Cordis shoved him away and he stumbled before righting himself and hurrying off.

  ‘What do you want to do, Ike?’ Beck asked.

  ‘We’ll go and have a chat to that preacher. He knows more than he’s lettin’ on.’

  The interrogation bore little fruit, but when they’d finished questioning O’Sullivan, they knew as much as he did, which wasn’t much at all. Ford and the girl had left town and Ford had plans on coming back the day after tomorrow to bring Cordis’ reign to an end.

  The pair stood on the steps of the church and watched the procession for a while before Beck asked, ‘Do you want me to stop them from leavin’?’

  ‘No. Get over to the livery and see if that bastard blue roan Ford rides is still there. Make sure he’s gone. After that, round up some fighting men. As many as you can get. When he comes back, we’ll have a nice little surprise waiting for our esteemed United States Deputy Marshal.’

  When William Krouse saw riders approaching, he was instantly cautious. He called to the two men he’d posted on guard since the battle with the miners. ‘Keep an eye on them.’

  As the riders drew close enough to be made out clearly, Krouse shook his head. ‘Well, I’ll be.’

  Ford and Eddie eased their mounts to a stop in the ranch yard and watched Krouse step down from his long verandah. As he did, he called back over his shoulder, ‘Helen, we have visitors.’

  Krouse stopped in front of the horses and looked at Ford.

  ‘Step down, Marshal,’ he greeted. ‘I didn’t expect to see you out here.’

  ‘I needed help, Krouse, and you’re the only man I could think of that might do it,’ Ford told the rancher as he and Eddie climbed down.

  ‘I been hearin’ a lot of stories about you,’ the rancher explained. ‘One of them had you as dead.’

  ‘Almost was,’ Ford allowed.

  Krouse signalled to one of his men. ‘Take their horses. Put them in the corral.’

  As the man went to take the blue roan, Ford said, ‘Take care around him. He’ll have the hide off you before you know it.’

  The hand thought he was joking at first but when he saw the look in Ford’s eyes he knew the lawman was serious.

  ‘Sure. Thanks.’

  Ford heard the screen door slam shut and looked over at the veranda. He saw Helen Krouse standing there, a look of apprehension on her face. She was a slim woman and her age seemed to be in line with her husband’s.

  ‘Sorry to turn up unannounced, Ma’am,’ Ford apologized, ‘but we had nowhere else to go.’

  ‘You’re welcome to join us for supper when the time comes, Marshal,’ she assured him. ‘We’d not turn away anyone in need.’

  ‘Thank you, Ma’am.’

  ‘Maybe your lady friend would like to come into the house to freshen up while you men talk business?’ she suggested.

  Eddie stepped forward. ‘Thank you, Mrs Krouse. That would be fine.’

  Ford watched her go with the rancher’s wife as they went inside. He looked around the large ranch yard. Apart from the house with its large verandah, which was set back amongst some large pines, there was also a split-rail corral, an oversized barn, and a long bunkhouse for all the hands.

  ‘Nice place you have here,’ Ford observed.

  ‘We’re workin’ at it,’ Krouse said. ‘What is it you want?’

  Straight to the point.

  ‘A while back you came to me for help. I’m here asking the same of you.’

  ‘I asked you for help because that’s your job,’ Krouse pointed out.

  ‘Yes, it is,’ Ford agreed. ‘But do you want to get your town back? Even your valley?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’m only one man, Krouse. I can’t do it without help.’

  ‘What did you have in mind?’

  Ford told him his idea. After he’d finished, he paused a moment then added, ‘To do it we’ll need two wagons.’

  Krouse looked at him as though he’d gone mad.

  ‘The wagons I can do. The other stuff I don’t have. And I’ll need to ask the men because it’ll be them layin’ down their lives.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Ford nodded. ‘If they agree, we’ll need someone to keep an eye on the town until we’re ready.’

  ‘I’ll see to that,’ Krouse assured him. ‘You haven’t said how we’re goin’ to get the other stuff.’

  ‘We’re goin’ to steal it from the mine.’

  Chapter 16

  A cloud scudded across the quarter moon, darkening the scarred landscape of the mine that loomed up before the riders. There was a slight high-country chill to the air that pricked the exposed skin. Ford was in the lead, followed by Krouse. Ford had insisted that he stay behind but the rancher would have none of it. There had been no qualms from his men either, eager to join the fight against Ike Cordis. In fact, they relished the idea of paying him back.

  Ford guessed that it was somewhere after midnight as they approached the mine. He drew the roan to a stop and the others followed suit. Behind them, he could hear the troublesome squeak and rattle of the wagon as it closed the gap between them.

  ‘You all know what you have to do,’ Ford whispered. ‘Once we get the dynamite, we’ll get out of here. Try not to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary. Chances are they’re just guardin’ the place.’

  There were grumbles from a couple of the riders.

  ‘You heard him,’ Krouse whispered harshly. ‘Shoot only if you have to.’

  They dismounted and moved in cautiously, leaving one man with the wagon and horses.

  Twenty minutes later, they had accessed the small wooden structure where the mine had its blasting requirements secured. They restrained the rest of the guards and then brought up the horses and wagon, ready for loading.

  Ford indicated the four tied men who sat on the ground, their backs to each other. ‘Take them away from here. We don’t want them going up with the shack when we blow it.’

  ‘What’ll your boss say when he finds out what you’ve been up to?’ Krouse asked.

  ‘He’ll turn all shades of colors at first,’ Ford chuckled, thinking of Bass. ‘Then he’ll most likely fire me. But it’ll all work out in the end.’

  ‘If he does fire you, I reckon the town will be needing a new sheriff.’

  ‘Let’s just see if we can get out of this alive first, and then go from there.’

  Some minutes later, a wiry cowhand approached them and said, ‘The wagon’s loaded and the charges are set.’

  ‘All right, let’s get the hell outta here.’

  A giant fireball lit the night sky after they’d left. Thunder from the explosion rolled along the valley in what seemed like an unending rumble.

  ‘That’ll get their attention,’ Krouse said.

  ‘It will, that’s for sure. All we need to do now is get ready to fight The Devil on his own ground.’

  ‘Someone hit the mine last night,’ Sam Beck said, as he entered the Royal Palace saloon. ‘They blew the powder shack to hell an’ gone.’

  Ike Cordis was having a late breakfast of bacon and eggs.

  ‘Who?’ Cordis asked as he placed his knife and fork on the table.

  ‘It was Ford and some cow nurses.’

  Cordis thought for a moment as he continued to chew the food in his mouth.

  ‘Did they take anything?’

  ‘They didn’t say.’

  ‘Who didn’t say?’

  ‘The fellers who just came into town.’

  ‘Go and find out why it was done and whether anything was taken,’ Cordis ordered him. ‘They wouldn’t do that just for the hell of it. Find out why.’

  Beck nodded.

  ‘How many men did you get that are willing to fight?’

  ‘Around thirty.’

  ‘And they’re not afraid of getting their hands dirty?’

  ‘Not a one.’

  ‘Good. Tomorrow we should be rid of that damned marshal once and for all.’

  ‘The men just got back from town,’ Krouse told Ford. ‘They’re getting ready for us. Someone must have told them.’

  Ford paused from looping rawhide cord around sticks of dynamite. ‘It don’t matter much. I figured they would know somethin’ was up when people started leavin’ town.’

  ‘Cordis has been recruitin’ men too. They think he has around thirty men willin’ to fight for him. We only have ten. Includin’ me and you.’

  ‘Eleven,’ Eddie said as she approached.

  ‘Nope, you’re sittin’ this one out,’ Ford said adamantly.

  ‘I haven’t come this far just to “sit it out” as you say. I’m goin’.’

  ‘The hell you are. You’re stayin’ here.’

  The look he gave Eddie made her understand that he wouldn’t back down. Instead she nodded, turned and walked away.

  ‘Do you think she’ll listen?’ Krouse asked.

  ‘Not one bit,’ Ford acknowledged. ‘Although I hope she’s sensible enough to see she don’t belong where we’re goin’. Speakin’ of which, maybe you should stay here too.’

  Immediately, Ford wished he’d never uttered the words. Krouse’s face changed color and he opened his mouth to protest vehemently when Ford quickly raised his hand.

  ‘Hold on before you blow up and bust,’ Ford said. ‘Think about it. If somethin’ happens to you, your wife will be left all alone. Who’s goin’ to take care of her?’

  ‘This is still my valley, my town. So, if anyone has a right to fight for it, then it’s me.’

  ‘All right then,’ Ford nodded. ‘Just remember this, not all of us are goin’ to make it out alive.’

  ‘I’m quite aware of that fact.’

  ‘All right, we’ll go in tomorrow afternoon, late in the day. That way if we get tied down, we can use the cover of dark to pull out.’

  ‘Do you think we’ll be able to do it?’

  ‘I guess we’ll find out.’

  The three marshals hit the small town of Crossover that afternoon, their horses bone tired and about dead on their hoofs. There wasn’t much to the town: a main street with a couple of side streets.

  Roy Willis broke off from the other two and headed for a rickety looking hitch rail on the right side of the main street.

  Bass Reeves hauled back on his reins bringing his mount to a halt.

  ‘What do you think you’re doin’?’ he asked impatiently.

  ‘We need to stop, Bass,’ Willis said.

  ‘The hell you say. We need to keep goin’. A man’s life is on the line.’

  ‘I know he’s your son, Bass, but our horses are almost dead. If we push them any further we’ll kill them before we get another five miles. I know it, and you know it. If we stop here overnight, we’ll still make Serenity late tomorrow.’

  Reeves cursed out loud and slapped his thigh, sending a puff of trail dust exploding from his pants leg.

  ‘Damn it to hell, Roy. He could be dead by the time we get there.’

  ‘And he could be dead already, Bass,’ Willis pointed out. ‘One thing is for certain, though, we’ll be no use to him if we kill our horses.’

  A horse-drawn wagon came to a stop behind Reeves and a voice called to him from the town boardwalk.

  ‘Are you just goin’ to sit on your horse blocking the street so no one else can use it?’ it asked.

  Reeves turned in the saddle and gave the man a withering glare.

  ‘What the hell is it to you?’ he snarled.

  The man, thinly built with black hair, pulled back his jacket flap to show the badge pinned on his vest. ‘The name’s Dave Bennett.’

  Reeves shook his head and eased his tired horse to one side, allowing the wagon to rattle past on the rutted street.

  ‘You fellers look like you’ve come far in a hurry,’ the lawman observed. ‘Is there somethin’ I need to know about you all?’

  ‘We’re marshals,’ Roy Willis informed him. ‘We’re headed on up to Serenity. Got a man up there who is havin’ some trouble with the locals.’

  The lawman nodded. ‘Uh-huh. I been gettin’ reports comin’ outta there lately. Seems that the lid’s about to blow off the town somethin’ fierce. I was talkin’ to a feller only an hour or so ago who come down from there. He was tellin’ me a bit about your marshal. That Ike Cordis is a bad man up there, so they say. Sounds to me like your feller’s got hisself a bear by the tail.’

  ‘Where’s this feller you were talkin’ to?’ Reeves inquired.

  ‘Over at the saloon,’ the sheriff said, pointing to a sign that said ‘Muddy Waterhole’.

  ‘Can you let him know we’d like a word with him?’ Reeves asked. ‘We just need to put our horses up for the night.’

  ‘Sure, I can do that.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  The saloon was filled with a blue-grey smoke haze, the smell of unwashed bodies and stale alcohol. Scantily clad women weaved in and out of tables, touching and talking to the men, plying them for drinks and other, more personal things. The bar was long and scarred, the tables round and small.

  In a far corner, a pianist belted out his rendition of an unrecognizable song because the piano was so far out of tune.

  Reeves, Willis, and Meredith found their man sitting alone at a table near the front window of the establishment. His name was Bassett and he used to have a small saddlery in Serenity. He’d left in a hurry when word came from the local preacher to do so.

  ‘Why was the preacher tellin’ everybody to leave?’ Reeves asked him.

  ‘Because the marshal was plannin’ somethin’.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Bassett said. ‘I don’t even know how he’s alive after he got shot.’

  ‘He got shot?’ Reeves snapped.

  ‘Sure did. The woman shot him.’

  Reeves had a feeling that he knew the answer his next question before he asked it. ‘What woman?’

  ‘The one called Camilla,’ Bassett answered. Then he frowned. ‘It was strange because even though she shot him, she was the one who got him doctored. And then Cordis killed her. Then the marshal took Cordis’ money and Cordis took the other woman captive.’

  ‘Anythin’ else?’ Reeves asked.

  ‘It was to be expected, though,’ Bassett commented.

  ‘What was?’

  ‘Him getting’ shot,’ he explained. ‘Up until then, Marshal Ford had been goin’ through them fellers like a good dose of castor oil. He’d already killed two of Cordis’ guns, plus other men he had workin’ for him. He hired himself a deputy but one of Cordis’ men killed him.’

  ‘Is that it?’ Reeves asked again.

  ‘Heck, no. The marshal had that feller cornered in one of Cordis’ saloons and he was about to tell the marshal everythin’ when Cordis shot him.’

  ‘Who? Ford?’ Willis asked.

  ‘No, the feller who shot the deputy,’ Bassett said, ‘keep up. So then the marshal arrested him and put him on trial for murder but the judge threw it out of court.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Reeves.

  ‘Because he was Cordis’ man. He even said the miners could go back to work.’

  ‘What was with the miners?’

  ‘The marshal shut the mine down.’

  ‘It seems to me that the marshal has been busy since his arrival in Serenity,’ Reeves commented while his gaze settled on Roy Willis.

  ‘Sure has,’ Bassett agreed. ‘Shame it’ll be all for nothin’, though.’

  ‘Why’s that?’ asked Willis.

  ‘He ain’t got much chance without any help. I’d say by this time tomorrow he’ll be dead.’

  Reeves chuckled.

  ‘What’s so funny about a man gettin’ killed?’ Bassett asked indignantly.

  ‘Your statement, Mr Bassett,’ Reeves explained. ‘The sheriff said somethin’ earlier about Ford havin’ a bear by the tail. It seems to me that it’s the other way around.’

  Chapter 17

  ‘Is everythin’ ready?’ Krouse asked Ford as the lawman placed the last bundle of dynamite into a crate.

  ‘Yeah, that was the last one. Are your boys ready?’

  ‘They’re ready, all right,’ Krouse said with confidence.

  ‘Get them gathered around, I want to have a talk with them before we go.’

  A few minutes later the cowhands were in a group in front of Ford.

  ‘Listen up,’ he addressed them. ‘None of you have to do this, so don’t feel like you do. I’m sure no man here would think less of any one of you for pullin’ out. After all, there is a good chance that most of us, if not all of us, will get killed.’

  Ford paused to let his words sink in. Not one man moved.

  ‘OK then. Tell me your names.’

  They looked curiously at him.

  ‘Tell me your names. I want to remember the men who’ve stood up to fight alongside me.’

  A thin man stepped forward and said, ‘I’m Burke.’

  Another followed suit and said, ‘Bishop.’

  The rest did the same and Ford now knew the names of them all. Smith, Allen, Cooper, Walters, Timms, Bishop and Burke.

  ‘You men in the first wagon, keep layin’ down cover fire as we run along Absaroka Street,’ Ford told them. ‘You men in the second, get them bundles lit and out. Once we do the run back, dismount and fight on foot. Clear the buildings until all the resistance is gone. If you see Cordis or Beck, kill them. Don’t hesitate, they’ll do the same thing to you.’

  ‘Why are we destroyin’ our town?’ the cowhand named Allen asked.

  ‘That’s just it. It ain’t your town, it’s Cordis’ town. He’s the boss. He’s killed anyone who has opposed him, including officers of the law.’ Ford’s gaze fixed on all of them. ‘There could well be townsfolk left in Serenity so be aware of that. But more than likely, if you see anyone carryin’ a gun, then treat them as the enemy. Any other questions?’

  They remained silent.

  ‘All right, one more thing. Everyone raise your right hand.’

  He watched as they did as they were told. ‘OK. Repeat after me.’

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12