Bert and Silas, with four other hands from the Double Cross, topped the horizon, and from their vantage point, even in the darkness, they could see both of Talley’s riders. They stopped for a moment to survey the scene below them. Then Bert said, “Silas, you take those two with you. Go over to the left. Take out that cowhand there, and then start shooting the herd. We’ll go to the left and do the same.”

  “Got you,” said Silas.

  The group split up and rode off in opposite directions. Soon, Silas’s bunch was riding down hard on a surprised Clint. Too late, Clint jerked his six-gun out of its holster. Shots zipped past him on both sides. Three bullets hit him almost at once in the chest and belly. Clint fell from the saddle dead. His horse fell an instant later. Then the raiders started shooting cattle.

  Across the way, Tex heard the commotion. He pulled out his six-gun and yelled out, “Clint!” He started to ride in Clint’s direction, but then he saw the other group headed for him. He snapped off a couple of wild shots, then turned to run. He could see he was outnumbered. He had no idea what had become of Clint. He wanted to stay and fight, but he also wanted to live. He rode hard back toward the ranch house, telling himself that he was riding for help, but knowing that any help he might get would be too late to do any good.

  He heard the shots behind him as he raced away, and then he felt one bite into his shoulder. He flinched, but he kept riding. He could feel the warm blood running down his chest and his back. He felt no pain, but he felt light-headed. He had to make it to the ranch house. He kicked his horse and lashed at it viciously.

  Behind him, the pursuit stopped, Bert yelling out, “Let him go. Let’s get back to the herd.” The raiders turned their horses and rode back to where Silas and the others were still shooting the bawling animals. In a panic, the herd started to run, and both groups of raiders rode after them shooting and killing. At last they stopped. A few head of cattle escaped the slaughter. “Come on,” said Bert. “Let’s get the hell out a here.”

  Tex weakened, and he stopped kicking and lashing, and the horse slowed down to a walk. Tex sagged in the saddle. He felt like he was going to sleep. He kept telling himself that he had to keep going. He had to get back to the ranch house and tell the boss what had happened out there. He could not afford to let himself drift into sleep. He talked to his horse trying to keep awake. At last, he was overcome. He slipped into total darkness and fell out of the saddle. The horse kept going.

  Slocum went to the corral early the next morning to saddle his big Appaloosa, and he found the horse, saddled and standing outside the corral gate. He looked around, but he saw no rider. He walked over to the horse, and he could see right away that it had suffered a hard ride. He decided to unsaddle it and worry about the details later, but when he walked around to begin the work, he saw the blood on the saddle. “Damn,” he said.

  He took the animal by the reins and started walking toward the big house. About halfway over, he could see that old Talley had already stepped out onto the porch. As he moved closer, Talley saw him and called out to him, “Slocum.” Slocum walked on over to the porch.

  “I just now found him standing by the gate outside the corral,” Slocum said.

  “Outside?”

  “Yes, sir, and that ain’t all.”

  He wiped his hand on the saddle and held it up for Talley to see.

  “Blood?” said Talley.

  “It’s blood,” said Slocum. “Whose horse is this?”

  “It’s mine,” said Talley. “I don’t know who was riding it.”

  “Well, we better find out,” said Slocum.

  “Elgie will know. I’ll go get him.”

  “I’ll take care of this poor horse,” said Slocum.

  Slocum led the horse back to the corral and pulled the saddle off its back. He tossed the saddle up on the top rail of the corral fence. Then he started back toward the house, but he saw Talley coming with Elgie. He walked to meet them.

  “Slocum,” said Talley. “It was Tex riding that horse. He was out on the north pasture last night along with Clint.”

  “Any sign of Clint?” Slocum asked.

  “No,” said Elgie.

  “Well, there ain’t no other stray horse,” said Slocum.

  “Let’s get saddled up,” said Talley.

  “Judging from that saddle,” said Slocum, “we’d best have someone follow along with a wagon.”

  6

  It wasn’t long before they came across Tex, lying where he had fallen. He was bloody, and he was unconscious, but he was alive. They did what they could for him right there on the spot and waited for the wagon to come along. When it arrived, they loaded poor Tex in the back and sent the driver with it back to the ranch house. Talley told Elgie to ride to town for the doc. That left just Old Man Talley and Slocum on the range. They rode on to where Tex and Clint had been assigned to ride herd the night before.

  They were prepared for almost anything except what they found. The slaughtered cattle horrified them both. It was a senseless killing. They were still stunned from the sight when they at last came across the body of Clint. His dead horse was not far from where he lay.

  “The dirty bastards,” Talley said.

  “This is about as low a thing as I’ve ever seen,” said Slocum.

  “I never thought that Roy George would sink this low.”

  “Roy George?”

  “He owns and runs the Double Cross,” Talley said. “Me and him have never got along, but I sure never expected this from him. Well, he’s declared war, and by God, he’s going to get it.”

  “You mean to attack the Double Cross?” Slocum asked.

  “Hell yes, I mean to.”

  “You got no proof of who done this here,” said Slocum. “You got any law around here?”

  “We got a sheriff, for what he’s worth, and that ain’t much.”

  “Let’s talk to him at least.”

  “I know who’s behind this, Slocum. I got no need to go to the sheriff.”

  “Maybe Tex will recover. Maybe he can tell us something.”

  “And maybe not. Why should I wait around for George to pull something else like this? How many cattle and how many men can I afford to lose while I wait?”

  “I hate to go to killing someone without knowing for sure,” Slocum said. “You do what you want. I’m going to town to see the sheriff.”

  “You’re wasting your time, but I won’t try to stop you.”

  It did not take Slocum long to find the sheriff’s office in town. He hitched his horse to the rail in front and walked inside. A burly man in a sweat-stained white shirt looked up over a bushy mustache from behind a big desk, cluttered with papers.

  “Sheriff?” said Slocum.

  “I’m Bud Harman, the sheriff.”

  Slocum walked over to stand by the desk. “I’m John Slocum. I work for Mr. Talley. We had two boys shot last night along with a bunch of cattle. One of the boys is dead. The other one might not last.”

  “The cattle?”

  “All killed.”

  “Now, who the hell would want to go and do a thing like that?”

  “Mr. Talley says that it’s the Double Cross outfit,” Slocum said. “Maybe he’s right, but as far as I can tell, we got no proof. I told him I’d ride in and talk to you.”

  “Well, good,” said Harman. “Good. You done the right thing, Slocum. Is Talley fixing to ride against the Double Cross?”

  “I’m afraid that he is.”

  “Well, we’ll have to try to stop him from doing that. We don’t need no range war around here, Slocum. Say, ain’t you the one that went and killed two Double Cross boys in the saloon here?”

  “I killed one of them,” Slocum said. “He drew on me while my back was turned.”

  “Yeah. That’s what all the witnesses said. That’s how come I never went looking for you. Could be, though, that them two killings is what touched off that business last night.”

  “I reckon it likely is the reason,” Slocum said, “but those two in the saloon were itching to start a fight, and they got it. Tex and Clint were minding their own business. They were ambushed. Shot in cold blood. Clint was murdered.”

  “Well, maybe. Let’s take a ride out there and look things over. Wait for me out front while I go get a horse.”

  They walked outside, and Slocum took a cigar out of his pocket and lit it. He leaned back against the wall to wait for Harman’s return. While he smoked and waited, Silas and Bert rode into town from the Double Cross. They spotted him right away and rode straight to the rail there by the big Appaloosa. They sat in their saddles and stared at Slocum for a spell. Slocum puffed his cigar and stared back.

  “You boys got a problem?” he said finally.

  “What are you doing here at the sheriff’s office?” asked Bert. “You got troubles?”

  “We had some last night,” Slocum said. “You two know anything about it?”

  Both Double Cross men laughed and looked at each other. “We don’t know nothing,” said Bert.

  “I’ll bet you don’t. You either done it yourselves or else you know about it.”

  “Fuck you,” said Silas.

  “Why don’t you stick around,” said Slocum. “The sheriff’ll be right back. Likely he’ll have some questions for you.”

  “If old Bud wants to talk to us, he knows where he can find us,” said Bert. “Say, you’re the son of a bitch that gunned down our pards in the saloon.”

  “Word does get around, don’t it,” said Slocum.

  “Let’s take him, Bert,” said Silas.

  Sheriff Bud Harman turned the corner on his black horse just in time to see the two Double Cross men reach for their guns. He was astonished at the speed of Slocum, as he saw the gun flash in his hand and saw the two men jerk and fall from their saddles. He sat still for a moment, then urged his horse forward. Riding up to the scene, he dismounted.

  “Trouble does seem to follow you around, Slocum,” he said.

  “I don’t seem to have to go looking for it. They drew first.”

  “I seen it,” said Harman. “You seem to have evened the score for last night. If Tex lives, you got one ahead on them.”

  “I ain’t playing a game with those bastards, Sheriff,” Slocum said.

  “Yeah. Well, let me get the street cleaned off here, and we’ll ride on out.”

  Across the street in the shadow of an overhanging roof, Shorty watched. He watched as some men came to haul the bodies away, and he watched as Slocum and the sheriff mounted up to ride toward Talley’s place. He let them get out of town, and then he went to where his own horse waited. He mounted up and rode fast for the Double Cross.

  At the ranch, Slocum and Harman found Talley organizing his crew for a raid. They shoved their way through the crowd of angry cowhands and walked up onto the porch to confront Talley. Talley scowled at Slocum. “So you brought the sheriff, did you?” the old man said. “Well, it ain’t gonna do no good. Tex just died in there in my bed. Doc couldn’t do nothing for him.”

  “Did he say anything before he died?” Slocum asked.

  “He never had a chance.”

  “Then you still don’t have any proof of who did the killing,” said Slocum.

  “I know.”

  “Tally,” said Harman, “hold on a bit. At least let me have my say.”

  “I’m listening,” said Talley.

  Harman looked out over the crowd of armed cowboys. He looked back at Talley. “Suppose you’re right, but you never get any proof. You go killing a bunch of boys that works for ole George, and you even win the war. There’ll have to be charges filed for all that killing, and without proof of what you’re accusing them of, you’ll be charged with murder.”

  He paused and looked out over the crowd. He thought he could see the expressions on their faces change a little.

  “Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?” Talley said.

  “Let me do a little investigating,” said Harman. “I’d like to ride out to the scene of the crime and have a look around.”

  “Me and Slocum done looked it over. Ain’t nothing to be found there.”

  “I’d still like to look.”

  “Time’s a-wasting,” said Talley.

  “Just before we rode out here,” said Harman, “two Double Cross men pulled down on Slocum in town. He killed them both.”

  Talley looked at Slocum. “You killed two of them?”

  “I did.”

  “Who were they? Do you know?”

  “They was Bert and Silas,” Harman said. “So in a way, you’ve done retaliated. Hold off for a spell on any more. Let me see what I can see.”

  “Killed Bert and Silas,” Talley mused. “I’ll be damned.”

  Standing down at the front of the crowd, Dancer smiled.

  “You was the one wanting to hold off,” Talley said to Slocum.

  “I didn’t look for the fight,” Slocum answered. “They pressed it.”

  “He’s right, Mr. Talley,” said Harman.

  “All right,” said Talley. “We’ll hold off, but not for long.”

  “I’ll ride out with you to where it happened,” Slocum said.

  “Let’s go then,” said Harman.

  They walked down the stairs, and Dancer stepped out in front of Slocum with a broad smile on his face. “The peacemaker, are you? Hell, pard, you’ve killed three of the bastards now.”

  Slocum pushed past Dancer and mounted his big Appaloosa. He looked over to see if Harman was ready, then rode out with the sheriff just a little behind. Dancer watched them go for a while. Then he walked up the steps to stand in front of Talley.

  “How long you gonna wait, Boss?” he asked.

  “Not long, Dancer,” said Talley. “Not long.”

  Shorty rode up to the main house on the Double Cross, dismounted quickly and rushed through the front door. Roy George looked up quickly. He relaxed when he saw that it was Shorty. “You give up knocking, Shorty?” he said.

  “Sorry, Boss, but I just come from town. That gunfighter that old Talley hired, that Slocum, he just killed Silas and Bert.”

  “In town?”

  “Right in front of the sheriff’s office. The sheriff seen it, too.”

  “Did he arrest Slocum?”

  “Called it self-defense.”

  “Was it?”

  “Well, I reckon it was. Really. I mean, Silas and Bert went for their guns first. But Slocum’s fast, Boss. Really fast.”

  “So he killed Silas and Bert. Damn.”

  “And Boss, Slocum and the sheriff rode out of town together just ahead of me.”

  “They rode out together?”

  “That’s right. My guess is that Slocum went to see him about what happened out there last night, and he’s going to investigate.”

  “Well, there won’t be anything for him to find out, will there? Talley will say that we done it, but all I have to do is deny it. There’s no proof.”

  “The sheriff might hold Talley off for a little while, but he’ll be coming.”

  “Sure he will, and we’ll be ready for him when he comes.”

  Slocum and Harman looked over the ground carefully, more carefully than had Slocum and Talley. They found where the two separate groups had attacked, and they found plenty of shells, mostly forty-fives.

  “They’ll go in a Colt or a Winchester,” said Slocum. “That ain’t much help.”

  “Let’s try to follow those tracks,” Harman said.

  They followed them for a while, and it looked like they would lead over to the Double Cross spread, but the tracks petered out before they led anywhere.

  “What now?” Slocum asked.

  “I mean to ride over and have a talk with Roy George,” Harman said. “You want to come along?”

  “I wouldn’t mind meeting the man,” said Slocum.

  “All right. Let’s go then.”

  Shorty was keeping watch in front of the house. He opened the front door and peeked inside. “Here they come,” he said. George stood up and walked toward the door. “How many?”

  “Just Bud Harman and Slocum.”

  “They just want to talk,” said George. “You keep quiet. I’ll handle it.”

  George stepped out of the house to stand beside Shorty. He waited until the two riders had come close and halted their mounts. Then he said, “Howdy, Bud. What brings you out this way?”

  “Two things,” said Harman. “Couple of your boys got killed in town today.”

  “I heard,” said George. He looked at Slocum. “Who done it?”

  “I did,” said Slocum. “They prodded me.”

  “Yeah,” said George. “I heard that, too.”

  “The other thing is, someone rode out to Talley’s north range last night and killed two cowboys and a whole bunch of cattle. The tracks we found looked like they come from here.”

  George looked at Shorty. “Do you know anything about that?” he said.

  “First I’ve heard of it,” Shorty said.

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear it,” George said to Harman, “but I can’t help you any. Sorry you wasted your time riding all the way out here.”

  “Talley thinks you done it, George, or had it done,” Harman said.

  “If Talley fell off his horse, he’d blame me for it. You know that as well as I do. He’s never liked me, and I don’t know why. I mind my own business.”

  “You had four cowhands who liked to start fights,” Slocum said.

  “They’re all dead now, too, ain’t they?” said George. “There shouldn’t be any more trouble around here now.”

  “What about those tracks coming from your ranch?” said Harman.

  “You said they seemed to be coming from here,” said George. “Which is it?”

  “Well, they came from this direction, but they didn’t really go all the way.”

  “I’d say they came from here,” said Slocum.