Chapter Forty-eight
Annie and Rosie endured a long, boring wait as night spread its chilly tentacles over the landscape. The four deputies took turns watching the ranch house and playing poker by a small fire they'd built in the shelter of a boulder. Sam and Jim didn't reappear until the moon had risen well into the night sky. When at last they rode up, Jim had in tow a large burlap bag, which he handled most gingerly as he dismounted.
Watching the two men stride up to join them, Annie glanced askance at the bulging bag. "Where in blazes have you two been? Rosie and I were getting worried."
"Yeah, and what's in the bag?" added Rosie.
Jim lifted a hand in warning. "You don't want to look inside, honey."
"Why not?" she demanded.
"Because there's a skunk in the bag."
Rosie and Annie sucked in horrified breaths while three deputies playing poker nearby kicked over the coffeepot as they scrambled away with their cards and money.
"A skunk?" Rosie repeated in a charged whisper. "Have you two gone plumb loco?"
"For heaven's sake, you could end up with rabies or something," Annie scolded archly, "though it sounds like you're already stark raving mad!"
Sam chuckled. "We didn't even touch the skunk, sugar."
"Then how did you bag it?" Rosie demanded. She jerked a thumb toward the sack. "And why is the critter being so docile?"
Sam grinned at Jim. "You wanna tell them?"
"Sure," he replied. "You see, dear, I had this idea. I thought the best way to smoke out Royce Rowdy would be to put a skunk down his chimney."
Stunned silence fell. Then, pulling a face, Annie asked, "Won't the skunk burn?"
As Jim hesitated over her question, Sam strode toward the edge of the mesa, glanced down at the darkened house, and returned to join the others. "Nope, there ain't no smoke coming from the big-house chimney tonight," he announced.
"Well, thank heaven for that," Annie muttered.
"Anyway, I knew I could charm a skunk into coming close," Jim continued, "because I used to do so when I lived among the Cheyenne. But I wasn't sure how to get the creature to cooperate after that." He grinned at Sam. "That's where Sam came in."
"We sneaked back into Rowdyville and begged some ground-up steak off Dolly Dumble," Sam explained. "Then we bought us some sleeping powders at the apothecary. You should have seen the druggist's face when we asked him how much of the stuff to give a skunk."
Annie giggled. "And what did the man say?"
Sam replied, "He said, 'I reckon that depends on whether you're hankering for the critter to wake back up.'"
Everyone laughed as Jim once again took up the story. "So we came out here, set out our bait laced with sleeping powder, and I charmed in a skunk. After the animal ate the meat and fell asleep, Sam and I carefully drew the burlap bag over it."
"And how do you reckon getting it down Rowdy's chimney?" asked Rosie.
"We'll fix up a sling to lower it," Sam explained. "The bag ain't cinched up tight, and when that essence peddler awakens . . ." He whistled.
"You're forgetting something," said Annie. "Are Rowdy's guards just going to let you march right up and climb onto the roof?"
Sam laughed. "Sugar, Jim and I didn't spend our time with the Cheyenne without learning how to move about as quietly as ghost dancers. Rowdy's guards ain't never going to hear or see us."
"That's right," seconded Jim.
"Well, if this don't beat all," muttered Rosie.
"Amen," added Annie.
The women watched with grudging admiration as Sam tore a large square strip from a blanket, then tied each corner with a long rope. He and Jim positioned the sling beneath the sack holding the skunk. Afterward, with each man gripping two pieces of rope, they practiced lifting and lowering the animal.
"There—just like falling off a log," Sam drawled to Annie. "That's how she goes down the chimney."
"How do you know it's a she?" she simpered back.
He grinned so wickedly that, had he not been holding a skunk, she would have kicked him.
Sam glanced at the four deputies, who were gathered a safe distance away. "You fellars cover us now."
"Shore, boss," replied Earl with a nervous nod.
"Long as we don't got to go with you," added Joe, and all four men guffawed.
Annie rolled her eyes. "Good luck, boys."
She and Rosie watched the men slip away into the night shadows.
"So what do ya think?" Rosie asked Annie.
She shook her head. "If that skunk ever wakes up, he's gonna be one unhappy camper."
***
In less than an hour, the men returned. "Success!" Sam exclaimed. "Now we just have to watch and wait."
Sam assigned guards for the night, taking the first shift himself while the others slept. Shortly before dawn, he awakened everyone. The eight huddled together in a circle to hear him.
"You men will all need to come with me," he began. "We'll take out the guards and tie them up, then hide in the stand of pine not far from the porch. Hopefully by sunup, Rowdy will make a run for it." He nodded toward Annie and Rosie. "You ladies stay put. If the rest of us get in trouble, get the hell out of here and go straight back to Central. Understood?"
"Sure, Sam," said Annie.
The women hugged their men good-bye and wished them luck. After the posse crept away, Annie spoke up to Rosie. "If they get in trouble, we'll back 'em up, right?"
"Right," replied Rosie.
***
Sunrise brought with it a scene Annie would never forget. Indeed, Rosie and Annie could smell victory before they ever saw it.
Annie, perched on a rocky ledge beside Rosie, grimaced at a horrible smell rising from the valley. "Yuck! Is that what I think it is?"
Rosie waved a hand in front of her face. "Honey, that's a wood pussy if I ever smelt one."
The two intently watched the big house. Seconds later, they heard the muffled sounds of men hollering inside. A ranch hand came hurtling through the front window, groaning as he rolled off the porch. Next the front door flew open and six men, including Royce Rowdy, bolted outside yelling as if their britches were on fire. Instantly all were surrounded by men with guns—Sam, Jim, and the rest of the posse.
Annie and Rosie nearly split their sides laughing at the spectacle.
"Well, I'll be hanged!" cried Rosie, clapping her hands in glee.
"They went out with a whimper, all right," said Annie.
Holding their noses, the women hastened down to join the others. Annie chuckled at the sight of the skunk emerging through the open front door, making a beeline off the porch, and tearing off for the hills, its striped tail waving high. By the time she and Rosie reached Sam and the others, the stench was unbearable.
"Phew!" Rosie declared, gazing in disgust at Royce Rowdy. "Do you boys stink. I reckon we'll have to dunk you in tomater juice before old Judge Righteous'll even have you. Or maybe we oughta just shoot you and put you out of your misery."
Although his hands were held high, Royce Rowdy trembled in fury. "You'll pay for this!" he declared in a shrill voice. "Especially you, Reverend. You traitor!"
Sam only laughed. "Well, Mr. Rowdy, I did promise all you sinners that you'd get your comeuppance. This here is Judgment Day."
As Rowdy stared at Sam in seething hatred, Rosie took Jim's arm. "Yeah, you big bully, it's your turn to pay! Do you recognize this fine man standing here beside me?"
"Why should I?" Rowdy sneered.
"'Cause you thought you kilt him two years ago, you miserable bastard!" Rosie retorted. "Now he's risen from the dead to see you rot in hell."
Rowdy gazed at Jim and gulped. For once, he appeared visibly shaken. Still, he retorted with bravado, "I ain't got no idea what you're ranting about, woman."
"That's okay, 'cause the judge is gonna understand ever' word," Rosie replied. "You're gonna pay for all the harm you done me and my husband. I'll see your no-good butt planted in a hole deeper than Hades, with the devil's pitchfork just itchin' to tear the flesh from your bones. Hell, you'll be wishing you had a skunk for company."
"Yes, you're going to regret the day you ever met Rosie and Jim Dillon," Jim added.
"Believe me, I already do," muttered Rowdy.