“Well what?”

  “How’d the boy do?”

  “He done just fine. Don’t you worry your head none about this boy.”

  Dancer laughed out loud and slapped Levi on the back. “So how was it, kid?”

  “Dancer, I’m in your debt. It was—well, it was great.”

  Slocum drained his glass again, and said, “I think it’s time we headed back for the ranch.”

  “What’s your hurry?” said Dancer.

  “Come on,” Slocum said.

  “Well, shit, you go on if you’ve a mind to, but me and the kid here is staying. The night’s young, pard. There’s whiskey to drink and women to lay. You getting old or what?”

  Slocum suddenly felt very old. He wanted no part of this life, but at the same time, he did not want to leave the two cowboys, especially Levi. Something told him that if he left them there, Dancer would get Levi in trouble. He’d never forgive himself if the kid got hurt. “Shit,” he said, “drink up and let’s get out of here.”

  “Hey,” said one of the two braggarts at the bar. “You two fellers there got yourselves a nanny, it looks like. Better let him take you home.”

  “He ain’t my nanny,” said Dancer. “I’m staying here till the place closes down.”

  “Come on, Dancer.”

  “I’ve had my say.”

  “Dancer?” said the man at the bar. “Is that your name? Dancer?”

  Dancer stood up and faced the man. “I’m Charlie Dancer,” he said. “You got any problem with that?”

  “No. Hell no. It’s just kinda unusual around these parts to have a man name of Dancer what’s got hisself a nursemaid. You better dance on home with him. You and the kid.”

  “They’ve been trying to start a fight with someone ever since they came in,” said Slocum. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Slocum stood up, but the tough at the bar walked over to block his path. His buddy walked over to stand beside him. “Say, nanny,” the loudmouth said, “your two pards don’t want to go. You hard of hearing? Why don’t you just go on out of here by yourself and leave them be?”

  “Why don’t you two go back to the bar and mind your own business?” Slocum said.

  “I’m making it my business,” said the man.

  “Yeah. Me, too,” his companion said.

  Slocum heaved a sigh. Charlie Dancer stood up. Levi started to stand, but Dancer said, “Sit still, kid. There’s two of them and two of us.” He walked a half-circle around the table to stand beside Slocum.

  “What’s your names, boys?” he said. “I like to know whose ass I’m about to stomp.”

  “My name’s Joe Tibbett,” said the smaller of the two, “and you won’t forget it after tonight.”

  “Mine’s Hardy,” said the other one, and he swung a big fist at Slocum’s jaw. Slocum blocked the punch and drove a fist into Hardy’s gut. Hardy whoofed out air, but he stood his ground. As soon as Hardy swung, so did Tibbett, and Dancer as deftly blocked his first punch. Almost simultaneously, Dancer and Slocum swung blows that caught their men on the jaw, and the two thugs staggered backward to lean against the bar. Hardy was the first to move away from the bar, and he came at Slocum with his head down and both fists ready for action.

  Tibbett turned slightly, picked up a bottle from the bar and smashed it, leaving the neck and jagged edges in his hand. He moved toward Dancer with this new weapon at the ready. Hardy swung both fists hard and fast, most of his blows missing or landing on Slocum’s shoulders. One lucky punch snapped Slocum’s head back, but he quickly retaliated with a hard right to the side of Hardy’s head, sending the man staggering back again.

  Tibbett lunged at Dancer with the broken bottle, but Dancer sidestepped just in time, and kicked Tibbett in the ass as the man moved past him. The kick sent Tibbett forward where he ran into an empty table and sprawled over it. Dancer ran after him and before Tibbett could get back to his feet, grabbed him by the belt and slung him the rest of the way over the table and down onto the floor.

  Hardy rushed at Slocum, and Slocum stepped aside and hit him hard on the back just between the shoulders, knocking him to the floor. He reached down and pulled Hardy to his feet by the shirt collar, turned him around and smashed a right into his jaw. Hardy staggered back again, but this time Slocum kept moving. He moved in and struck twice more, and Hardy collapsed.

  In the meantime, Dancer waited for Tibbett, who had lost his broken bottle, to get back to his feet. Tibbett looked around. He saw that his partner was down and beaten. He looked at Dancer and at Slocum, and he hesitated. Slocum sat down.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’m done.”

  Tibbett put up his fists and moved hesitantly toward Dancer. Dancer waited, his fists poised, too, but as Tibbett came close, Dancer delivered a swift kick to Tibbett’s balls. Tibbett doubled over, his face turned green. He fell onto the floor, both hands gripping his groin, and rolled over and over moaning and groaning. Dancer dusted off his hands and moved back to the table to sit down again.

  “Damn, Dancer,” said Levi, “that was a hell of fight. You, too, Slocum. Both of you. You whipped them real good.”

  “You boys made some bad enemies,” said Sugar.

  “Those two?” Dancer said. “Hell, we can handle them any day.”

  “Not just them,” she said. “The whole Double Cross outfit. They’re a mean bunch, and they stick together. It won’t be comfortable for you three in town after tonight.”

  “Why three?” Dancer asked. “The kid didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “He’s your pard.”

  “Well, anyone wants to make a fight of it, they’re welcome,” said Dancer.

  “That goes for me, too,” Levi said. “I ain’t a skeered of them. Dancer and Slocum made me stay out of this one. It woulda been three against two. Otherwise, I’d a been right in there with them.”

  Hardy struggled to his feet just then and staggered to the bar, still bent over. He leaned on the bar and hollered for whiskey. Tibbett moaned another time or two. Then, seeing that his partner was up and drinking, he helped himself to his feet by hanging on to a chair. He did not straighten up though. He stood doubled over, still holding his balls. His face was still a pale green. Slowly, he hobbled to the bar next to Hardy. Soon both men had glasses of whiskey, and they drank them down fast.

  “Are you two ready to go yet?” Slocum asked.

  “Naw, hell, Slocum,” said Dancer, “the trouble’s all over now. We might as well stick around.”

  About that same time, Hardy whispered to Tibbett, “You ain’t hurt too bad, are you?”

  “Son of a bitch like to of mashed both my balls,” Tibbett whined back.

  “Didn’t mash your gun hand, did he?”

  Tibbett turned his head to look Hardy in the face. “My gun hand ain’t hurt,” he said.

  “Get ready then,” said Hardy. “When I tell you, we’ll turn on them. You take the one that kicked your balls, and I’ll take the other one.”

  “What about the kid?”

  “He won’t be no problem once them other two is out of the way.”

  Slocum stood up just then. “Well, I’ve stayed around here too long already,” he said. “If you two are damn fool enough to stay longer, it ain’t my problem.”

  “Where you going, Slocum?” asked Levi.

  “I’m going back to the ranch. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll come along with me.”

  Levi gave Dancer a look, and said, “What about it, Dancer?”

  “Hell, let him go, kid.”

  “We’ll see you later, Slocum,” said Levi. “Don’t worry. We’ll be all right.”

  Slocum headed for the door, and Hardy said to Tibbett, “Now.” Both Double Cross men went for their guns. Slocum heard the call, and he whirled. His Colt came out as he turned, and as it leveled on Hardy, it barked. Hardy’s shot went into the floor. He stood still, looking down at the bloody hole in his chest. His mouth dropped open. His hand relaxed, and the gun slipped from his fingers. Then he fell forward on the floor and lay still—dead.

  At almost the same moment, Dancer, who was still seated, flung himself over backward. When he hit the floor, he rolled to his right, and he pulled out his six-gun. Tibbett fired twice. His first shot went right where Dancer had been sitting. His second dug into the floor just where Dancer had rolled. He did not get a third shot. Dancer pointed his gun and fired. The slug tore into Tibbett’s forehead, and the man’s head bounced sillily on his shoulders as his body relaxed, then crumpled into a wad.

  “Damn fools,” said Slocum. He holstered his Colt, turned and walked on out the door. Dancer picked up his chair and sat down again. He and Levi and Sugar sat for a moment in silence.

  “Well,” he said finally, “I reckon Slocum might be right, kid. It might be time for us to go on back.”

  Levi was staring at the two bodies on the floor. “Yeah,” he said.

  “Just one thing, boys,” said Sugar. “Ain’t no question about it now. You’re all in big trouble.”

  5

  First thing the next morning, Slocum walked over to the big house. As he was climbing the steps to the front porch, the door opened, and Annie Talley stepped out. Slocum stopped, surprised, and took the hat off his head. “Good morning, Mr. Slocum,” Annie said.

  “Morning, ma’am,” said Slocum. He realized that he was staring at her, and he forced himself to look down at the steps. “I, uh, just came over to have a word with Mr. Talley.”

  “He’ll be out in a moment. Won’t you sit down?” She indicated one of several chairs that were scattered around the porch. Slocum climbed the last two steps and went over to the chair to sit. He waited until Annie was seated. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said.

  “How do you like your job here so far, Mr. Slocum?” Annie asked.

  “The boys are all friendly enough,” Slocum said, “and Mr. Talley seems to be a fair man.”

  “You didn’t really answer my question.”

  “A job’s a job. If a man had enough money in his jeans, he wouldn’t hold one.”

  “So you don’t have enough money?”

  “I ain’t never seen enough money, ma’am.”

  “Well, Mr. Slocum, you’re certainly not going to get rich working here.”

  “No, ma’am.”

  The door opened again, and Old Man Talley stepped out. When he saw Slocum sitting with Annie, he looked up a bit surprised. “Oh,” he said. “Good morning, Slocum. Don’t you have an assignment?”

  “Yes, sir, I do,” said Slocum, standing up. “But I wanted to have a word with you.”

  Annie stood up then and said, “I’ll just be going back into the house. Excuse me, gentlemen.”

  Talley shot her a glance, and Slocum said, “Morning, ma’am.”

  “Well,” said Talley, after the door had shut behind his niece, “what is it?”

  “Mr. Talley, last night in town, me and ole Dancer killed a couple of Double Cross boys.”

  “Who started it?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It might.”

  “Well, they picked a fight with us. We was minding our own business, sitting at a table with young Levi and that gal Sugar. They was standing at the bar, and they come all the way over to us to pick a fight. We told Levi to keep out of it, and he did. Well, we whipped them pretty good, but as I was leaving the place, they went for their guns. Both of them. Me and Dancer was just faster than them is all.”

  “How come you’re telling me this, Slocum?”

  “I thought you might want to tell us to ride on.” Slocum waited for a response from Talley, but there was none. He continued. “Sugar said the Double Cross is a pretty tight outfit. We might bring trouble on you.”

  “You thinking you ought to run for your life, are you?”

  “It ain’t that, Mr. Talley. I don’t want to bring my trouble on you is all.”

  “Slocum, go find your partner, and you might just as well bring Levi along. Get back over here with them right away. We’ll have us a talk.”

  Slocum stared at Talley for a moment wondering what the old man was up to. Then he put his hat on. “All right,” he said. “We’ll be back in a hurry.”

  As Slocum went down the steps, Talley stood watching him go. In another moment, Annie stepped back out on the porch and walked over to stand beside her uncle. She gave him a curious look.

  “It’s started, Annie,” he said. “Do you want to catch the stage back east?”

  “No, Uncle,” she said. “I’ll stick it out.”

  Slocum returned, followed by Dancer and Levi. He had told them of his conversation with the old man, and they were ready for anything. When they reached the house, they found old Talley sitting on the porch alone, waiting for them. “Come on up, boys,” he said. “Have a chair and a cup of coffee.” He gestured at the table there with a tray of cups and a coffeepot on it.

  “We’ll hear what’s on your mind first,” said Dancer.

  “Well, sit down then.”

  They all sat. No one said anything more. They were waiting to see what Talley had to say. He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip.

  “Boys,” he said, “I hired you—well, not you, Levi. You were already here. I hired you two under false pretenses. I led you to believe that I was needing cowhands. Truth is, I thought you looked like gunslingers. That’s how come I hired you.”

  “What?” said Dancer, leaning forward in his chair.

  “You heard me right. I’ve been expecting trouble with the Double Cross outfit for some time. When I first saw you two, I was afraid that you might have come to town to work for them. When I heard you talking about looking for jobs, I made you an offer before you got a chance to go the other way.”

  “You’re paying us cowhand wages,” Dancer said.

  “If you’ll stay on with me,” said Talley, “that’ll change.”

  Dancer leaned back and rubbed his chin. “Well now,” he said. “What about the kid?”

  “He’s a cowboy,” said Talley. “He’s no gunfighter.”

  “He will be,” Dancer said. “I want him with us.”

  Talley looked at Levi. “What do you say, son?”

  “I go with Dancer, Mr. Talley.”

  “All right. Slocum?”

  “You say you been expecting trouble with that bunch?”

  “For quite a spell. Aw, we’ve had a few fights in town, but they haven’t amounted to much. Not till last night. Now I’m afraid that it will all break loose. Well, what do you say?”

  “I don’t like being suckered into a situation,” Slocum said.

  “I been paying you to be a cowhand,” Talley said. “I didn’t start that fight last night. You can ride out if you’ve a mind to.”

  “I’ll stay on,” said Slocum. “At cowhand’s wages.”

  “You crazy?” said Dancer.

  “I hired on to be a cowhand,” said Slocum. “If trouble comes, I’ll fight.”

  Silas Lampton rode his horse hard, harder than he should. He whipped it up as he turned into the main gate of the Double Cross Ranch, riding underneath the arched sign overhead that bore the emblem, XX, also the brand of the outfit. Silas rode hard till he arrived at the ranch house, a low, rambling building with an overhanging roof in front, but with no porch underneath it. As he pounded up to the house, the door opened and three men stepped out, curious to see who was driving a horse so hard. One of the three men stepped out in front as Silas dismounted.

  “What are you doing, Si?” the man asked. “Trying to kill my horse?”

  “No sir, Mr. George. I ain’t. I just got urgent news from town is all.”

  “Well, what is it?”

  “Tibbett and Hardy’s dead,” Lampton said.

  “What?”

  “Killed. In the saloon.”

  “Who did it?”

  “I don’t know their names, but they work for Talley. There was three of them in the saloon together. One of them just sat there while the other two done the job. To tell the truth, Hardy started the fight. Them two beat the shit out of them. Then one of them, he headed for the door. Tibbett and Hardy went for their guns, but the other two was faster. Much faster. Jesus. I never seen anything so fast.”

  “So you’re telling me that it was a clear case of self-defense. Is that right?” George asked.

  “Yes, sir. I’m afraid so.”

  “They were that fast?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “So Talley’s got himself a couple of gunfighters, has he? Well, we’ll see about that. Shorty.”

  One of the two men with George stepped up to his side. “Yeah, Boss?”

  “I want you to go to town. Poke around. See if you can find out the names of those two.”

  “Yeah, Boss.” Shorty headed for the corral to get a horse.

  “In the meantime,” said George, “we’ll hit them where they ain’t expecting it. Bert, you and Silas here, I want you to do a little job tonight.”

  “What is it, Boss?” said Bert.

  “Take a couple more boys with you. Tonight, just after dark, ride onto old Talley’s north pasture. I know he’s got a small bunch of cows up there. There might be a cowhand or two over there watching them. Might not be. Kill all the cows and all the men you see.”

  “Just like that?” said Silas.

  “Just like that,” said George. “Talley started it up. Let’s get it on.”

  Tex and Clint were riding in the north pasture. They were not riding together. Tex could see Clint across the way until the sun dropped below the horizon. Then he lost sight of him in the dark. He rode slowly around the small herd, watching for any signs of trouble. Everything was quiet. Besides that, he did not expect any trouble. There had been no rustling in the area for several years, and the trouble with the Double Cross hands was all confined to fights in town. He was alert, but he wasn’t worried. He rode easy.