CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
“You couldn’t put a silver dollar on any part of me that doesn’t hurt,” Buttons Muldoon said to Luna Talbot.
“You need to rest up, driving man.” She handed him a cup of coffee and smiled. “You’re not as young as you were when you first rode onto my ranch with a coffin on the roof of your stage.”
“When was that? A hundred years ago?” Buttons said.
Luna nodded. “About that long.”
“I can’t rest up,” Buttons said. “I got to take Red to El Paso. Anybody checked on my team?”
“I did,” Arman Broussard said. “You’ve got four left. The Rathmores ate the other two.”
“Damn, I hope it wasn’t the leaders,” Buttons said. “I need that pair.”
Broussard shrugged. “I don’t know which pair they ate.”
“Damn them Rathmores,” Buttons said.
Red Ryan was covered with a blanket up to his chin. Buttons sat down beside him, groaning from the effort. “How are you feeling, old-timer?”
Red groaned. “I reckon I’d have to be dead three days before I felt better, and that’s a natural fact.”
“I’ll get you to a doctor,” Buttons said. “He’ll fix you right up.”
“I can ride shotgun to El Paso,” Red said.
“No you can’t. You’re as weak as a two-day-old kitten,” Buttons said. “You’ll set inside with the rich folks.”
“What rich folks?” Red said.
“I don’t know. But maybe we’ll pick up a few,” Buttons said. “You heard me tell what happened to Mace, huh?”
“I heard. My Greener came in handy.” Red said.
“Both barrels of it did,” Buttons said. “Shot a sight of daylight into him.”
“What about the woman he took with him?”
“She’s headed for Fort Worth.” Buttons didn’t think it would be a good idea to mention the gold.
“Hey, you!” Leah Leighton stomped toward Buttons leading her horse, her expression furious. “What happened to my Daisy?”
“Who’s Daisy?” Buttons said.
“My mare, that’s who. This mare. She’s been shot.”
“Shot? Where?” Buttons said.
Hands on her hips, Leah said, “You mean, you didn’t notice?”
Buttons sighed and rose to his feet. “I was kinda busy, lady. Let me see this wound.”
Leah turned the horse and pointed. “Look, right there on the flank. She’s scarred for life.”
“It’s dark. I can’t see anything,” Buttons said.
“Here, use this.” Luna held a lantern high. “Yes, I see it.”
“Where?” Buttons said. Then, “Hell, it’s only a scratch.”
“Only a scratch!” Leah said. “Look how upset she is. Daisy will never be the same again.”
“Leah, she’ll be fine,” Luna said. “When we get back to the ranch, a little iodine will heal her just fine.”
“And sting like crazy.” Leah glared at Buttons. “Mr. Muldoon, you may mistreat your own horses, but you’ll never mistreat Daisy again . . . because you’ll never ride her again. So there!”
“After this, I don’t reckon I want to ride her again,” Buttons said.
Red Ryan giggled, and Crystal Casey and Daphne Loveshade, now Dumont, his self-appointed nurses, scolded Buttons for getting his guard overexcited.
“Now we’ll never get him to sleep,” Crystal said, frowning.
Not a word of criticism was directed at Leah Leighton, who’d begun the fracas, and Buttons decided enough was enough. He fled into the darkness, found a place where the rock was softer, and lay down and went to sleep.
* * *
The womenfolk, with the exception of Leah Leighton, who was still annoyed about her wounded horse, insisted that Buttons Muldoon remain for a few days to regain his strength.
“And Red isn’t yet fit to travel,” Luna Talbot said. “He may have injuries that we can’t see.”
“You mean to his insides?” Buttons said.
“Yes. He took some powerful kicks to his body.”
Buttons reluctantly agreed and spent his time with his team, now reduced to four horses. Townes Pierce shot a deer, and that and what was left of the bacon and flour helped feed everyone reasonably well. Johnny Teague and his boys worked in the mine shaft, an increasingly dangerous undertaking since the roof was collapsing one beam at a time.
On the third day he had some bad news for Luna Talbot. “We cleared away the rock ahead of the gold vein.”
“And?” Luna said.
“It just plays out . . . and then nothing.”
“Does that mean there’s no more gold?”
“Seems like,” Teague said. “Unless there’s another vein somewhere that we don’t know about.”
“Any chance of that?” Luna said.
“I don’t know. But you could search these mountains for the rest of your life and never find one. Most prospectors never hit pay dirt.”
Luna sighed. “Well, I guess it was worth the effort.”
“Was it?” Teague said, one eyebrow lifting. “Was it worth the effort?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Luna said, “No, it wasn’t. That was silly of me. I only need to look at Red Ryan and know it wasn’t worth it.” She smiled. “There’s no gold, Mr. Teague, so what will you do now?”
“Me and the boys are heading up to El Paso,” Teague said.
“Will you go straight now? Stay on the side of the law?”
“No,” he said. “That just ain’t in our nature.”
Luna said, “If you ever need a place to hide out . . .”
Teague smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Then good luck . . . Johnny.”
“You too, rancher lady. Good luck.”