Wind River
Page 22
She stumbled back suddenly and let the empty gun fall from her hands as she shook her head. She tore her gaze away from Durand's body and saw that Delia had run out of the rocks and was making her way to safety down the slope. At least she must have thought she was safe, because her husband was still pounding away at Benton, whose struggles were weakening in the face of Michael's berserk rage.
But then Simone saw Deke Strawhorn step up onto a smaller rock and heard him yell, "Come back here, damn you!" Strawhorn's rifle came up to his shoulder, and Simone could look past him to see that he had his sights lined up on Delia's back.
"Strawhorn!" a voice shouted, and Simone recognized it as Cole Tyler's.
* * *
Cole saw Strawhorn's white hat rising as the man leaped onto one of the boulders and then aimed his rifle at the fleeing Delia Hatfield. As he shouted the outlaw's name Cole stopped and went to one knee to steady himself. The smooth stock of the Winchester nestled against his cheek as he settled the sights on Strawhorn's chest. A few yards away Kermit Sawyer was aiming at the gunman, too.
Strawhorn must have heard Cole's yell, because he swung around sharply, trying to bring his rifle to bear on the two men in front of the bluff. He actually got off the first shot, but it was a wild, hurried effort.
Cole fired, and a split second later so did Sawyer.
Both bullets bored into Strawhorn's chest, lifting him up and back off the boulder. His arms and legs flew out wildly as he seemed to sink in slow motion to the earth. An instant later he slammed into the ground on his back, already dead as he landed beside Durand's body, almost at the feet of Simone McKay.
That was the scene that greeted Cole when he bounded into the rocks a moment later. He had left Sawyer behind to grab Delia and stop her wild flight before she hurt herself. He had levered another shell into the Winchester's chamber as he ran up to the boulders, and he kept the rifle trained on Strawhorn as he went over to the sprawled body. Glancing at Simone, he asked, "Are you all right?"
She nodded jerkily. "I am now."
Strawhorn was dead, no doubt about it, and so was Durand. A few yards away a panting and shaken Michael Hatfield was still sitting astride the man he had battered into unconsciousness. Cole said, "What about you, Michael?"
"Wh-what?" Michael looked up, his hair disheveled, his face dirty and sweaty.
"Are you hurt?" Cole demanded.
Michael shook his head. "No, I . . . I'm all right. But . . . oh, God, where's Delia?"
"Take it easy, Hatfield," Sawyer called from down the slope as he led the shaking Delia toward the rocks. "Your wife's all right, too, just scared out of her wits. Why don't you come hug her and tell her everything's goin' to be all right, boy?"
Michael got to his feet and hurried down to meet them, folding Delia into his embrace and holding her tightly. While Michael was doing that Cole finally lowered his rifle and heaved a weary sigh.
"It's over," Simone said. "It's finally over, and Andrew has been avenged."
Cole gestured at Durand. "You kill him?"
"Of course," Simone said. She sounded a little surprised at the question. "Wouldn't you have?"
Cole thought about Durand's treachery and Andrew McKay's murder, about how Billy Casebolt had almost been killed, about how close all of them had come to death because of Durand's ruthless greed.
"Yeah," Cole said. "I damn sure would have."
Chapter 18
It was another big day for Wind River. The roundhouse had been completed, and the first east-bound train would be pulling out shortly. Cole Tyler and Billy Casebolt strolled down the boardwalk toward the station, intending to see the train off. Casebolt was mending nicely from his wound, although the bandages around his midsection still made him walk a little stiffly.
Cole didn't expect to see Simone McKay at the depot today for the big send-off, or at least he hoped he wouldn't. Ever since the end of the ordeal with Durand and Strawhorn a few days earlier, Simone had kept pretty much to herself, moving back into the big house on the western edge of town.
Cole figured it would take her a while to get over everything that had happened, but sooner or later Simone would have to face up to her new responsibilities. He had taken it on himself to wade through all of Durand's paperwork, and the partnership agreements were clear enough. Durand had no relatives listed, so with one exception his assets reverted to the heir of his former partner.
Simone now owned practically the whole damned town.
The exception was the Diamond S, which was now Kermit Sawyer's free and clear. The way things had worked out, Simone was a rich woman, and Sawyer was well on his way to being the most important cattleman in the territory. Too bad folks had had to die for all that to come about, Cole thought. But the blame for that lay with Durand and Strawhorn—and Andrew McKay, because he had been part of the original plan to loot the territory by using Strawhorn's gang. McKay and Durand had intended to play both ends against the middle, and they had paid for their plotting.
Overall, Wind River was a lot happier place these days, what with the return of the rest of the Union Pacific payroll. Work was going ahead on the rails west of town, and the threat of a riot by the Irish laborers had evaporated. As marshal, now all Cole had to worry about were the usual problems: crooked gamblers, thieves, saloon brawlers, murderers . . .
Cole and Casebolt weren't the only ones on their way to the station. As they neared the newspaper office Michael Hatfield emerged, shrugging into his coat. He greeted them with a smile. "Hello, Marshal, Deputy Casebolt. Are you heading down to the depot?"
"That's right," Cole replied.
"So am I. This is a big story—the first train heading back east. Not as big as when the very first locomotive rolled into the station a while back, of course. That was quite a day."
"Yeah," Cole said dryly, remembering how the celebration had turned into a brawl and how he had found himself drawn inexorably into the affairs of the town called Wind River. "Quite a day."
"How's your wife doin', Michael?" Casebolt asked.
"She's fine. Dr. Kent examined her and said she and the baby are all right. He was worried that all that horseback riding would have caused problems with Delia's condition, but we were lucky."
"Hope you don't mind me sayin' so, but after everything that happened, I sort of figured she might be on that train headin' east."
"So did I," the young man said. "But Delia has surprised me. She moved back home from the hotel, and she says now she wants to stay here. I think it changed her opinion of me when I jumped down on top of that outlaw. Maybe she thinks now that I can take care of her and the children, even if the frontier is still wild." He smiled sheepishly as he fell in step beside Cole and Billy. "What I haven't told her is that I fell as much as I jumped, and I was lucky I landed on top of Benton without getting shot."
"You handled yourself all right," Cole told him. "You'll do fine out here, Michael, and I'm glad you and the missus are working things out."
"I hope we are," Michael said fervently. "I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens."
"That's all anybody can do."
They arrived at the train station a few minutes later and found the platform fairly crowded, although it was nothing like that first day. Passengers were boarding the single passenger car while the engine steamed and rumbled at the head of the train. Cole spotted Dr. Judson Kent standing at one end of the platform and started toward him, leaving Michael and Casebolt talking to each other. As he approached the physician he saw that Kent hadn't noticed him yet but was instead watching intently as someone boarded the train. Cole glanced over and frowned. Kent was watching a gaudily dressed young woman who looked vaguely familiar. She looked back at the doctor for a second before she disappeared into the passenger car, and Cole recognized her as one of the soiled doves who worked the saloons.
What the hell was Kent's connection with a woman like that? Cole wondered. But he kept the thought to himself. He had come to respect and like K
ent, and he wasn't going to pry into the man's personal business.
"'Morning, Doctor," Cole said as he came up to the Englishman.
"Hello, Marshal," Kent replied, taking his eyes away from the train. "Are you here on business, or just celebrating the departure of the first train for the East?"
Cole said dryly, "I wouldn't call it celebrating. Just keeping an eye on things, I guess." He looked around the platform. "I was halfway expecting to see Mrs. McKay here with a bunch of trunks."
"You thought she would leave Wind River?" Kent sounded surprised by the idea.
Cole shrugged. "I figured it was possible after everything that happened. Got to be lots of bad memories here for the lady."
"True, true," murmured Kent. "But I think you underestimate Simone's strength. She does not like to allow anything to defeat her."
"Yep, I saw what she did to Durand. But I reckon she had a right if anybody did, considering how Durand killed her husband to get McKay out of the way and take over the whole town."
"If that's what happened," Kent said, then grimaced as if the words had come out of his mouth without his consent.
Cole looked sharply at him. "What's that mean? Mrs. McKay and Delia Hatfield both told us the things Durand and Strawhorn said about Andrew McKay being in on the plan from the first. Durand had plenty of motive for getting rid of him. What else could have happened, unless it really was a stray shot that killed McKay?"
"What else indeed?" Kent said with another glance at the train.
This was going beyond the realm of personal business and getting into something that he had a legitimate interest in as marshal, Cole thought. "You'd better tell me what's going on here, Judson," he said quietly. "I saw you looking at that young woman getting on the train a few minutes ago. Does she have something to do with this?"
"I honestly do not know," Kent replied, "but I've been doing a great deal of thinking about the matter. That woman is named Becky Lewis, and she is one of the, ah . . ."
"I know what she is," Cole said.
"Step over here to the corner of the platform where we can have some privacy," Kent said, "and I'll tell you the story as I know it, Marshal."
Cole followed the physician and listened intently as Kent explained to him about Becky Lewis's visit to his office and the condition in which she found herself. "I've decided to send her away so that she can make a new life for herself elsewhere, and thank God she agreed," the doctor concluded. "Simone was gracious enough to provide the funds so that Miss Lewis can do exactly that."
"You told her that her husband was maybe the daddy of that girl's baby?"
Kent nodded. "She took it very well, especially considering everything else that has happened recently to her. Simone McKay is, above all else, a lady, my friend. She was quite sympathetic toward Miss Lewis."
"Well, I reckon that's nice of her, all right, but what's all this got to do with McKay's murder?" asked Cole.
"I discovered inadvertently that the young woman was not completely truthful with me. She knew she was pregnant before she came to see me, and it's quite likely she even confronted Andrew McKay and demanded money from him. He refused. In fact, he laughed at her. Miss Lewis felt wronged—and she has quite a temper, I'm told."
Cole frowned in thought for a few seconds as he considered what Kent had told him, then his eyes widened abruptly in surprise. "You think this Lewis gal. . . Was she here on the platform the day McKay was killed?"
Kent's features were grim as he replied, "I've asked around in the saloons and determined that she was seen here before that brawl broke out. After the fighting began, no one noticed her anymore because they were all busy trying to break someone's head open or avoid having their own broken."
"Then, damn it, she could have been the one—" Cole started toward the train.
Kent stopped him with a firm hand on his arm. "Let her go, Cole," he said quietly. "You'll not accomplish a thing by bringing her back and forcing the truth out of her."
"But if she killed McKay—"
"Simone executed William Durand for killing her husband," Kent insisted. "She pulled the trigger of that gun and took his life. I for one do not care for the idea of telling her that she may have killed Durand for nothing. Although Lord knows the man deserved killing for other reasons," he added with a snort of contempt.
"Yeah, I reckon there's that to consider," Cole said grudgingly. "I don't much like it, though."
"Nor do I. Sometimes, however, it's better to do nothing and to let everyone involved forget. For Simone's sake . . ."
Cole nodded. "The train's about to pull out. I don't want to delay it."
Kent smiled. "Thank you, Cole."
The locomotive's whistle shrilled, signaling its departure. With steam billowing from the stack, the drivers began to work, turning the wheels and sending the train rolling down the tracks out of Wind River. Along with everyone else on the platform, Cole watched it leaving, but only he and Kent knew that it might be carrying Andrew McKay's murderer with it.
Or it might not, he thought. Kent was right; they might not ever know the truth, so it was best just to let things stand as they were.
Besides, he had other things to worry about. Wind River was still full of railroad workers and saloonkeepers and gamblers and wild cowboys. He and Sawyer had worked together temporarily to rescue Simone and Delia Hatfield, but it was clear the Texan still didn't much like Cole, and with Sawyer's growing power and influence, that could lead to problems in the future. Plus there was always the threat that the Sioux and the Shoshone might not continue to abide by the treaties they had signed with Washington, even though the Shoshone had helped save Billy Casebolt's life. All in all, Cole thought, it was going to be a long time before Wind River was truly civilized, and while he was the marshal, he was going to have his hands full. . . .
"Marshal," Billy Casebolt said urgently, breaking into Cole's reverie, "somebody just came runnin' up and told me there's fixin' to be a killin' in Hank Parker's saloon. Reckon we better do somethin' about it?"
Cole swung around, reaching down to make sure his revolver was loose in its holster. "That's what they pay us for," he said with a faint grin as he led the way off the platform. With Casebolt trailing him, he headed for the downtown area at a fast walk, then broke into a run as he heard the crashes and angry shouts of another brawl erupting.
Yep, Wind River was a long way from civilized, all right. And right now that was just how Cole Tyler liked it.
The WIND RIVER Series continues --
# 2 THUNDER WAGON
Trouble is brewing in Wind River. The Irish and Chinese are up in arms, and the friendly Shoshone stand accused of stealing cattle. Marshal Cole Tyler sets out to track down the saboteurs-lighting a fuse that will set off a bloody massacre.
#3 WOLF SHADOW
A stranger brings a blizzard of trouble to Wind River. Two men are dead, and hell freezes over as Cole Tyler investigates the case. But as the bullets fly, Tyler learns it is one thing to stop the slaughter—and another to learn the truth.
#4 MEDICINE CREEK Things don't stay peaceful for long in Wind River as an ancient Shoshone legend sparks a deadly rivalry. Cattlemen face off against each other—and the mysterious powers of Medicine Creek.
#5 DARK TRAIL No one is laying out the welcome mat for the latest visitors to Wind River. These revenge-seeking New Orleans natives send bullets flying in a deadly showdown that could change the face of Wind River forever.
#6 JUDGMENT DAY Not everyone is glad to see the railroad coming to Wind River. Caught in the middle of those for and those against, Marshal Cole Tyler must keep the peace even as events force him to choose sides in the battle for the future of the town.
#7 RANSOM VALLEY The Wyoming Territory settlement of Wind River finds itself under attack by a gang of vicious outlaws. When the ruthless desperadoes take a beautiful young woman hostage, it's up to Marshal Cole Tyler and Texas cowboy Lon Rogers to pursue them and set her free . . . or die trying!
A lifelong Texans, James Reasoner and L.J. Washburn have been husband and wife, and professional writers for more than thirty years. In that time, they have authored several hundred novels and short stories in numerous genres.
James is best known for his Westerns, historical novels, and war novels, he is also the author of two mystery novels that have achieved cult classic status, TEXAS WIND and DUST DEVILS. Writing under his own name and various pseudonyms, his novels have garnered praise from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as appearing on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.
Livia J. (L.J.) Washburn has been writing professionally for over 30 years. Washburn received the Private Eye Writers of America award and the American Mystery award for the first Lucas Hallam mystery, WILD NIGHT.
They live in the small Texas town they grew up in.
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