Cody Pt. 02

"Godspeed and good luck my friend."

"Thank you Hans."

The moment I stepped out the back door, I knew something was wrong by the look on Clara's face. A voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Looks like it is our lucky day Garret, you and I are going to be five hundred dollars richer tonight."

Standing between the wagon and the pack horses were two of Parsons' men, both of them already had their pistols out and aimed at me.

"How do you figure that guys?"

"Old man Parsons sent us to town to hang out just in case you showed up. We figured something was fishy when the closed sign was in the window so we came to investigate. He has a five hundred dollar bounty on your body. Now, drop your package and put your hands up."

"This is dynamite, so you know what will happen if I drop it." I looked right at Nancy and said "Remember what happens if you hesitate."

They looked at me with a confused look on their faces, "What the hell does that mean."

The gunman had their backs to the wagon, never thinking to fear a woman. The click of the hammers being cocked on the shotgun made them turn around as Nancy said "It means you are dead men." With that she let both barrels fly, cutting both of them almost in half.

I quickly sprung into action untying the buckboard. "Clara, drive now and don't stop for anything until you are home."

I carefully secured the dynamite into the back pack hose, drew my rifle and followed the backboard out of town. I didn't want to run the horses since I was carrying dynamite, but I had faith that Nancy and Clara could get back to the ranch safely on their own.

We escaped town without seeing anyone else, and since dead men tell no tales no one would know for certain it was us. The buckboard quickly disappeared from sight, but I wasn't worried about them, Nancy was a strong woman.

I had ridden for nearly an hour when I saw a cloud of dust quickly approaching me. Drawing my rifle I pushed the pack horses ahead of me to give me a shield. Soon I made out the face of Jed and Miguel's family.

We drew up and we reached each other, I smiled and said "I am sure glad it is you guys and not someone else."

"Yes, we rode as soon as the girls came back without you in case you needed help."

"How are they?"

"Clara is shaken up, Nancy is fine. Come let's get home."

By the time we got back to the ranch the women had the wagon unloaded and putaway. They eagerly started towards the packhorses until I stopped them. Removing the dynamite, "This is dynamite, it is deadly and unstable. I am going to put it in the far building on a shelf, if you are in there, tread lightly around it please."

Jed looked at me oddly, "What do you need dynamite for?"

"I have no plans for it right now, but it has come in handy for me in the past. Nancy, will you help me put this away please."

Gone was the challenge in her stare, something had changed within her. She had seen me face death just to protect her and her family. She nodded and fell in step beside me not saying a word while we walked. When we entered the tack room, I gently put the package of dynamite on a shelf and turned to her.

"You saved my life today, thank you."

"You had me prepared, when you told me not to hesitate I knew exactly what I had to do."

"How do you feel now?"

"I feel fine, why?"

"Taking a life is never easy, needed sometimes but never easy."

"I feel no remorse, why should I?"

"I didn't say you should, like I said you saved my life."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I am going to ask for a large favor, please promise you will at least consider it, for your parents sake."

She didn't want to promise me, but I used her parents against her so she had no choice. "I promise I will consider your request."

"When this is over, and the Parsons are dead, promise me you will let go of the hate and the rage. You are too young to have it control your life, and I know it weighs on your parents to see you like this."

"Why, so another man just like him can take his place?"

"No, so you can find another man like Smiley, who will treat you like a lady, provide you a home, a family, and happiness."

She didn't know what to say, I could tell I hurt her by bringing up the painful memory. The tears welled up in her eyes as she clenched her jaw closed refusing to give in to her emotions. I know exactly how she felt after burying mine for the last twelve years.

Finally she answered me in a whisper. "If you kill the Parsons, I promise I will consider stopping."

"Good, then I promise you I will either kill them, or I will die trying."

She looked at me oddly, "I hope you don't die trying." She stood there looking me in the eye waiting for me to say something. Finally she said "Mom should have lunch ready by now, don't be long." With that she turned and walked away.

Lunch was somewhat subdued, Clara had her youthful innocence stolen from her. Nancy though, seemed to be alive and vibrant, having been able to release her demons and her fury. I knew by the look on her face the euphoria she now felt, however it would only be a temporary high.

"Jed, after lunch, will you give me a complete tour of your land? Miguel and his boys can start pushing cattle into the center of the ranch."

Nancy looked up, "I would like to join you."

"Honestly that is probably a good idea, a different set of eyes can always be helpful."

She looked pleased with herself, however I was worried about Clara. She was struggling with her emotions and looked like she was drowning.

"But, there is something more important I need from you."

Her eyes looked at me hard for a moment until I slightly nodded to her sister.

"I need you to get the derringers ready, make sure all of you ladies know how to shoot and load them, and have places in your clothes where you can hide them. Will you do that for me please, I would do it myself but I need to get the lay of the land."

Nancy noticed the look on her sister's face and realized how much she needed her. Not wanting to look too willing she countered. "I will if you take me on the perimeter ride tomorrow."

"That sounds good, please make sure you shoot and reload them several times. If ever your lives depend on them, you all need to be comfortable with them."

After lunch Jed took me for a ride around their ranch. I noted the strengths and weaknesses of their land. Finally Jed led me up a slight ridge that separated his ranch from the Parsons. The slight ridge helped funnel water into the Collins ranch and away from Parsons' grass.

I took out my scope to observe the layout of their ranch. The buildings were built at the base of two hills. I am sure their intention was to block the buildings from the cold West wind in the winter, which I am sure it did. However it would be very hard to defend from a handful of attackers.

They had to have one of the largest barns I had ever seen, a testament to their ego. Most ranches like the Collins built several smaller barns, so that in case of a fire, they wouldn't lose everything.

The bunkhouse was long with a chimney on each end. It was big enough to hold thirty or more cowhands, three times more than a ranch this size would ever need.

The house was large, two stories tall, full of windows and painted white. While it would be eye-catching in an Eastern city, it was out of place in Wyoming. It was unusually close to the barn, facing the bunkhouse, the corners of the two buildings were less than twenty paces apart.

I smiled as a plan started to form in my head.

****************************************

It was early evening by the time we returned to the ranch and stabled our horses. Jed's family must have been nervous as they were lined up in the kitchen waiting for us when we entered.

Anita embraced and kissed her husband, nothing was going to interrupt their welcome home ritual. She repeated the welcome with me while Clara held onto her father a little longer than usual.

Clara finally moved to me and I let her hug me knowing the ordeal the young woman had been through today. I held her in a family friendly embrace for a few minutes longer than the previous night, but I turned away when she tried to kiss me. She smiled and said "It doesn't hurt to try."

I was shocked when Nancy turned from her fathers embrace, took a step towards me, threw her arms around my neck and kissed me before I could react.

She looked at her sister and said "That is how you kiss a man!"

Instead of being mad or offended her parents roared with laughter. Again I thought to myself, what a strange family.

Dinner was a happy affair with the seating arrangement the same as the night before. Happy Clara was back which was a relief, and for the first time I was able to see happy Nancy.

We ate and kept the talk light, steering the subjects away from the threat of violence and death. Nancy and Clara both kept throwing little smiles at me, blushing often. Although it was nice to see Nancy wasn't totally dead inside, I really did not want to encourage any type of romantic feelings.

After dinner I excused myself knowing they would want some quiet family time. There was a small stream running through the middle of their little valley that looked like a good place to unwind and have a drink before trying to get a few hours of sleep.

"Jed, I am going to have a smoke and drink down by the stream, please dont mistake me for someone else, I would hate to get shot after such a wonderful meal."

Chuckling Jed rose to his feet. "I will walk you out."

Once we were outside Jed reached out and offered his hand to me. "I want to make sure to thank you and let you know how much we appreciate everything you are doing for us."

Shaking his hand I looked him in the eye, "I have never seen such a loving family before, the honor of helping you all is mine."

"Speaking of which, I had better get back to them. Please let me know if there is anything we can do for you while you are staying with us."

With that he turned and walked back to the house while I retrieved my bottle of whiskey and made my way to the stream. I poured myself a glass, tied a piece of rawhide around the neck and sunk the bottle in the stream to keep cold.

It was a pleasant spring evening, I had just poured myself my second glass of whiskey when I heard footsteps behind me. They were light and steady, so I knew it had to be Clara or Nancy. Soon two feet stood beside me, very closely.

"May I join you?"

"I would be honored."

Nancy sat down beside me, so close I felt her hips touching mine, and I felt her shoulder lean into mine.

"What are you drinking?"

"Whiskey."

"Is whiskey good?"

I laughed at her question, and tried to offer an intelligent response. "It is an acquired taste. I like the burn in your throat when you swallow it, followed by the taste of oakiness."

"May I try it?"

"Are you crazy? Why would you want to try whiskey?"

"Today I realized I haven't been living my life the last few years. I also realized that we may all be killed any day now. I decided that from now on, I am not hiding anymore, I am going to start doing things I have missed out on."

I couldn't argue with her reasoning so I handed her my glass. "Sip it slowly."

She tentatively took a sip and let out a cough as she swallowed. "How can you like that burn?" she said as she handed me back my cup.

"I told you, it is an acquired taste. Noone likes whiskey the first time they try it."

We sat there in silence enjoying the evening, every once in a while Nancy would reach over and take a sip of my whiskey. Finally the whiskey started relaxing me enough that I thought I could sleep. I stood up and offered Nancy a hand.

"I am going to call it a night and head to bed, are you coming?"

She took my hand and gave me a mischievous grin while I pulled her to her feet. "I said I was going to start doing things I have been missing out on, but I am not ready to join your bed..........yet."

She embarrassed the hell out of me and had a good laugh at my expense. When I helped her up, she didn't let go of my hand. Instead she kept a tight grip on it while we walked back to the house.

When we reached the cluster of buildings I released her hand and turned towards the barn. I stopped and looked back when I heard her clear her throat rather loudly. She was standing there with a mock look of hurt on her face.

"Aren't you going to walk me to the house to make sure I make it inside safely?"

I looked at her and decided to tease her.

"You didn't leave the house without your derringer did you?"

She tapped her pocket. "Nope, it's right here."

"You will be fine then, good night." I smiled at her and turned back to the barn. I heard her growl in frustration and then saw a clod of dirt fly over my shoulder. I laughed loudly and raised my hand in a wave good night.

Chapter 6

Thankfully the next two weeks were very uneventful. Jed and Miguel's family ran the ranch, keeping away from the borders. I was usually on the back of my horse shortly after sunrise scouting for danger. I scoured the land with my looking glass, never seeing anything out of place. Still there was an uneasy feeling in my gut telling me someone was watching.

Every evening, I made sure I was the last person off the range. A few evenings I stayed on the ridge with my looking glass until after dark trying to catch a hidden gunman that never materialized.

Nancy and I sat by the stream sipping whiskey most evenings. She asked me questions of the world and the life I had lived. She hadn't left the ranch in years so was hungry for knowledge of the world she had been deprived of. I asked her if she enjoyed whiskey yet, and she told me no, but enjoyed drinking it with me.

After the first evening, I did walk her to the door every night, but made sure I kept it very unromantic. I kept emphasizing to her that I was riding for Montana as soon as this was settled. I didn't need another woman getting attached to me, or even worse I couldn't let myself become attached to another woman.

Every day I spent my time on the ranch borders. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched. I rode the land non stop and could find no sign that anyone had been on the ranch.

Nancy wanted to start bringing lunch to the men, and Clara insisted on riding along, quoting my rule that no one is allowed to ride alone. I told them as long as they stayed close to the stream and away from the ranch borders it would be fine. The men appreciated it much more than dried jerky they had been eating for the last couple of weeks.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and boy did it ever.

I was laying on the ridge watching the Parsons ranch through the scope when I heard a shot behind me. I immediately sprang to my feet and was on my horse before I heard two more shots ring out.

Instinctively I knew that the shots had to come from near the stream which was a little over a mile away from the ridge. I damn near killed my horse getting to them, knowing in my gut that the girls were involved.

As I drew nearer, I could see two horses with no riders, which made me ride even harder. From the corner of my eye I could see Jed and his men riding from downstream as fast as I was. As I drew closer I could see Clara was on the ground with Nancy holding her. I didn't even wait for my horse to stop before I jumped off and was by their side.

Clara had been shot through the shoulder, and was sobbing. Nancy was holding her tightly sobbing just as hard. On the ground lay two Indians, one dead with a hole in his head, the other alive with a gunshot wound to the leg.

No wonder I couldn't find them, they were in the middle of the ranch the entire time. There isn't a more patient fighter than an Indian, they just laid waiting for the time to be right. What they didn't expect is the sisters were not as defenseless as they were led to believe.

A moment later Jedrode up, relief on his face that his daughters were still alive.

"How bad is it?"

"In and out through her shoulder, she will live but you need to get her to the house and bandaged up now."

Jed saw the wounded Indian and drew his pistol.

"JED STOP."

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I need information first. Get Clara to the house."

I helped Clara up to Jed's horse so he could hold her as he rode.

"She is fine, don't kill your horses getting her there, just get her there and let her mother fix her up."

Nancy was shaking with rage, staring at the wounded Indian.

"Nancy, go help your mother with Clara."

She glared at me, "I am staying."

"Nancy, pl..."

"I AM STAYING"

I shook my head in agreement, she needed this and I wasn't going to deprive her of it.

I looked over at the Indian, he had a look of defiance on his face. Indians could be incredibly stubborn and tough, and I could already see by the look on his face he wasn't going to talk easily.

I grabbed some rope off my horse and tied his hands behind his back and sat him up against a fallen log. I returned with my canteen and offered him a drink which he took.

Nancy looked at me like I was crazy. "What are you doing giving him water?"

Pulling her to the side I whispered in her ear. "Nancy, I allowed you to stay, but you need to control yourself. This is going to get very very ugly, but I need information from him before we kill him, do you understand?"

"Yes"

"Now do you still want to stay?"

"Of course."

"Good then just sit there and watch, please stay silent."

I returned my attention to the Indian. I held up my canteen, but not close enough for him to drink.

"You speak English?"

"Yes'

"Good, this will be much easier than."

I started pounding stakes into the ground on both sides of his legs, then I cut short pieces of rope and secured his legs tightly to the ground so he couldn't move. I could tell the Indian was getting nervous by the sweat on his forehead, but his face was blank.

Next I took off his moccasins and cut his pants off below the knee. The entire time, none of us said a word.

Finally I sat down and built a small fire about three feet from the bottom of his feet. The entire fire would fit inside of my hat. I walked around leisurely collecting small pieces of wood, every so often I would add another piece to the fire. When I did, I added it to the side closest to his feet, and every time I did I looked him in the eyes for a solid five count.

Once I had a nice pile of twigs and branches piled up, I drug a log near the fire where I could look him in the eyes while still feeding the fire. I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a cup from my saddle bag and sat down.

"Nancy, would you like some whiskey?"

She didn't say a word, she just sat beside me and reached for the cup. We just sat there, our eyes boring into the Indians in a staring contest.

After an hour, the fire had moved a foot closer to his feet while I never took my eyes off his. This Indian was brave, he didn't want to offend his gods, but the pressure was starting to get to him.

I slowly built the fire until it doubled in size. By now the heat was starting to get to his feet and the sweat streamed down his face.

Finally I broke the silence and asked one simple question.

"Do you want a quick merciful death, or a very long, very painful one?"

That made him set his resolve and he clenched his teeth together, raised his chin ever so slightly and stared back at me in defiance.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked over at Nancy. I winked with my right eye so he couldn't see.

"Nancy, in a couple hours will you be able to ride back to the ranch for some food and blankets?"

She picked right up on my cue.

"Yes, do you want me to plan for more than one night?"

"No, if we are still here tomorrow night we will ride in for a hot dinner and then come back."