Chapter 12

‘The bullet is out and he’s still asleep,’ Jones told Leander and Nora as he closed the bedroom door behind him and joined them in the dining room. ‘Keep an eye on him just to make sure no infection sets in and I’ll be back to check on him in a couple of days. If the wound does become infected, come and get me.’

‘Are you sure you won’t stay the night, Eli?’ Nora asked him.

Outside, the inky darkness covered the land with its black blanket. Inside, the Galloway home was lit with kerosene lamps which cast their orange light about the dining room.

‘Thank you Nora, but no,’ he smiled softly. ‘I have a plethora of patients to see in the morning so I must be getting back.’

‘Be careful then,’ Nora urged him.

‘It should be I saying that to you,’ Jones surmised. ‘After all, it is you who will have the wrath of the vigilance committee come down upon you if they find the marshal here. Besides that, after what you did to them today I would be on your toes. They ain’t likely to let it go easy.’

Nora nodded.

‘Tell Mary I’ll see her at the church on Sunday,’ Nora said, mentioning the doctor’s wife.

‘I’ll do that,’ he said. ‘I’ll see myself out. I’ll see you in a couple of days.’

After he was gone, Nora looked at her husband and said, ‘I’m scared, Leander. After what happened today with those men.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ he tried to reassure her and himself.

‘They didn’t find him, Mordecai,’ Jesse said, knowing that his words would be unacceptable.

Wakefield’s face grew taut. ‘I told you never to call me that. If you do it when no one is around, it makes it more likely that you’ll do it when someone is.’

‘Sorry, Judge.’

‘Where are they now?’ he asked Jesse in a measured voice.

‘Over at the Cedar Log gettin’ somethin’ to eat and havin’ a drink,’ Jesse explained. ‘They’ll head back out tomorrow. Mind you, he could be long gone by then.’

Wakefield shook his head. ‘They go back out tonight. That son of a bitch will still be around somewhere. If I know him, he ain’t goin’ nowhere until this mess all goes away.’

‘They’re pretty wore out Judge. . . .’

‘I don’t give a damn,’ Wakefield snapped. ‘Send out a different group, I don’t care. Just find that damned marshal!’

‘There is one other thing,’ Jesse informed his boss.

‘What?’

‘The men were checkin’ out a spread today and a woman with a rifle run ’em off,’ Jesse told him. ‘Somethin’ may need to be done about it.’

Wakefield waved the problem away. ‘We’ll worry about it after we get Ford back. Until then, it is all about that damned man.’

‘Well, he can’t have gone far, we’re pretty sure he’s got a bullet in him,’ Jesse tried to sound positive.

Wakefield nodded. ‘Keep an eye on the doctor. He might be the one to lead us to him if that is the case.’

Ford pushed the empty plate away from himself and smiled at Nora Galloway.

‘That was a mighty fine supper, ma’am, thank you.’

‘Are you sure you don’t want some more?’ she asked hesitantly, afraid he might say yes.

‘No thanks. Two helpings of that stew is about all I can eat at the moment,’ he smiled cheekily. ‘Maybe when I’m feelin’ a little better. . . .’

‘If you get to feeling any better I’m thinking that Leander may have to butcher a cow to feed you.’

Ford reddened a touch as he reached for a steaming cup of coffee.

He’d woken the morning after the doctor had tended his wound. Sore and stiff, but feeling OK. Now three days later he was out of bed and feeling good. His strength had mostly returned and so had the memory of that dreadful night.

Since then, Ford had vowed that Mordecai Wakefield and his men would pay the ultimate price for their murderous ways.

‘I doubt even that would be enough, Nora,’ Galloway stated. ‘Not for a fit young man like the marshal.’

Suddenly there was a commotion outside and Ford dropped his hand reflexively to his hip and grasped nothing. He cursed silently. Nora looked worried as Galloway rose from the table and peered through the window out into the darkness.

‘It’s OK,’ he told them. ‘It’s Doc Jones.’

Ford couldn’t help but notice the relief on Nora’s face.

‘It’s OK, ma’am,’ he said, trying to relieve her anxieties. ‘Once the doc tells me I’m fit enough I’ll move on.’

‘And go where?’ Nora asked without thinking.

‘I still have a job to do,’ he reminded her.

Galloway opened the door and let the doctor in. He took one look at Ford and said, ‘I see you are up and about.’

‘Yes, thanks to you, Doc.’

‘It’s good to see you, Eli,’ Nora greeted him. ‘How’s Mary?’

‘Fine, Nora, she’s fine.’

‘Would you like a coffee? The pot is still hot.’

Jones nodded. ‘I’ll have it after I’ve examined the marshal here. Thank you. That would be great, I could use one.’

I’ll give your horse some water, Eli,’ Galloway told him. ‘Maybe some oats too.’

Galloway left and Jones started his examination of Ford.

‘What is happenin’ in town, Doc?’ Ford asked.

‘They’re still tryin’ to track you down, so I hear,’ he informed him. ‘They are of an opinion that you are wounded and somebody is sheltering you.’

Ford grew concerned. ‘Are they watchin’ you?’

‘Not that I’m aware of.’

‘Can you tell me what they did with Tolliver?’ Ford asked him.

Jones’ face screwed up in disgust. ‘He’s right where they left him. On display outside of the undertakers.’

‘Damn him,’ Ford cursed. ‘When can I get back to ridin’, Doc? I still got me a job to do.’

‘The way you’re healin’ up, give it a couple of days, maybe three, and you should be right. That wound in your side is healing nicely with no sign of infection.’

That was something at least.

‘How long has Mordecai Wakefield been in town anyway?’

The doctor raised his eyebrows. ‘Is that his name?’

‘It sure is,’ Ford answered. ‘He’s just a straight-up outlaw.’

‘They’ve been here around six months,’ Jones recalled. ‘It was only a matter of days before Sheriff Milsom died and they took over running the law. Their law.’

‘Law enforced with fear and subjugation?’

‘That’s about right,’ Jones agreed with Ford’s assessment.

‘Say, you couldn’t get a message out on the wire could you?’

Jones shook his head. ‘Not a hope. The vigilantes have a man stationed in the telegraph office all of the time.’

‘Then I guess it’s up to me,’ Ford said resignedly.

‘Up to you to do what?’

‘Stop them, Doc. Stop them.’

Two sets of eyes watched as Doctor Eli Jones returned home sometime after midnight. Hidden in the shadows, the two vigilantes waited until he’d gone inside his house before they went to find Jesse and tell him what they saw.

Ten minutes after they’d talked to him, Jesse was banging on the door to Wakefield’s room. Inside, a whore stirred as the Vigilante moved her arm that was draped across his chest. The springs squeaked in protest as he climbed out of bed and picked up his six-gun from where it sat on a polished table.

‘Who is it?’ he grouched.

‘It’s me, Jesse.’

The door swung open and Jesse was faced with a cocked gun pressed into his middle. ‘What the hell do you want at this time of night? A man should damn well shoot you.’

‘We think we’ve found Ford,’ he told Wakefield. ‘Or someone who knows where he is.’

‘Who?’

‘The doc.’

Wakefield’s eyes flickered as he thought quickly, then he smiled. A cold, cruel smile that could only mean one thing.

‘Bring him to me. And his wife. We’ll find out what he knows.’

Mary Jones sat sobbing in the corner of the room with a trembling hand held to her bruised right cheek. Her husband was tied to a chair in the centre of the room, his face bloody, skin torn and eyes swollen shut. He was unconscious and his breathing was laboured.

‘What do you think?’ Jesse asked his boss. ‘He was a tough old bird. Do you think she told us the truth?’

Eli Jones had somehow remained silent throughout his interrogation. It was his wife who had eventually given them what they wanted after she’d been able to witness no more.

‘I guess we’ll find out,’ Wakefield said.

Jesse snapped his fingers as a thought popped into his head.

‘I just remembered. That place she told us about is the same one where Lem and the others were run off the other day.’

Wakefield nodded and rubbed at his bruised knuckles. ‘Makes sense. If he is there, bring them all in. We’ll have ourselves a hangin’ party. These damn people in this town are startin’ to forget their place.’

‘I’ll send Lem, Talbot, Miller and a couple of others out to bring them in,’ Jesse informed Wakefield.

Wakefield stared out the window at the sun as it poked its head over the distant mountains. He nodded. ‘Get it done.’

Ford sat in the bright morning sunshine cleaning the Winchester, enjoying the warmth flooding his body. Before the doc had left last night, he’d told him a couple of days and already he was chomping at the bit. Mentally, he worked on how best to bring down Wakefield and his gang of killers.

Inside his mind, he’d killed the vigilante many times over, but in reality, it wouldn’t be so easy.

The smell of freshly cooked bread suddenly wafted across the yard and made his stomach rumble. It was the second loaf Nora had cooked that morning while Galloway worked on a downed rail on the horse corral.

Inside the corral, the roan eyed the man carefully as he worked. Ford still couldn’t believe that the beast had let Galloway peacefully lead him from the barn where he’d been hidden.

‘Go figure,’ Ford said to no one in particular.

Ford had begun to reload the Winchester with .45-.75 caliber cartridges when he stopped and cocked an ear. He wasn’t sure what he’d heard at first and frowned. A distant rumbling.

He looked out across to the river to the mountains beyond half expecting to see a faint cloud of dust from a rock slide. But there was nothing except the rock walls of the tall peaks and the trees that climbed throughout the foothills.

And still, there was the sound of . . . hoof beats.

‘Damn it,’ Ford cursed and hurriedly stuffed the last of the cartridges into the rifle’s magazine.

As the drumming grew louder, Galloway turned to look at Ford. He shouted across the yard. ‘Riders comin’ in?’

‘That’s what I figure. Have you got a gun?’

‘It’s in the barn.’

‘You’d best get it,’ Ford shouted back. ‘I have a feelin’ that this ain’t a social visit.’

‘Maybe you should hide inside before they get here,’ Galloway suggested as he jogged into the barn.

‘Nope,’ Ford mumbled to himself as he worked the lever of the Winchester. ‘I’ve had enough of hidin’. Now it’s time to fight back.’