“Wait,” she said.

  Slocum stood with his back to her. “What?”

  “Don’t be too hard on Uncle. He’s had a rough time here lately. You and Dancer helped him through it. He feels obligated. And he’s afraid.”

  “I can understand that, but—”

  “No buts. Just understand it. That’s all.”

  “Yeah.”

  Annie walked around Slocum so she could face him. She reached up and pulled his face down to hers for a lingering kiss.

  “You know,” he said, “you could talk a man into most anything.”

  “That’s not why I kissed you.”

  “I reckon I’m glad of that.”

  She kissed again.

  “I’m still looking forward to the right time,” she said.

  “Me, too.”

  “John, sit down.” They each took a chair. “I just don’t want you going off in a foul mood. Sit here and talk with me for a while.”

  “You came out to talk with me,” he said. “I guess I owe you that much.”

  “Don’t stay because you owe me.”

  He took a deep breath and expelled it. “I won’t,” he said. “I’ll stay on account of I enjoy your company. After what’s happened this evening, I need some relaxation.”

  “Good. John?”

  “What?”

  “There’s only one thing I’d like to add to what Uncle told you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Watch Dancer like a hawk. He’s a cold-blooded son of a bitch.”

  11

  The atmosphere at the Talley ranch was thick with tension. Soon everyone knew that Dancer had killed Elgie Lay. No one gave Dancer hard looks. They were afraid that he would kill them, too. They avoided him. For his part, Dancer kept close to Levi. He was the only one who would talk to Dancer. Dancer had seated himself beside Slocum the morning after the killing. Slocum was there ahead of him, eating his breakfast.

  “Where we going today?” Dancer had asked. “North pasture?”

  “Yeah.”

  Slocum did not look at Dancer. He just continued eating his breakfast. Levi came and sat on Dancer’s other side. “Morning, Dancer,” he said.

  “How you doing this morning, kid?”

  “I’m doing fine. How about you?”

  “Fit as a fiddle, kid. Just great. Slocum says we’re going back out to the north pasture today.”

  “All right.”

  “We ought to be done out there in another day or so. Wouldn’t you say so, Slocum?”

  “I s’pose,” said Slocum. He drained his coffee cup and stood up to leave with no further words to either Dancer or Levi.

  “What’s the matter with him?” Levi asked.

  “Ah, he’s got something up his ass.” He looked over the table to make sure that no one was within earshot, and then he spoke to Levi in hushed tones. “He ain’t like us, kid. And if we don’t do something about it real soon, he’s going to be a problem.”

  “You mean—”

  “I mean we got to kill ole Slocum. And right away.” The kid took a sip of coffee and looked thoughtful. “Listen, kid,” Dancer went on, “I got to go to town this morning. You go on out to the north pasture with ole Slocum. Make up something to cover for me. Hell, tell him the truth. Tell him I had some business in town. Tell him I’ll come around later in the day.”

  Levi looked at Dancer with a meaningful expression on his young face. “All right, Dancer,” he said.

  Slocum rode past the ranch house on his way out, and he saw Annie on the porch. He rode over close to the porch and touched the brim of his hat. “Good morning,” he said.

  “Good morning. Do you have time for a cup of coffee?”

  “I’d sure enough like to,” said Slocum, “but I got to head on out to the north pasture. I got Dancer and Levi with me, and if I don’t show, they’ll just lay around talking about the notches on their guns.”

  “How about this evening?”

  “I’ll be looking forward to it.” He turned his big Appaloosa to ride on, but she stopped him. “Slocum.”

  “Yes?”

  “Remember what I told you.”

  “I’m always watchful, Annie,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Slocum did not see Levi, so he headed on out alone. He had not ridden far, however, before he heard the pounding of hoofbeats behind and turned to see Levi coming. He did not bother to slow down. He let Levi ride hard to catch up. When the young man pulled up beside him, neither of them spoke. Slocum had no more to say to Levi. He had tried several times, but Dancer had a hold on him. Slocum would speak to him if he had to tell him to do something, but not before.

  “You ain’t asked me about Dancer,” Levi said.

  “No,” said Slocum, “I ain’t.”

  “He ain’t with us this morning.”

  “I can see that.”

  “Don’t you care how come he ain’t with us?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Well, he had some business in town. He said he’d be along directly.”

  Slocum did not bother to answer. He would answer a direct question, but he would not make small talk. Not with Dancer or Levi. He was fed up with them. He wished they would move along. If he had been sure that the trouble with George was all over, he’d have moved on himself just to get away from them. He thought about Annie though. He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to move away from her just yet.

  They made the rest of the ride out in silence. Levi figured out that Slocum was in no mood to talk. Like Dancer had said, he’d got something up his ass. Well, Levi could play silent, too. They reached the top of a rise overlooking the north pasture, and Slocum stopped riding and dismounted. He was looking over the range for any strays that might be out there. Levi dismounted, too, and looked around, but he was not looking for cattle. He was looking to see if there was any sign of human beings who might see what was about to happen there. He saw none.

  He dropped the reins of his horse and let them trail on the ground. Casually, he stepped away from the horse. He turned until he was directly facing Slocum. He had the early morning sun to his back. Everything was just right.

  “Slocum,” he said.

  Slocum looked around, and he could see immediately what was on Levi’s mind.

  “Don’t be stupid,” he said.

  “I can take you.”

  “You can try.”

  “Go for your gun, Slocum.”

  “What difference does that make, kid?” Slocum said. “There are no witnesses out here.”

  Suddenly the kid made his move. He was fast. Slocum’s Colt barked a split second before the kid’s, and Slocum’s bullet smashed the kid’s right shoulder, causing him to drop his gun and fall to the ground. The kid’s slug ripped flesh in Slocum’s left arm.

  “Damn,” said the kid. “Damn, that was fast.”

  “I warned you,” said Slocum.

  “God damn you.”

  “Can you stand up?”

  “I don’t know,” Levi said. “I’ll try. You gonna take me to a doctor?”

  “I’ll take you back to the ranch house. They can send for a doc if they want to. Get up.”

  Levi turned as if to make an attempt to rise to his feet, but instead, he grabbed the revolver with his left hand and raised it to shoot. Slocum fired again. This time his bullet struck the kid in the forehead. Levi dropped straight down on his face and lay there dead. Slocum ejected the spent shells from his Colt and reloaded. He picked up the kid and flung the body across the waiting horse. Then he retrieved the six-gun and poked it in his waistband. Taking the reins of the kid’s horse, he remounted his Appaloosa and turned around to ride back to the ranch headquarters.

  Dancer was alone in a café in town drinking coffee. He really had no business in town. He thought that if he gave a strong enough hint and left the kid alone with Slocum, the kid would take care of the problem. He wondered how long it would take for the kid to make his move. He wondered what might happen out there. He knew that Slocum was good, but he thought that the kid might be a little better. He wondered though if the kid would have the good sense not to give Slocum a fair shake.

  He finished his coffee and walked outside to where his horse was tied. He stood for a moment looking over the town. It was practically dead. A few people walked the sidewalks. A few horses were tied here and there. He mounted up and began the ride back to the Talley ranch, going slow and taking his time.

  “I believe Dancer put him up to it,” said Slocum. “He told me on the way out that Dancer had business in town. Said he’d be along later. Then, when we got well out and away from everyone, he called me. He pushed it.”

  “I should have fired those two when Dancer killed Elgie,” Talley said.

  “So what’s going to happen now?” Annie asked. “What’s left? For Dancer to challenge you?”

  “He won’t do that,” Slocum said. “He’s more likely to try to shoot me from ambush.”

  “Slocum—” Annie began, but he interrupted her.

  “I know,” he said. “Be careful.”

  “I don’t like this,” said Talley. “We’re thinning out our own ranks. And it’s the top guns that’s getting thinned.”

  “Yeah,” said Slocum. “I’m wondering about something.”

  “What?”

  “I’m wondering is it a plan. Is it just happening this way, or did Dancer and the kid sell out?”

  “You mean—”

  “They went to work for George. That would explain Dancer’s killing Elgie, and it would explain Levi’s attempt on me this morning.”

  “You mean they went to work for George,” said Talley, “but they kept on coming here as if—”

  “As if everything was just the same,” Slocum said. “What better way to get rid of folks?”

  “All from the inside.”

  “Speaking of the devil,” said Annie, “here comes Dancer now.”

  Slocum turned around ready for anything, as Dancer rode up to the house. The newcomer quickly took in the situation. He saw the body on the horse, and he saw Slocum’s stance. Talley and Annie, too, were giving him hard looks. No one bothered to speak a greeting. Dancer tried to play dumb.

  “Is that Levi there?” he said.

  “You know it is,” said Slocum.

  “What happened?”

  “He tried to outgun me,” said Slocum.

  “We believe that you put him up to it,” Talley said. “You’re no longer welcome here.”

  “You mean I’m fired?”

  “You’re fired.”

  “You going to take it just like that?” Slocum asked. “Or you gonna step down off that horse and fight me?”

  “I don’t want to fight you, Slocum. Hell, you saved my life.”

  “That was one big mistake I made. What’s it gonna be?”

  “I ain’t gonna fight you,” said Dancer. He turned his horse and headed for the gate. Slocum pulled out his Colt and pointed it at Dancer’s back. He stood there until Dancer was well out of six-gun range. Then he put it away again.

  “Damn it,” he said. “I couldn’t do it. Not like that.”

  “I’m glad,” said Annie. “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had shot him, but I’m glad you didn’t.”

  “Ah, hell,” said Slocum. “I should have. I’ll likely live to regret it, too. One of these days, I’m going to have to kill him.”

  Talley called to one of the cowhands he spotted heading toward the corral and told the man to take care of the body on the horse. The cowboy took the horse and dead man away. Then Talley said, “Slocum, come on up and sit with us a spell.”

  Slocum hesitated. Then he went up on the porch and took a seat.

  “You reckon Dancer will move on over to the Double Cross now?” Talley asked.

  “There’s no place else for him to go,” said Slocum.

  “Unless he pulls up stakes.”

  “He won’t do that. I imagine that George has offered him a fair amount of money to finish us off.”

  “Other than Dancer,” Talley said, “George has got only a few hands left.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You reckon we had oughta hit them first?”

  “And hit them hard,” said Slocum. “Let’s do it right this time and finish the job.”

  “All right.”

  “When we hit them the first time,” said Slocum, “we rode over early in the morning and attacked the ranch house and the bunkhouse. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “We’ll do the same thing again, but this time, we won’t stop. We’ll have some of the boys with torches, and we’ll set fire to the houses. Burn them out. Kill them all.”

  “Every last son of a bitch,” Talley said. “When?”

  “First thing in the morning.”

  Talley called in all his hands and had them gathered around the big porch. He told them about Dancer and Levi and made sure that everyone knew what had happened. Then he told them Slocum’s plan.

  “You don’t have to ride with us on this,” he said. “You didn’t hire on with me for this kind of work. But any of you who want to go along will be more than welcome.” Cookie raised his hand. “No, Cookie. I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay here with Annie.”

  Everyone else agreed to go along.

  “All right, men,” said Talley. “Now, I’m turning this whole business over to Slocum here, so from now till it’s done, listen to him.”

  Slocum stepped up on the porch. “We’ll gather up right here at five o’clock,” he said. “Be mounted, and be well armed. Check your weapons over real good tonight, and make sure you have plenty of ammunition. We’ll have some torches here for some of you. Now go on and get ready and try to get a good night’s sleep. You’ll need it.”

  The men dispersed to do as they had been told. Slocum sat down heavily. Talley offered him a cigar, and he took it and lit it. “Thanks,” he said.

  “How about a little whiskey?”

  “A little whiskey would be good,” Slocum said.

  Talley turned to his niece. “Annie?”

  “I’ll get it,” she said. She went into the house. Talley took a seat near Slocum.

  “It’ll all be over in the morning,” he said.

  “Yeah.”

  Slocum puffed on the good cigar. Annie came back out with a bottle and three glasses and poured whiskey all around.

  “That’s good,” said Slocum. “Thanks.”

  They sipped their whiskey for a while, and Talley excused himself to go to bed, leaving Slocum and Annie alone on the porch.

  12

  Slocum was at the front porch ready to go before anyone else. He left his Appaloosa standing there and went up to take a chair on the porch and wait for the others. He sat there, not thinking about the coming fight, but about his experience on that very porch the night before. After he had been left alone with Annie, he’d sat and visited with her. Then he had put an arm around her shoulders, and she had kissed him. It had been a long and lingering kiss, one that promised more to come. Slocum had not tried to follow up on that promise. He had not tried to go any farther. There had been more kisses, but nothing else.

  In the morning, the memories of the kisses and the promise stayed with him. They preyed on his mind and body. He wondered when he might expect that intriguing promise to be kept. He wondered if it would ever be kept. He was getting ready to go into a fight this morning, a fight to the finish, and he did not know how many men were on the other side. Neither did he know if they would be waiting for the attack or be caught by surprise. He did know that the Double Cross outfit had one professional gunslinger in their ranks: Charlie Dancer, Slocum’s former compadre. He was startled out of his reverie when the front door of the big house was opened and Talley came out.

  “You’re out early, Slocum.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ready to go?”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Will they be waiting for us, do you think?”

  “I think there’s a good chance of it, with Dancer on their side. He’s a lot of things, but he’s no fool.”

  “You’re probably right about that. Slocum?”

  Slocum looked over at the old man. He was grizzled and rugged, but he looked tired. There was a long pause.

  “What is it?” Slocum asked.

  “Slocum, I’ve prepared some papers. If anything should happen to me out there this morning, I want you to take over the ranch.”

  “Mr. Talley—”

  “Don’t interrupt me, Slocum. Just listen. Like I said, if anything happens to me, I want you to take over. I got no son. All I have anymore is my niece, Annie. I drew up a paper giving you a half interest in the spread. That way, Annie won’t be disinherited, but she’ll have someone around to make sure that things go all right. I don’t want no arguments. I’m just telling you. That’s all. Here. Put this in your pocket.”

  Talley handed Slocum a folded sheet of paper, which Slocum took. He held it a minute, looking at it without unfolding it. At last, he tucked it inside his shirt. “All right,” he said. Nothing more. Some of the hands came riding up, and Annie stepped out on the porch. Slocum stood up and took the hat off his head.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “Good morning.”

  The old man did not miss the looks that his niece and Slocum exchanged. That was fine with him. Maybe, he thought, if something should happen to him, his paper would keep Slocum around long enough for nature to take its course. That would be just fine. Other cowhands rode up. Talley stood up and walked to the edge of the porch.

  “Someone bringing me a horse?” he asked.

  “Sandy’s saddling your favorite, Boss,” answered a cowhand.

  “Soon as he brings it around, we’ll ride,” said Talley.

  “Everyone know what to do?” Slocum asked.

  The answer from the waiting hands was affirmative. Annie put a hand on Slocum’s shoulder, while her uncle watched out of the corner of his eye. “Be careful,” she said.