,” Kinrich replied calmly.
Lee shot Kinrich an amused look.
“He’s fast, Ben, mighty fast.”
“So am I,” Kinrich declared.
Kinrich’s comment angered me, and I shot him a dark look.
“You’d kill my own cousin?” I asked.
Kinrich turned his eyes on me, and his face was dark.
“I’d kill you if I had to, Button, and don’t you be forgetting it.”
Those words shocked me mighty good. But Kinrich looked like he meant it, and it was then that I started to wonder if he was going crazy.
“You kill the wrong feller and their kinfolk will chase you from here to Mexico,” I said suddenly. “Remember when you told me that, Kinrich?”
“Sure. So?” He shrugged.
“Just reminding you,” I replied.
Despite his foul mood, Kinrich grinned.
“You saying if I kill your cousin that you’ll come after me?”
“No,” I replied. “But throughout generations, us Landons have always stuck together. If you kill Yancy, then there’ll be a lot of other cousins and kinfolk on your trail.”
Kinrich didn’t reply. Instead, he just laughed scornfully.
After that it fell silent. I just sat there, thinking about Yancy, while Kinrich drank coffee. As for Lee, he finished his cigar.
I could tell that Lee was still worried, and after a while he looked back at Kinrich.
“Don’t you think three hundred head is a few too many cows to be taking?” Lee asked. “With there being only seven of us, we’re going to be spread out thin.”
“Mebbe so, but that’s the way it’s got to be,” Kinrich replied.
“Why’s that?”
Kinrich had already done more explaining than I had ever seen, and I could tell that he was getting aggravated. But, he held his temper and explained.
“There’s fixing to be a big range war bust open in these parts,” Kinrich said. “There’s a big time rancher here that’s got control of most the range, and there’s a lot of smaller outfits that want it. Now, we’re being paid by one of these smaller outfits to hit this big time rancher hard, and he wants us to take at least three hundred head.”
“What’s this big time rancher’s name?” Lee wanted to know.
Kinrich thought for a moment.
“I believe his name is J.T. Tussle.”
Lee and I looked up sharply.
I knew that name. J.T. Tussle was the rancher that Pa had come out west to work for!
Lee also knew him.
“I rode with Tussle during the war, and so did Rondo’s Pa,” Lee commented, and added, “Ben, he’s a salty feller, and if some of his cows are rustled he won’t take it lightly. He’ll chase us plumb to Abilene, and Yancy and Cooper will be with him.”
Kinrich glanced sharply at Lee and asked scornfully, “You ain’t afraid of them, are you?”
“No, I’m just saying we ought to think twice before we mess with them,” Lee frowned.
Kinrich disagreed.
“Tussle has his hands full with this range war, and we can slip in and be gone before he even knows it. Besides, I can’t call it off, ’cause I’ve already been paid.”
Lee could tell that Kinrich wasn’t going to listen to reason. So, he shrugged and stood.
“Well, you haven’t been wrong yet. It’s getting late, so I reckon I’ll turn in.”
Kinrich didn’t reply. Instead, he just grunted as he refilled his cup with coffee.
I turned in too, and we left Kinrich sitting by the fire.
Kinrich’s face was dark and twisted, and I could tell that he had been angered by Lee’s lack of confidence.
I didn’t sleep very well, and I wasn’t in a very good mood the next day.
But, oddly enough, Kinrich was happy, and during breakfast he laughed
and poked fun at us for having doubts.
Lee didn’t say anything, but I could tell that he didn’t appreciate Kinrich’s behavior.
***
Throughout the day the rest of the boys drifted in, and after supper Kinrich told everybody his plan. I could tell everybody was surprised, but nobody had the nerve to question Kinrich about it.
Afterwards, Palmer walked over to me.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Button,” he sneered.
“How’s that?” I asked dryly.
“You know, with you being shot and all. I figured you’d had enough and went home to your Mama,” Palmer said scornfully.
I had always ignored Palmer’s wise cracks. But, over the last few months I’d had a lot of frustration building up, and this was the last straw. The feeling came washing over me, and I felt a rage brewing down deep.
I turned and faced him.
“You want a piece of me?”
Palmer narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything Kinrich stood.
“Button, stand down! I’ve already told Palmer what would happen if he started anymore trouble, and the same thing goes for you.”
Kinrich was looking at me hard, and I noticed that his gun hand hovered over his gun handle. He seemed real eager to draw, and that surprised me.
I was still mad, but I did have enough sense to walk away before something happened.
I glanced at Palmer. His face was hard, and his jaw twitched as he glared at me.
I could tell that he had wanted to draw. And, if Kinrich hadn’t put a stop to it, I think he would have.
After a while Lee walked over and sat next to me.
“Getting a little touchy, ain’t you?” He smiled.
“Aw, I’m just tired of Palmer crowding me,” I replied.
Lee nodded, and then he lowered his voice.
“You all right, Button? You ain’t been yourself lately.”
“I’m fine,” I replied. “I’m just a little tired, is all. Mebbe it’s the weather. Seems like there’s moisture in the air.”
Lee glanced thoughtfully at the sky.
“Yeah, I think there’s a storm moving in.”
“Well, reckon I’ll be turning in,” I said abruptly as I stood.