Chapter Thirty-four
“Bodine is dead, ’n they got your brother in jail,” Jaco told Houser.
“How was Bodine killed?”
“MacCallister kilt ’im. I’m tellin’ you the truth, Mr. Houser, I’ve seen some fast gunmen in my days, but I ain’t never seen nothin’ like MacCallister. I never even seen ’im draw. He was just standin’ there one moment ’n the next moment the gun was in his hand.”
“Is my brother injured?”
“No, he ain’t hurt none. He’s just in jail, is all.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jaco.”
“You want me ’n the others to go into town ’n break him out of jail?” Jaco asked.
“No, that wouldn’t be prudent. We will need to take some other approach. Let me think about it.”
* * *
“Harris is in jail,” Cooper told Turley.
Turley smiled. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s where the son of a bitch belongs. What happened? How did he wind up in jail?”
“From what I heard in town, he ’n a feller named Bodine took that girl that works for the lady that runs the dress shop prisoner and . . .”
“Mary Ellen? Is she all right?” Turley asked anxiously.
“Yeah, that’s right, I forgot you’re kind of sweet on her. Don’t worry, she’s fine.” Cooper laughed. “You know what she did? Harris was holdin’ her in the dress shop where she works, but somehow she got out through the back door, then she locked it, ’n that trapped the son of a bitch inside. After that it was easy for Deputy Logan to arrest ’im for holdin’ her like he done.”
Turley smiled. “Yeah, I can see Mary Ellen doing something like that.”
“Will this do for you Mr. Houser?”
=A PROCLAMATION=
of the GOVERNOR OF WYOMING
$10, 000 REWARD
Dead or Alive
DUFF MACCALLISTER
for MURDER and CATTLE RUSTLING
Houser was in the office of the Hawk Springs Herald, a newspaper in the nearby town of Hawk Springs, and he examined the printer’s proof the editor of the paper had handed him.
“Yes, Mr. Denman, that will do quite nicely, thank you,” Houser replied.
“I’ve never met Mr. MacCallister,” Denman said. “But I know he’s a big cattleman over near Chugwater.”
“Yes,” Houser replied. “And now we know how he acquired his wealth.”
“I must say that I’ve never heard anything bad about him.”
“He managed to hide it quite well for some time,” Houser said. “But Governor Morgan, and Governor Hale before him, had long been suspicious of Duff MacCallister. That’s why I was appointed a special deputy by the governor. Now I have the evidence I need to make the arrest.”
“What I don’t understand is, if you know where he is, why do you need a reward poster?”
“Oh, MacCallister is quite the wily one. If he gets word that we are onto him, he might well make good his escape. If so, I’ll have these ready.”
* * *
In the bunkhouse at Twin Peaks that night, Turley was awakened by a conversation going on between the deputies.
“First thing we’re goin’ to do,” Jaco said, “is go out to the Pine Flats ’n take about a hunnert o’ them cows we stoled ’n move ’em over to Sky Meadow.”
Even though Jaco thought he was speaking in a harsh whisper, Turley was able to overhear every word that was spoken.
“Why are we goin’ to do that? Hell, we was the one that stoled the cattle, ’n we’re s’posed to be gettin’ some money for them cows. Why are we goin’ to give ’em away like that?” Pete asked.
“We ain’t actual givin’ ’em away, we’re just movin’ ’em over there so’s it looks like MacCallister is the one that stoled them.”
“So we’re goin’ to accuse MacCallister of stealin’? Who’s goin’ to do that? Didn’t you say he was the fastest man you ever seen?”
“We won’t have to arrest him. All we have to do is kill ’im. ’N we’ll most likely have some help with that,” Jaco said.
“Have help? Help from who?”
“From anyone who wants the ten-thousand-dollar reward.”
“What reward?”
“This one,” Jaco said.
“Damn!” Pete said. “You mean there’s actual dodgers out on MacCallister?”
“Yeah. Now, come on, we got to get them cows moved before it gets daylight.”
* * *
Moving the stolen cows onto Sky Meadow wasn’t the only nefarious act that the deputies did during the night. When the residents of Chugwater awakened the next morning, they were surprised to see a sudden plethora of wanted posters.
“Duff MacCallister murderin’ and stealin’?” Duke Rudd said as he examined the reward bill that was posted to the front of his leather goods store. “I don’t believe it.”
Rudd’s rejection of the charge that Duff was a murderer and cattle thief was nearly universal, as nobody else in town believed it, either.
Rudd took the poster to the sheriff’s office, where he found Deputy Logan sitting at the sheriff’s desk, drinking coffee.
“Deputy Logan, where’s Sheriff Sharpie?”
“The sheriff won’t be back till tomorrow. He took the train up to Cheyenne last night.”
“Have you seen this?” Rudd asked, holding the poster out to show it.
“No,” Logan said after examining it for a moment. “I’ll be damn, accordin’ to what it says here, this dodger comes direct from the governor his ownself. ’N look at the reward! Ten thousand dollars! Who but the governor could authorize that much money? Where did you get it?”
“This here one was nailed onto the front wall of my office.”
“There’s somethin’ fishy about this,” Logan said. “I’ve known Duff MacCallister ever since he settled here in the valley, and for as long as I have known him, he has been an honest and upstanding citizen. And how is it that these posters didn’t come to the sheriff in the mail like all the others?”
“I don’t know,” Rudd answered. “But this isn’t the only one. They’re plastered all over town.”
“I’m going to ride out to Sky Meadow and see what this is all about,” Logan said, but as he and Rudd stepped out onto the front porch, they saw eight riders coming into town.
“That’s Jaco ’n the territory deputies,” Logan said, “but I don’t know who the one in front is.”
“I’ll be damn,” Rudd said. “That’s Houser.”
“Yeah,” Logan agreed. “Yeah, you’re right, that is Houser. What happened to that little beard he always wears?”
“Yeah, well, it ain’t just the beard. He ain’t wearin’ a suit like always, ’n I don’t think I’ve ever seen him on a horse before, neither.”
Instead of the three-piece suit that Houser normally wore, today he was wearing black trousers, a black shirt, and a black, low-crown hat, which was encircled by a silver band. But the most shocking thing about his appearance was that Houser, who never carried a gun, was wearing one now. And he was wearing it in the way of a man who knew how to use it.
When Houser and the others reached the sheriff’s office, they stopped. Deputy Logan was still holding the reward poster in his hand, and he held it up.
“Mr. Houser, are you responsible for this?”
“I am, sir.”
“What right do you have to put out such a thing?”
“I’m sure that you know that I hold a special commission from the governor, and as such I am authorized to speak directly for him. My position gives me gubernatorial authority. It has come to my attention that Duff MacCallister, who is a man of some repute in this town, has been guilty of murder and cattle rustling. I owe an apology to the small ranchers, as I have been blaming them for the rustling, when it was MacCallister, all along.”
“What makes you think it was Duff ?”
“I don’t think, sir, I know. We have found the stolen cattle on rangeland belonging to Duff MacCallister.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m not going to arrest him,” Logan said. “Maybe you can talk the sheriff into it when he gets back from Cheyenne tomorrow, but I’m not going to do it.”
“I don’t expect you to arrest MacCallister, or anyone else, for that matter,” Houser replied. “I am suspending you from duty and asking you to take off your badge. I am declaring a condition of civil emergency, and as such, I, and my deputies, will, henceforth, assume all law enforcement activities. As of now, this town and all activity herein, is under my control.”
“What?” Logan’s shouted word was so loud that it caused passersby on the other side of the street to look over in curiosity. “The hell you say! There’s no way I’m going to let you get away with a thing like that.”
Houser drew his pistol and pointed it at Deputy Logan. “I said, take off your badge,” he repeated ominously.
Reluctantly, but with no other choice, Logan removed his badge.
“Inside,” Houser said, with a waving motion of his pistol. He followed Logan into the office. “Now, release my brother.”
Logan took the key ring down from the wall hook, then walked back to the cell to open the door. Shamrock was standing there with a big smile.
“So, big brother,” he said. “Have you decided to go back to being Wynton Miller?”
“Wynton Miller?” Logan gasped.
“Get into the cell,” Houser ordered.
Sky Meadow Ranch
“Will you be comin’ over to the buildin’ site today, Mr. Gleason?” Emerson asked.
“I’ll be along in a while,” Elmer replied. He was watching Emerson and Percy load a wagon of tools and supplies needed at the site where Percy’s new house was being built.
“Poke is already over there,” Percy said. He chuckled. “He’s a good kid, and one hell of a good worker.”
“Yeah, he is,” Emerson said. “He’s better ’n anyone when it comes to climbin’ around in the trusses. He can climb like a monkey.”
Percy chuckled. “Steve, have you ever actually seen a monkey?”
“Well, no, but I’ve heard they can climb real good.”
“That’s a fact,” Elmer said, thinking of the ones he had seen in China.
Elmer was about to go back in for another cup of coffee, when he saw someone coming up the long drive that led to the house.
“Here comes someone,” he said. “More ’n likely someone wonderin’ why you two hadn’t got to work yet and . . .” He stopped and looked again as the rider came close enough to be identified.
“Why, that’s Ben Turley from over to Houser’s place. I wonder what he wants.”
“Mornin’, Mr. Gleason. Is Mr. MacCallister in?”
“Yeah, he’s here. What do you need?”
“He might want to see this,” Turley said, holding out the reward poster.
* * *
“From what I was able to overhear, they planned to take over the town ’n then just wait for you to come in,” Turley said after he told of the stolen cattle that had been moved, during the night, onto Sky Meadow.
“Meagan is there. I will go.”
“Mr. MacCallister, how do we know we can trust Turley?” Emerson asked. “Remember what happened to Kirk and Keegan.”
“Turley speaks the truth,” Wang said of Turley.
“Yeah, he sounds good. But how do we know?” Emerson repeated.
“He speaks the truth,” Wang said again.
“If you’re going into town, I’m going to go with you,” Turley said. “You’re worried about Miss Parker, ’n I’m worried about Mary Ellen.”
“Yeah, I’ll come with you, too,” Emerson said, his declaration followed by Percy’s own intention to go.
“’Tis good of you lads to volunteer,” Duff said. “But I’ll need only Elmer and Wang.”
“But that will be only three of you, and there are nine of them,” Turley said. He counted them off on his fingers. “There’s Houser, Harris, Malcolm, Dobbins, Jaco, Wix, Pete, Hawke, and Evans. By the way, I learned that Harris is actually a man named Shamrock. Have you ever heard of him?”
“I cannae say as I have.”
“Yeah, well, people don’t change their names unless they’re on the dodge. And I haven’t liked that son of a bitch since the first time I ever seen ’im.”
“Boss, that’s a lot of men for just the three of you to go up agin,” Emerson said.
“Go and work on your house,” Duff said. “They will be needing these things.” He pointed to the wagon.
“All right, if you’re sure you don’t want us.”