The Walker Colt. Lost Love

The last room was the one behind the double doorway. A strip of light was visible between them. I was contemplating how to proceed when I heard movement behind the door. I flattened myself against the wall as the door opened, and one of the ranch hands stepped through its opening and into the dark hallway. He moved towards the back of the hall and I risked a glance into the room. It looked empty so I stepped behind the man and hit him on the back of the head with the butt of my pistol. It made a satisfying crunch, and this was one of those rare moments I was grateful the damn thing weighed so much.

He flopped forward, and I strained to hold him up, before easing him softly to the floor. He was out cold and I pulled him down the hall and bundled him under the stairs. I used his belt to tie his hands and then hogtied him with more of the twine I'd found. I stiffed a strip torn from his shirt in his mouth and searched him for any weapons. He had a pistol and a knife, and I took both of them.

I checked the room he'd come from, and it was empty. If I was right on my numbers, then that just left Davis and one more of his ranch hands, and they must both be upstairs. Then I remembered the woman we'd thought was the housekeeper. Where the hell was she?

I stepped close to the stairs and listened intently. One set of heavy footsteps was pacing back and forth. I could hear the floorboards near the front of the building creaking as he moved. Two distinct men's voices were talking quietly, and I strained to hear what they were saying.

"Do you think Joe and the boys have got him yet, Major?"

"That's the third time you've asked me that in the last ten minutes. Will you just shut up and let me think."

"Sorry, Major."

"Make yourself useful, go and check on Ned, then bring me a bottle of whiskey from the library."

"Okay, Major."

The heavy footsteps moved across the floorboards towards the top of the stairs. Shit, he was coming down. I stepped back into the room Ned had come from and eased the door closed.

It was a large room with a wide fireplace where a fire flicked, keeping the chill at bay. I snatched up a poker and flattened myself to the side of the doorway.

The door started to swing open as he called out, "Ned, you in here? The major wants a bottle of whiskey."

I grunted, and he stepped through, his head turning in the direction of my voice. The poker cracked down on his head and he fell forward and hit the floor with a thud. He was still moving so I hit him again. This time he stopped moving, and he wasn't going to move ever again. His last breath rattled as it escaped from his mouth.

I wouldn't have long before Davis got suspicious if the dead man didn't return with his whiskey. He was about my height, twenty pounds heavier. He was wearing a black jacket, which I pulled off his body and put on.

In the hallway, I called out, trying to make rough like that of the dead man. "Major, Ned's fine, he's going to check outside. Where did you say the whiskey was?"

"Damn it, Pete, it's on the shelf in the library, and tell cook to take up some food for the women."

"Yes, Major."

I had a few moments. There was no need to creep about now. I stepped heavily, trying to match the footsteps I'd heard earlier. I went into the kitchen and checked that the cook was still secure. She'd woken up, and she glared at me. I checked her bindings and gag were still secured.

Ned was still out for the count and showed no sign of regaining consciousness. In the library, I found the whiskey and picked up a bottle, and started up the stairs. In one hand, I held out the bottle of whiskey; the other held the pistol which I kept at my side. I made no effort to be quiet, Davis was expecting Pete to be coming up the stairs and that was why I'd put on his jacket.

Davis saw just what he was expecting to see. A man in a black jacket holding a bottle of whiskey walking up the stairs, the lights were low, and I was in the shadows. He only gave me the briefest of glances before turning his attention to the window behind him.

"Pour me a glass," he demanded.

There was an empty glass on the table in the corner, and I moved over to it and put the bottle down. I stepped behind Davis and pressed the barrel of the Colt into his back and cocked the hammer.

"What the hell..."

"Keep quiet, and you may live to see the dawn," I emphasized my words by grinding the barrel in again, then stepped back in case he tried to snatch the pistol from me.

"Put any weapons on the table and do it carefully."

He slid a hand under the suit jacket he wore and slowly withdrew it. A pistol was dropped onto the table, and then he slowly turned around to face me.

"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded.

I shook my head, "No, I think the question you need to answer is where are you holding Drew and the women."

I needed to find and get them out of there quickly, as there were three more of Davis's men still loose, and they'd be back from the bluff soon.

He stood there and wouldn't speak, just glared at me. This wasn't getting me far with the situation, and time was on his side. I'd searched the ground floor, so they had to be up here somewhere. I didn't want to shout out for them, in case I'd miscounted and there was still another of his men hiding up here.

I grasped his arm and pressed my pistol against his side. "If you are not going to talk, let's check out the rooms up here, you go first."

At each of the closed doors off the upper hallway, I got Davis to open them, the third one was locked, and Davis insisted he didn't have a key.

"Who does then?"

He just shook his head, and I hit him as hard as I could in his stomach. His face went puce, and he doubled over, gasping for breath. I was wasting valuable time, so I smacked the gun butt down on the back of his head. He just flopped to the floor. I went through his pockets, and there on his pocket watch chain was a pair of keys.

Drew had been right: when you get pushed to the extreme, you respond in kind. Before these last couple of days, I'd always considered that I was a law-abiding citizen. Yes, I'd tracked down and killed or wounded people, but they were all bandits, and I hadn't taken pleasure in it. Now, as I looked down at Davis and the trickle of blood that stained his hair, I felt an immense sense of satisfaction that I'd hurt him.

After that first flurry of shots following Drew's capture, I'd only consciously tried to kill those of his men that were trying to kill me, or it was unavoidable. If they had wanted to leave, I'd let them.

Now, I felt vindicated. From everything I'd seen, the bodies in the barn to the knowledge that he'd abducted my girlfriend, he deserved to die, and with my finger on the trigger, I was only a hair's pressure away from achieving my goal.

He gave a soft groan, and I composed myself. I needed to keep my wits about me; I couldn't afford to fall at the last fence. I took the keys, and as Davis started to move, I hit him again. There was a satisfying thud and he fell still again.

The second key opened the door, and I was grateful that I paused at the entrance as a broken chair leg missed impacting my head by the barest whisker. The room was in darkness and what little light there was in the hallway just silhouetted me against it. I leaped back, whoever had just tried to brain me had no idea who was standing there.

"Wait," I cried out, "I'm a friend."

A very familiar voice said, "Billy, is that you, Billy?"

All my pent-up emotion released in one great big burst. "Colleen, is Eileen with you."

A figure in a pale dress threw herself at me. "Billy, I'm here, " and she was squeezing the life out of me; she was holding on to me so tightly.

There was the sound of a match striking, then a growing glow lit the room as a lamp was lit. It was a fairly large bedroom, with two beds and a small seating area. There were sturdy iron bars at both of the windows. The room was a prison, a comfortable one, but neither less a prison cell. There was a second open doorway on the far wall, and when I glanced in, it appeared to be a second cell/bedroom.

"Is there anyone else in here?"

Colleen said, "Not anymore, there were two other women, Sadie and Carla. They were here when we arrived. They were taken away a few days ago and we haven't seen them since."

I decided not to mention the two women's bodies I'd discovered in the barn; they had to be the two missing women. I wondered who the man had been?

"Have you seen Drew?"

"No, isn't he with you? Wasn't he the one doing all that shooting we heard?"

Damn, I'd been sure that they would have seen Drew after his capture. "He was scouting out the house last night and got captured. It was just me out there; I've meet trying to keep them bottled up. Here take these."

I handed them each one of the pistols I'd taken, and they both looked grateful to be armed.

"They must be holding him somewhere else in here," I said. "They dragged him in here after I started taking potshots at them."

"We haven't heard him; everyone was running around like headless chickens after the firing started. Was it really only you firing, they were convinced that there were at least two or three out there."

Out there, damn, that reminded me that there were still the three ranch hands out there, and they'd be back as soon as they found my empty vantage point.

"We need to go; there's still three more of Davis's crew out there. I sent them off on a wild goose chase, but that won't last for long."

We exited the room with me in front. Davis was still stretched out on the landing floor.

"Is he dead?" Eileen asked.

"No, just knocked out."

"Pity."

As she passed his prone figure, her foot lashed out, and she stomped on his groin. I winced at the violence behind that kick. For a moment, as Colleen paused beside him, I thought she was going to kick him as well. Then she took another step and before I could stop her, she cocked the hammer of the pistol she was holding and pulled the trigger. His head exploded as the lead bullet punched through his skull.

"Shit," I gasped out.

"You kill vermin; he was just the worst type of vermin," Colleen said flatly, then headed for the stairs. "Let go find my man."

"Wait, I need to check the last couple of rooms up here, first."

Both women cocked their pistols and moved to the side. I hurriedly checked the remaining rooms, but found nobody.

"Do you know where the housekeeper could be?" I asked when I returned to the women.

"She's not a housekeeper," Eileen said. "She's that piece of vermin's sister. She's just as bad as him. I'd happily put a bullet through her."

Okay, so now I had four to worry about. "Let's try downstairs; there was one door that was locked."

Guessing that Davis's sister would be armed, I cautiously led the way down the stairs. The guy in the main room was still dead. I gave the room a more thorough search. Again, it was empty, but some instinct made me feel that someone had been here since I'd killed the man.

The one I'd stashed under the stairs was still unconscious. I checked his bindings, and they were still secure. In the pantry, the cook had managed to shift around and was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall. Her hands and feet were still bound but she'd managed to shift her gag and spit out the cloth I'd stuffed in her mouth. That saved me the effort of removing it to ask her questions.

She glared at me and then went white when she saw the two gun-toting women step up beside me.

"Where are they holding the man they captured last night?" I asked.

She went wide eyes and shook her head. "He'll have me killed if I tell you."

"He's dead, I just shot him in the head," Colleen said as she shouldered me out of the way. She pointed her pistol at the woman, "and I'll happily shot you if you don't tell me where they are holding my man."

"In the cellar," she hurriedly said.

"Where's the way down?" I hadn't seen a cellar entrance earlier.

"The doors in the hallway, but he keeps it locked. Only the master and his sister have keys."

"We can shoot out the lock," Colleen said.

"No need, I've got his keys," I pointed out.

An old iron key opened the door in the hallway. The top two steps were visible in the light of the hallway lamp. The rest was a black shadow.

I called Drew's name out and we heard a muffled groan from the blackness. I took a lamp from the kitchen and cautiously, very cautiously, started down the staircase. The light from the lamp outlined a wooden staircase that hugged a stone wall.

The further I got down, the more of the cellar became visible. It was a large stone-lined room with a packed dirt floor. Along one wall was a pile of broken and discarded household furniture. Benches with a scattering of tools lined a second wall and three low stout doors were set into the third wall. Dominating the center of the room was a long dark stained table. As I stepped closer, I kept a wary eye on the shadows on the corners of the room.

I was only a couple of steps away from the table when I saw the straps fixed firmly to the top. My nose wrinkled as the acrid rank tang of old blood hit it. The stains were dried blood, and I stepped back in horror I took in what the tools on the nearest bench were. This wasn't a cellar; it was a torture chamber, and now I understood what had happened to the two women in the barn.

I heard the groan again, and it came from behind the middle door. A stout bolt kept the door closed, and it screeched as I forced it back.

I heard Colleen's urgent whisper from the top of the staircase, wanting to know if I was all right and had I found Drew.

"Not yet," I called back.

At the sound of my voice, a soft voice full of pain asked from behind the door, "Is that you, Billy?"

The door opened outward, and I dragged it open. I could see Drew's figure sitting propped up against the back wall of the little cell. He started to move, and I was beside him helping him to his feet. He swayed, then seemed to get hold of himself and stood up straighter.

As I helped him out of the cell, I called out that I'd found him, and he was still alive.

Colleen hurried down the steps telling Eileen to wait at the top and keep guard. She gave a small moan of anguish when she saw his battered features. They hugged, and he couldn't help the way he tensed as she wrapped her arms around his body.

"We need to go," I said urgently. "There's more of his men out there, and I don't know how good they are. And his sister is somewhere around here, as well."

"Check behind the other doors," Drew said. "I heard someone was moving about down here not long ago."

The bolt, on the door to the left, wasn't in place, and the cell was empty. The last door had a proper lock and the last key on the keyring fitted the keyhole. I wasn't sure what to expect behind the door, but the tunnel that disappeared into the darkness was not on my list. There were several fresh footprints in the damp dirt of the floor.

"Where the hell does it go," Drew muttered.

I tried to picture the ranch in my mind and the direction the tunnel seemed to head. "I think it goes to the barn," I said.

Footsteps hurrying down the steps interrupted our debate. Eileen hurried over to us, her finger held to her mouth.

"Some riders just rode up to the front of the house," she whispered.

I sprinted up the steps. I heard several footsteps on the porch, then one of them was hammering on the door, calling out for the Major. Before they decided to come barging in, I pulled the cellar door closed and locked it. I returned to the others. Drew had found his gun belt and his pair of Colts where they'd been tossed onto the far bench. He was strapping them on as I reached them.

"Davis's men are back, and they are not happy," I told them.

"How many?"

"I saw three ride off earlier; it must be them."

"So, do we risk it?" He gestured at the entrance of the dark tunnel.

"What choice have we got?" Colleen said. She lit a second lamp from the first and stepped over to the entrance. "It looks like that bitch has gone down here, and I'd like to give her the same treatment I gave her brother."

Drew gave me a quizzical look, and I whispered, "She put a bullet through his head!"

"Damn, I wanted to do that myself."

I gave a last look around the cellar, "ls this place what I think it is?"

He gave me a grim smile. "From what they told me; it was both of them. He liked it when they screamed; she liked to inflict the pain."

There wasn't anything I could say. I was just grateful that they hadn't started on our women, and then berated myself. The only reason they hadn't started had been the two poor unfortunate women in the barn.

Drew went first, the pistol in his hand giving him the strength he needed. Colleen, then Eileen followed him. I brought up the rear; I paused long enough to re-lock the door behind us. The tunnel was low enough that we all had to crouch down. My recollection was that the barn was about a hundred yards away, and by the time we reached the end, my knees and neck were feeling the strain.

A wooden ladder led up to a trap door. Drew listened carefully for a minute before slowly easing the trap up. A few hay stalks drifted down, and the only sounds I could hear was the faint buzzing of flies and the snort of a horse.

Drew poked his head up, then stepped up and off the ladder. I heard the hay rustle under his boots; then, he whispered all clear. When we were all safely out of the tunnel, drew closed the trap and we pushed a couple of heavy bales of hay on top of the entrance. We extinguished the lamps we'd brought with us, there was enough light from the moon for us to see.

"Any sight of Davis' men?" I asked.

"There's nobody here, except those three," and he nodded in the direction of the tarp-covered bodies.

I whispered, "Don't let them look, two are women who were kept with them, and their deaths weren't pretty."

Drew cursed under his breath, then we all moved to the far barn door. In front of us was the corral and my saddled horse.

"I can't see yours," I said. "We need to saddle up three more."

"There's several in the stalls over there, and there is some tack as well."

I said, "Get them saddled up, and I'll keep watch. We don't have much time before those men find Davis's body and start hunting us down."

I walked over to my horse, retrieved the carbine and a pocket full of cartridges. I returned to the barn, and after checking on Drew's progress, I went over to the half-open door.

Lamps had been lit in the ranch house, and I got glimpses of people moving around. Soon two returned to their horses that had been hitched to the rail in front of the porch.

A heated discussion was going on, and I could make out most of what they were saying.

"Cook says they went down into the cellar, and she didn't see them come up again. Now the door's locked, so they've got to be still down there.

"He's dead, and the safe's empty. His sister's taken the money and gone."

"Good riddance, she was an evil bitch, Christ knows what they got up to down there."

"Joe's gone to deal with the cook, then we are out of here. We'll round up a herd of his best beasts and sell them in Houston."

Christ, they were as evil as the Davises. A bullet in the head was too good for them, but that didn't stop me cocking the Sharps and lining up the sight on the closest of them.

I was about to take the shot when the last man came running around the building.

"Let's go," he shouted. "I've set fire to the place, they'll all die down there, and nobody will ever know what happened here."

They weren't going to get away with it on my watch. My finger twitched, and the first bullet struck the closest man between his shoulders. The other two froze, and by the time they started to move, I'd reloaded and fired a second shot. This one hit the furthest man in the small of his back and he tumbled off his horse. The last one was scrabbling to mount his horse. He kicked his heels in and the horse was starting to turn away when my last shot punched through his chest and he slid to the ground.