by J. D. Oliver
The door to our main house flew open. Out came two guys with Daisy in between them, they each had one hand in their jacket pocket. I seen the fear on Daisy’s face. I didn’t have to tell Faith what to do. She opened the door on her side, as I did on mine. We both hit the ground at the same time, with our pistols in our hand.
Those two goons pulled their hands out of their pockets, with Glock 9mm’s in their fists. They fired and missed. Faith did a running dive and came up firing. I did something like that, not as pretty though.
Faith’s first shot hit her guy between the eyes. Mine got the guy in the shoulder and gut. I had fired twice. Daisy sank to the ground terrified. We started to stand up, when we heard a voice behind us, “Drop em’ or you’re dead.” We froze.
I turned my head, there were two of them. One guy said, “Kill them Eddy, do it now!” The one called Eddy started to raise his AK-47, then I heard the stutter of the Uzi.
Rosie got them both, they didn’t know what hit them.
Faith ran over to Rosie and held her close, Rosie was crying, “I didn’t mean to kill them, I just wanted to stop them from hurting you guys.”
“That’s okay, Rosie, that was the only way to stop them, you did the right thing.” Faith said, Rosie laid the Uzi on the seat and picked up Alita, who was staring with wide open eyes at the carnage.
I went over and picked Daisy up to her feet, “Where’s Red?” I asked her.
“They have him at the drilling rig, they keep us separated, I guess in order to control us.” Daisy said, as she clung to me.
“Drilling rig? What do you mean, they can’t drill for oil on this place.” I said.
“That’s what Red told them when they first stopped and asked about drilling. Red had no more than said that, when they knocked him out. They have the rig about four miles back in the hills where it can’t be seen. I don’t think they could of heard these shots from there.”
“Where are my manners,” I said to Daisy, “this is my wife Faith, and our Daughters, Rosie the oldest and Alita our youngest,” I said.
“My, you have been busy,” then Daisy held her hand out to Faith, “I’m Daisy, cousin to your husband.”
“Where are all of the hands?” I asked.
“Working on the rig, the cattle are just fending for themselves. The hands were given a choice, either work or be killed.”
“How many of them are there?” I asked.
“There were ten of them, but since you all have killed these four, that makes only six left. Some of the guys who came with them are alright, I think they kidnapped them also.”
“Did you try to call the Sheriff?
“They cut the land line, and took all of our cell phones. They’ve been here about three weeks.”
“What in the world did they hope to accomplish. They must of known that sooner or later they would be found out?” Faith said.
“That’s a funny thing, I thought of that. But do you know that nature conservancy that you thought you put the ranch in?”
“Thought? So yeah, what about it?” I said.
“One of the two that your little red hair daughter shot, he was the head honcho of the outfit. I think it was bogus.” Daisy said.
“You mean our land is not in the nature conservancy?”
“I do believe it ain’t. I heard them talking on how they were going to have to kill all three of you, your Dad and Jake too. As soon as the well came in; they were sort of waiting till then.”
“Do you know if they were working on their own, or for somebody else?” Faith asked.
“Come on in the house, I want to show you something.” Daisy said.
There was an open briefcase on the table, Daisy shut the case, on the cover was a logo, it was the logo of one of the biggest oil company’s in the world, ‘Euro-con’. “Of course, we probably can’t prove they were involved, but they sure weren’t shy about showing this briefcase.” Daisy said.
I sat down in a chair, my chair; the one I had sat in at every meal since I was a little guy. “But how could they believe they could get away with it?”
Daisy gave a grisly laugh, “Oh come on, Sonny Boy,(she always called me that, when she thought I was being obtuse.) They started a war and invaded a sovereign country on a pretext. What makes you think they can’t take a measly little ranch and get away with it?”
“We have laws in this country.” Faith said.
“Laws are only as good as the system behind them. Look how they’ve twisted the constitution to suit their needs. This administration has packed the supreme court with their stooges. They think their invincible.” Daisy said.
“Wow! Sounds like you have given this some thought.” I said.
“Yeah, like for over two hundred years. I am surprised you haven’t reached that conclusion, you’re half Indian yourself.” Daisy said.
“I have Daisy, I have. But there is more to it than that. We fought them till they almost had us wiped out. We have to work within the system. Their own excesses and debauchery will bring them down, as it did the Roman Empire. I think I will call the Sheriff.”
I reached in my pocket and got my phone. I had the county sheriff’s phone number programmed in. I got the receptionist. “Sheriff’s Office, how may I help you?”
“Jean, this is Clay Bronson, is the Sheriff in?”
“Clay! How are you?”
“I’m fine Jean, we seem to have a little mess out here, I need to talk to John.”
I heard her say, even though she covered the mouthpiece with her hand, “John, it’s Clay Bronson,” I heard him say, “What the hell does he want, I haven’t got time to baby set every damn Indian in this county?” She answered, “I don’t know, he said there was some kind of a mess out there.”
He picked up the phone, “Clay, how are you old boy, haven’t seen you in a coon’s age, what’s the problem?”
“John, I just want you to know that I heard everything you said to Jean, now that you know that I heard, I also want you to know if you ever call me a ‘damn Indian’ again, I’ll cut your throat and cram your balls down the hole. Do you understand?”
“Now, Clay, you must of misunderstood,” He stammered.
“Can it John, I also want you to know that I’m a ‘Special Investigator’ for the State of New Mexico, I’m on a special case and it’s led me straight here to my ranch. Get your ass out here and bring a bunch of troops with you. Make sure their heavily armed. Also bring the coroner with you, so far there are four bodies, I suppose there will be more.” I hung up, then I called Cort to fill him in; Cort asked for the Sheriff’s number. I gave it to him….
About forty-five minutes later five cop cars pulled into the yard; three county Sheriff cars and two Highway Patrol cars. A total of ten men. John came toward me with a shit-eating grin on his face. He held his hand out, “I’m sorry Clay for what I said, I was just having a bad day.”
I took his hand and shook it, “Just don’t let it happen again John. There are four bodies over here, they jumped us as soon as we landed. We shot back. There are six more bad guys out at Coyote Draw, they have an oil rig set up out there, they are holding Red and my hands captive and the way Daisy tells it; they have more captives out there also.”
“I thought your Dad put this ranch in the Nature Conservancy?” John said.
“Yeah, so did we. But it turns out one of those dead guys over there is supposed to be the head honcho for the conservancy, he’s dead.”
“Uh, Clay, your boss speaks rather highly of you, as do we, since you are a war hero and all. Are you going out there with us?”
“Yeah, I am. Otherwise, you’d get your dumb ass shot off.” Just then the crime scene guys along with the Coroner showed up. I had Faith stay there and get them lined out. Knowing these local yahoo’s, I bet she’d have to do their work too.
“John,” I said, “there are horses in the corral; saddle them up. It’s almost dark, we’ll catch them with their pants down. I’m going to my room and get my Bow.
I’ll be right back.”
When I got back they had half of them saddled. Those Highway Patrol Officers knew more about horses then John’s Deputy’s did. All of them weren’t that swift though.
I saddled my horse with my own saddle. He was glad to see me. I was doing a slow burn, it was like being invaded all over again, we suffered through the first one, I sure wasn’t going to take this invasion without fighting to the death.
I tied my bow and quiver to the saddle. That guy that had the AK-47 was still laying there with the gun where it fell, nobody had moved him yet. I walked over and picked up the gun and then took his belt of ammo off him. I liked the idea of using their own weapons against them.
When I had went to my room to get my bow and arrows, I had changed my boots for moccasins. In the same drawer as the moccasins was my old hunting knife, a Texas Bowie, I strapped it on.
Just as we were ready to get in the saddle, Faith came over, “Honey, you be careful, if you get yourself killed, you’d better watch out, I’ll follow you and kill you again,” Then she kissed me, one of those one’s with a promise and a warning.
“You too sweetheart,” I said, when I could catch my breath. “The three of you keep your guns handy, I know Daisy has one, make sure she uses it, if any of them show up here.”
“Don’t worry, if any of them come around, we’ll dismantle them limb by limb.” My beautiful sexy wife said.
It didn’t take us all that long to get to the draw. We could see the rig long before we got there. They were working at least two shifts; I guess they were in a hurry. I stopped on the other side of the hill from the rig. I had the rest of them dismount and wait, I wanted to check things out. I crawled up the hill and peeked over. There were about six guys working on the drilling rig. Some six more were eating. I could tell who the bad guys were; they were the ones with the guns that were lounging around watching the others.
It was all of the way dark; dark like just before the moon comes out and that was good. I lay there thinking. How we could rush them, we’d win, but some of us would get killed along with some of the captives. I didn’t want that.
I crawled back down the hill. “I tell you what I want you guys to do. You spread out in a circle all around the rig, stay way back though. I just want you to catch anybody that may run. I don’t want you to shoot toward the rig; you might hit innocents. I’m going in there, any of those guys with the guns that come out are your responsibility. But I say again, do not shoot toward the rig.”
I unsaddled my horse and took his bridle off, I whispered in his ear, he nodded his head. I took my Bow and Arrows, plus I had my pistol, and my trusty knife. I think I had enough weapons, after all, there was only six of them.
My horse ambled off, stopping to get a bite of grass every now and then. I followed him. We went around the edge of the hill; right toward the rig. My horse continued to graze toward it; while I stayed about fifty feet behind him.
I heard one of the guards say, “Hey, there is something out there; I’m going to see what it is.” He came toward us. “It’s only a horse, nothing to worry about.” He called back. He had his back to me, I stepped on a twig, I must be rusty, he started to turn, my knife sank up to the hilt just under his sternum. He never made a sound as my knife found his heart.
One down, five to go. I wiped my knife on his shirt. My horse turned his head to look at me, then turned back and started to graze toward the rig once more. I could see their faces now. One of the ones that was eating was Red, my cousin. He looked up, a frown on his face. He looked directly at me. He couldn’t see me; it was too dark and he was blinded by a floodlight. But I could tell he knew I was there. I seen him pick up a butter knife and stick it under his shirt. He said something to the man that was setting beside him, it was one of our hands, he also slipped a knife under his shirt.
We circled to the side, we got two more. Three left to go. Red and Orville, I had remembered the other hands name. They got up and drifted toward one of them; they got him. Only two left. The last two were on the other side of the rig, one of them called out; “Slim, where are you?” He cradled his gun and started to walk toward where Red was, “Hey, what’s going on over there?” He said, raising his AK-47. I had notched an arrow, he took another step, I loosed my arrow, whish, it went home. His gun went off as it fell from his hands. The last guard started shooting, my next arrow went through his throat.
Everyone stood there, as if in shock. Red yelled, “Is that you Clay?”
“Of course it is, who else gives a damn about you?” I called back. Then I whistled, “Hey, you all can come in now.”
John came in, “Jesus Clay, you killed all of them.”
“I do wish you wouldn’t use the Messiah’s name in vain, John, He doesn’t like it.” I said.
“Huh? You are getting on me for that, when you just killed all of these guys?”
“I didn’t kill them all, Red and Orville did for one. Besides, it was kill or be killed, besides that they were trespassing.”
Red came up to me, “Daisy, is she alright?”
“Sure she is Red, we got all four of those guys back at headquarters. My daughter, Rosie got two of them, she’s a whiz. How about these other guys, are they upright?”
“Yes, their wildcatters, they were told it was a legit drill, they didn’t know till it was too late, then they had guns in their backs.”
“Good, tell them to continue with the drilling, only they will be working for us now. As long as this ranch isn’t in the Nature Conservancy, we might as well drill for oil ourselves.”
“Yeah, that guy took you for a ride, is he dead too?”
“Yep, sure is, he’s one of those that Rosie got.”
John came up, again, “Since you killed all of these guys, what do you want us to do?”
“I want you to investigate where these guys are from, I bet it’s big oil, do your job. Bring the FBI in if necessary.” I turned my back on him and addressed Red;
“Red, I want you and our hands to get back to the ranch, there is a lot of work to do, the place is falling apart. Who’s in charge of these wildcatters?”
John was already on the phone with the FBI, I knew he was too lazy to do anything, Oh well, the FBI would do a better job anyway. Red brought the ramrod over.
“Is this the only rig you have?” I asked.
“No, I have another one; their working in Arizona. I don’t know what’s going on now. They took my phone away.”
“Well, good, I have some work in New Mexico, if you’re interested. Here you can use my phone and let your family know everyone is Okay.” He took it and started to dial, pretty soon he was crying, telling his wife he was alright, she had been frantic.
Red and the hands fired up a truck that was setting near by and left for the ranch. I saddled my horse back up and took my time in getting back. The peace officers had left long before I did.
I did some more thinking as I rode under the starlight. What in the world made these guys think they could get away with a land grab? Were they getting that bold? Did the fact that they got away with breaking the laws of the constitution, make them think that way?
I heard a noise beside me, my horse shied a little bit; a coyote came out of the brush. I pulled up on the reins. The Coyote sat down on his hunch’s and just looked at me. “So,” I said, “I suppose you’re mad at me too?” He shook his head in the negative.
He let a long plaintive howl and then got up and left. I sure wish they could talk.
Everyone was in bed when I got back. I brushed my horse down and gave him a bait of grain. As I was walking toward the house I could see a light in my room. Faith was sitting up in bed reading. “What are you reading?” I asked.
“Well, I see that you have a lot of books, I believe this is one written by a Louis L’Amour. It’s pretty good, the hero reminds me of you. There is a sandwich on the nightstand, along with a glass of milk, I thought you would be hungry.”
“I am. Did Red tell you all a
bout it?”
“Yep, he said you were hell on wheels. I told him I thought he had the direction wrong, more like heaven than hell.”
“Thanks honey, I think I will eat that sandwich. I’m a little tired.” I didn’t even get all of that ate, before I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning naked next to my wife.
She must of undressed me.
Rosie came into the room carrying Alita. “I fed her, she still wants you.” Rosie said, as she handed Alita to Faith. Rosie sat down on the edge of the bed, beside me.
“Dad, can I talk to you?” She said.
“Sure you can, anytime. What’s on your mind?” I said, as I sat up a little bit.
“Well, those guys I killed, it bothered me all night. How do you get over it?”
“You don’t sweetheart. You’ll remember them all of your life, each and everyone. But, it will get where it hurts less.” Faith was breast feeding Alita,
“Yes,” she said, “that’s true sweetheart. It bothers me too. But look at it this way, if you wouldn’t of killed them they would of shot us in our backs and then turned and shot you and Alita too.”
“I know that. I guess I was just feeling sorry for myself, I’ll get over it. Thanks, both of you, I love you both.” Then she leaned over and hugged me. I tousled her hair.
“Come on, you guys, Daisy has breakfast saved for you. Oh, yeah, the FBI is down there.”
Sitting at the table was a man dressed in a suit, he stood up and held his hand out, when we came in, “My name is Special Agent Harry Silver, from the Cheyenne office.”
I shook his hand, “I guess you know who we are.” I said.
“Yes, all three of you, and the red haired young lady must be the Uzi expert.”
Rosie blushed, “I had to shoot them, they were going to kill my parents.”
“Yes, the evidence backs you up on that. You are a hero, young lady.” He said.
“Did anybody ever go gather up those bodies at the drilling rig?” I asked.
“Yes, of course, we have a team up there right now. Plus one out here, going over every thing. They tell me there was a briefcase that belonged to one of them here?”