A Good Day for a Massacre

by William W. Johnstone; J. A. Johnstone

  Behind him, the four men filed into the kitchen to eat supper. “Soon as we finish eatin’,” Bob Atkins suggested, “why don’t we take a little ride into town and make sure all them folks are awake?”

  * * *

  “Good morning, Will,” U.S. Marshal Dan Stone greeted his young deputy when he walked in the door of his office over the jail in Fort Smith. “Are you ready to get back to work?”

  “Yes, sir, I surely am,” Will replied, and took a seat across from Stone’s desk. It was a truthful answer, for he had spent the last three days in town, most of it sitting around Bennett House drinking coffee and listening to Sophie Bennett and her mother talking about the wedding coming up. Out of desperation, he had excused himself from their discussions from time to time, telling them he had to check on his horses and tack. He found himself longing for the hills and open prairies, and that was something that troubled him. His on-again, then off-again, engagement to Sophie had been due to his job as a deputy marshal and the fact that it caused him to be gone most of the time. When he thought about it, he couldn’t really blame her for wanting him to go back to the ranch in Texas, a ranch she had never seen. That was another thing that upset her—he had promised to take her there three weeks ago but had to answer a call from Dan Stone to ride with eight other deputies to capture a gang of train robbers targeting the MKT Railroad.

  Noticing a look of distraction in Will’s face, Stone commented, “You look like your mind’s off someplace else.” He flashed a smile and asked, “You thinking about that wedding? Is that where your mind was?”

  “Yes, sir, I expect it mighta been, but it’s back on business now,” Will said. Stone had guessed right, but Will felt no inclination to tell his boss that he wasn’t sure about getting married. He knew he would, however, because he had asked Sophie to marry him, and she had said yes.

  “Good,” Stone said. “I’m sending you and Ed Pine down to Atoka to arrest three men who’ve been terrorizing the town.” When he saw Will’s questioning expression, he paused before continuing. “I know, you’re thinking that sounds like a job for one deputy with a posseman and a cook, but Ed’s been pushing me to send him back in the field. So, I told him I would, but only in partnership with another deputy. He feels like he’s ready to ride again, but I think he’s still a little weak from that chest wound. He just won’t admit it.” He shook his head as if exasperated. “So, you’re the best man to ride with him. He likes you, and he’s still beholden to you for going after him when he was left for dead over near Okmulkee. If those three men were in jail, I’d let Ed go without you, but you’re gonna have to arrest ’em.” He shrugged. “That is, if they’re still there by the time you get there, considering it’s gonna take you damn near a week.” He waited to hear Will’s objections, knowing how he disliked being slowed down by a wagon. When Will didn’t protest, Stone continued. “Ed’s getting the wagon and said he was gonna take Horace Watson to do the cooking.” That was fine with Will. He had worked with Horace before, when he was cooking for Alvin Greeley. Greeley was a useless sod, but Will had no complaints about Horace.

  “I expect you want us to get started as soon as we can,” Will said. “Is Ed takin’ care of all the supplies we’ll need?” Stone said he was. Will nodded and commented, “Looks like I’ll just be his posseman on this trip.”

  “Pretty much,” Stone replied. “You see any problem with that?”

  “Nope,” Will answered. “Ed oughta know what he’s doin’. He’s been ridin’ with the Marshals Service longer than I have.”

  “Good,” Stone responded. “I knew I could count on you.” Will stood up to leave. “Ed’s probably still over at the stable, if you want to check with him.”

  “I’ll do that,” Will said, and walked out the door.

  * * *

  Will found Ed talking to Vern Tuttle, the owner, when he walked down the street to the stables. “Here’s Will Tanner now,” Vern announced when Will came in the door.

  “Howdy, Will,” Ed Pine greeted him cheerfully. “Have you talked to Dan Stone about ridin’ with me?”

  “Just came from there,” Will replied. “He told me I was fixin’ to go to Atoka, that you were in charge on this job, and that I damn sure better not mess up.”

  Ed chuckled. “Well, I’m glad he laid it on the line for you, so I won’t have to do it.” Serious then, he said, “I’d appreciate it if you’d check over that list of supplies I loaded on the jail wagon. See if there’s anything else you think we’ll need.” Will took a quick check of the pile of supplies Ed had acquired and found them adequate. “Horace Watson’s gonna meet us here at six in the mornin’,” Ed informed him. “We can pack most of that food in his wagon.”

  “Are you plannin’ to drive that jail wagon?” Will asked. “’Cause I ain’t. Whaddaya say we let Horace pile his cookin’ stuff on the jail wagon and he can drive it, instead of takin’ two wagons.” That sounded like a good idea to Ed. Like Will, he’d rather sit in the saddle than ride on a wagon seat. “It’ll take us just as long to get to Atoka, but we’ll be free to scout along the way for fresh game, or smoke out any trouble ahead.”

  They talked with Vern for a while afterward, then Will had a quick visit with his buckskin gelding before telling Ed he would see him in the morning. Ed walked out of the stables with him to say a final word. “Will, I ’preciate you goin’ along on this trip. I know Dan don’t think I’m ready to ride again.”

  “Oh, I don’t think Dan thinks that at all,” Will quickly assured him. “He’s just concerned about these three jaspers raisin’ hell in Atoka. I think he figures they’re more than three harmless drifters. They might be wanted somewhere else, and they might be a handful for one man to handle.”

  “I reckon we’ll see, won’t we?” Ed declared.

  “I reckon,” Will responded. “I’ll see you in the mornin’.”

  * * *

  As was their usual custom, Ron Sample and Leonard Dickens were sitting in their rocking chairs on the porch at Bennett House when Will walked up from the street. “Ain’t it gettin’ a little too cold for you boys to sit outside?” Will asked the two elderly boarders as he came up the steps. Never mind the coming of chilly fall weather, it seemed it might take a blizzard to run the two of them inside to smoke their pipes.

  “There is a little nip in the air this afternoon,” Leonard conceded. “But thanks to Ron, Ruth ran us outta the parlor.”

  Ron looked at Will and chuckled. “Yep, it didn’t set too well with Ruth when I burned a hole in that carpet by the davenport. She made us go set out here on the porch. It wasn’t much more’n a little scorched place in the carpet, was it, Leonard? I told her she could pull that rocker over a couple of inches and you wouldn’t even notice it. She went on about tryin’ to keep the house lookin’ decent for your weddin’.”

  Will glanced at Leonard, who was looking at him, grinning like a Cheshire cat, and he knew there was a little needling coming his way. “No, sir,” Leonard said, “we’d best not mess up that weddin’. Right, Will?”

  “Hell,” Will shot back, “you two ol’ buzzards ain’t even invited.”

  They both laughed at that. “Which one of us are you gonna pick to be your best man?” Ron asked.

  “You’d be better off pickin’ me,” Leonard said. “I can still get into my suit I bought for my wife’s funeral. It’s just like new. I ain’t wore it since.”

  “Maybe Leonard’s right,” Ron jumped in again. “There ain’t much difference in a weddin’ and a funeral, anyway. A feller gets his wings clipped at either one of’em.”

  He could still hear them laughing after he went inside and closed the door behind him to find Sophie coming down the stairs. “Oh, Will,” she said upon seeing him. “Good, you’re home. Supper’s about ready, so if you have to wash up, you’d best get about it.” She paused on the second step, so she could look him in the eye. “Did you go to see Dan Stone today?”

  “Yep,” he responded. “I reported in, just like
I was called to do.”

  When there was no more from him beyond that simple statement, she gave him that accusing look that he had come to recognize. “You’re riding out again, aren’t you?”

  “Not till tomorrow mornin’,” he answered, hoping she would think that at least they had tonight.

  “Does he know you’re getting married soon?” she asked. “We have so many things to do before then, and it would be nice if you were here to help.”

  “Sophie, there ain’t anything I know to do to help plan a weddin’. You and your mama are goin’ to plan everything, anyway. And in the meantime, I have to earn a livin’. So, I can’t just sit around Fort Smith every day. When we get married, we’re gonna go to Texas, like I told you, and live on the J-Bar-J. And I’ll be home all the time.” He gave her a smile. “And you’ll most likely wish I was back in the Marshals Service.”

  She shook her head as if perplexed. “Just go wash up for supper.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before continuing on her way to the kitchen. After supper, she would find out where he was going in the morning and how long he could expect to be gone. In spite of her efforts not to, she was following right along in her mother’s footsteps. In love with a deputy marshal, she feared she was destined to realize the same heartbreak her mother suffered when Deputy Marshal Fletcher Pride was murdered by outlaws. Those thoughts brought her mind back to her mother. A strong woman, Ruth Bennett had operated her boardinghouse ever since the death of Sophie’s father with never a sign of dependence on anyone. But lately, her mother didn’t seem like the determined woman Sophie was accustomed to. Margaret, who had run the kitchen ever since Ruth took over the management of the boardinghouse, noticed a difference in Ruth’s demeanor as well, and had commented to Sophie about it. They decided that Sophie’s mother was probably working herself into a case of nerves over the upcoming wedding and would recover her old spunk when the knot was tied. Sophie’s thoughts were interrupted then when she walked into the kitchen and almost bumped into Margaret coming out into the hall to ring her little dinner bell.

  “Where’s your mama?” Margaret asked, since Ruth was usually ready to help her set the food on the table.

  “She’s upstairs,” Sophie said. “She was feeling a little tired and decided to lie down for a while before supper.”

  “She’s been getting tired a lot lately,” Margaret commented. “I wonder if she’s feeling all right.”

  “I still think the wedding is giving her a case of nerves,” Sophie said. “She’ll be all right when that’s finally over.”

  * * *

  Will was up and ready to leave at five o’clock the next morning. Margaret was in the kitchen, just getting ready to start breakfast when she saw him coming down the back stairs. “You leaving before breakfast?” she asked, and when he said that he was, she insisted on fixing something quick for him. “I’ve already got the coffeepot on, and I’ll throw a couple of eggs on the stove for you. Biscuits will be a while yet, but there’s some cold corn bread from last night.”

  “That would suit me just fine,” he said right away, and dumped his saddlebags and rifle by the kitchen door. Glancing toward the dining room door, he half expected to see Sophie. They hadn’t visited very long after supper the night before because she complained about a headache, so they said good night at half past eight and retired to their separate rooms.

  “How long you gonna be gone?” Margaret asked, breaking into his thoughts as she filled a cup for him.

  “Couple of weeks, I expect,” he answered. “Gotta take a wagon to Atoka and back.”

  “Well, you be sure and take care of yourself. You won’t have much time left before that wedding when you get back.”

  “I will,” he replied, thinking the whole world seemed to revolve around that wedding. It would have been so much easier to simply go to the preacher and let him tie the knot without all the ceremony that was driving Ruth and Sophie crazy. He was willing to bet that Sophie wouldn’t have so many headaches if they did. It was with a definite sense of relief that he ate his quick breakfast and was on his way to meet Ed and Horace. “Tell Sophie I’m sorry I missed her this mornin’,” he told Margaret as he walked out the back door.

  Horace Watson was already at the stable when Will arrived. A few minutes later, Ed appeared, eager to get started. As Will expected, Horace objected to driving the jail wagon instead of taking his chuck wagon, which he had modified to accommodate his every need. He finally surrendered and agreed to do it, but warned them both that this would be the only time. When the jail wagon was loaded up with supplies and Horace’s cooking utensils, they started toward the ferry slips down by the river, with Horace and the wagon setting the pace. His regular chuck wagon was left parked where the jail wagon usually sat. A brisk breeze blew in their faces as they set out on a trail that followed the Poteau River to the southwest. Will and Ed rode side by side a little ahead of Horace in the wagon, Will aboard his buckskin gelding named Buster. Ed was riding a horse he had just bought, a big gray he called Smut. The day was bright and sunny. It was chilly, but it was supposed to be this time of year, so none of the three thought much about it.

  Since the Sans Bois Mountains were just about the halfway point in the roughly 120-mile trip, they decided to make a brief stop there. Will knew the location of a hideout well known to outlaws holing up in Indian Territory, and Ed was interested in checking to see if it was currently occupied. The hideout had come to be known locally as Robbers Cave. Will had actually made an arrest there on one occasion, but Ed had never been there, and he thought it might be of future use to him if he knew how to find it.

  “I used to know an old fellow who had a cabin not far from that hideout,” Will said. “His name was Perley Gates, and he was the one who showed me where that cave is. But Perley was gone the last time I went to his cabin. He left a sign on the door to tell anybody who was interested that he was leavin’ it for good, and welcome to it.” He paused to think about the elflike little man, and it brought a smile to his face. “I ain’t run into Perley since. There’s no tellin’ where he ended up.”

  “Maybe he changed his mind and came back,” Ed said.

  “Knowing Perley, he just might have,” Will said. The thought served to spark his interest, so he replied, “I wouldn’t mind goin’ by his place, just in case he did. It ain’t far from Robbers Cave. Matter of fact, it’s on the way, so it wouldn’t delay us much. We could rest the horses there.” So that’s what they decided to do.

  CHAPTER 2

  It took two and a half days at the wagon’s pace to reach the Sans Bois Mountains and the trail that snaked its way through the narrow valleys that eventually led to a green meadow. On the other side of the meadow Will pointed to a log cabin built back up against a steep slope, and hard to see at first. They pulled up at the edge of the meadow when they spotted a sorrel horse in the small corral next to an open shed on the other side of the cabin. Will recalled that there was no corral there when he had last visited Perley, and his horse was a dark Morgan. “There’s somebody in the cabin,” he said to Ed, “but I don’t think it’s Perley. We’d better make sure.” He rode ahead a few yards and called out, “Hello, the cabin!”

  “Hello, yourself!” a voice came back. “What’s your business here? And just so you know, I’ve got the front sight of a Henry rifle lookin’ right at you.”

  “No need to shoot anybody,” Will said. “We were lookin’ for a friend of mine, name of Perley Gates. He built that cabin, but it’s plain to see Perley’s gone. We’re U.S. Deputy Marshals on our way to Atoka. Just thought we’d cut through here to see if Perley mighta come back. We won’t trouble you any further.” He wheeled Buster around and started back out of the meadow but stopped when he heard the man yell behind him.

  “Hold on!” the voice called after him. He turned to see a short-legged little old man come up from behind a large boulder at the corner of the porch and proceed to run after them. They pulled up and waited for him. Still hold
ing his rifle as if ready to shoot, he asked, “How do I know you’re deputy marshals? I don’t see no badges.” Both Will and Ed pulled their coats aside to reveal the badges they wore. He looked from one of them to the other, then back to Will, obviously trying to decide what to do. Finally deciding to take the risk and believe the badges were real, he lowered his weapon. “You come lookin’ for them two jaspers up there in Robbers Cave?” When he looked again at Ed and Will to see puzzled expressions on both faces, he said, “I hope to hell that’s what you came up here for.”

  “Like he said,” Ed replied, “we’re on our way to Atoka. We don’t know anything about anybody holed up in that hideout. Are they causing some trouble?”

  “Well, I’ll say they are,” the little man responded, as if it was a stupid question.

  “What kinda trouble?” Will asked. He couldn’t help thinking the new occupant of the cabin reminded him of the original one, even down to the curly white whiskers.

  “They’ve raided my cabin three different times. They’ll wait till I go off huntin’ and come in here and turn my cabin upside down, lookin’ for anythin’ they can steal. Last week they stole a four-point buck I was fixin’ to butcher, came right up to the house and took it. When you boys showed up, I thought it was them comin’ back, and I had my rifle ready for ’em this time.”

  “What’s your name, friend?” Ed asked.

  “Merle Teague,” he replied.

  “All right, Merle,” Will said, “we’ll take a look up at that cave and see if they’re still there. We had planned to stop by there, anyway.”

  “Horace needs to rest his horses,” Ed said, “so while he’s doin’ that, me and you can go up to that hideout.”

  They left Horace to unhitch his horses and let them graze while Merle Teague looked over the jail wagon. “You got any coffee on that wagon?” they heard Merle asking as they rode up the ravine next to his cabin. Horace must have said he did, because they heard Merle say he would build up the fire. Will had to laugh when he heard him, for he remembered that every time he had stopped to visit Perley, he was always out of coffee. It got to the point where he brought extra coffee every time he rode this trail.