Chick Bowdrie could not sleep. The ranch was quiet, but he knew better than anyone that they were coming. Who were they? That was a question Bowdrie still could not answer, but he knew they were bad men.
The letter has specifically mentioned the Talon ranch, which he was now staying at. He had informed the family, and had the Rangers investigating the case. But something was wrong. He had been at the Ranch for almost three days now, and he was itching to end the problem. He did not want to bother the Talons, but he had to find out what was going on.
He was still lying awake when something shook him. He turned to see Rip Cocker.
"Bit late ain't it Rip?" Bowdrie asked.
"Yeah, but I figured I'd wake you up. There's something you need to see. Be quiet and follow me."
Quietly, he got up and went with Cocker, knowing that by Rip's serious attitude that it must be important. Rip led him through the trees, until they reached an opening. Rip led him to a covered area, surrounded by shrub and brush, and Bowdrie was surprised to see Milo Talon crouching, his eyes staring at the open space between the trees below.
At the sound of footsteps, Milo turned to see him and Cocker approaching.
"What's going on Milo?" Bowdrie whispered in an extremely low voice.
"Got word that there was to be some sort of meetin' here tonight, and sure enough there's one, and some of my hands are a part of it."
They crouched low in the brush at the sound of horse's hooves. Then a whole passel of riders came into view, stopping at the opening.
"What was this meeting fur' Ruff?" one asked.
"I've gotten word that it's time to strike. Queen, Monson, and Dinsmore attacked the Curry ranch and failed. I don't want the same results!" A voice said.
Bowdrie knew the voice to be Charley Ruff, one of the men the letter had mentioned. Ruff was the deadly outlaw son of Frank Ruff, now deceased.
"Heard about it," another said, "Talk is that they were helped out by Chantry, and he had that Tyrel Sackett with him, you know, the Mora gunfighter."
"Who? Chantry?" Ruff exploded.
"Charley shut it! You'll alert someone!" That was Charley's brother Mort.
"It figures-foiled by a Chantry!" Charley muttered under his breath.
"Cool it," Mort said.
Charley muttered something, and then fell quiet. As he did, a new figure stepped to the center of the circle they had formed and took charge.
"Tomorrow, that's the day! I want everyone ready. I want it done quick and fast. As many of you know, we failed to get the legal document to take it easily, so will make for war! Dyerson, Rooney, Dutch, Longley, Hasley! All of you work for the ranch, so I want you to start out tomorrow as normal. When the sun sets, give the signal, and we'll take it all down. I want to keep the house intact if we can, but we can burn it out if need be."
"How are we gonna' pull it off? They had over twenty men up in the canyon, and they failed! And what of the ranger? Where there's one there's more!" Mort said.
"Men wise you should not worry. We got over forty five riders ready for this fight, not including our spies at the ranch. If we shut up that ranger quick, he can't get any info to anyone!"
"What of the town nearby? I heard they had a might snoopy marshal, and that's the last thing I want!" One of the riders said.
"That was the old Marshal. They got a new one and he's a friend of mind. He doesn't know what's going on, and he won't suspect nothing."
"It's settled," Charley said, "Tomorrow we attack!"
Quietly then the men began to leave, but the one who gave the orders stayed, talking to a dark figure. His voice was low, but Bowdrie strained his ears to hear it.
"Pool 'ol pack of fools. There's gonna be a fight here tomorrow, and plenty of them will go down."
"Are you sure this will work Len?" The dark figure asked.
"How could it fail? Were in perfect position to take it."
"You had better. The boss wants that ranch, and right now he's on the hot seat."
"So the rumors are true then? Is there really a betrayal going on?"
"Uh-huh, and it's going to bring trouble. Queen and Monson stand loyal, and I think the Ruffs do too. It's Freeman Dorset and Al Conway that I worry about. Those too are young and troublesome, and Burnside and Curtis stand with them. Roman Bolen is loyal for now, but it's Van Bokkelen that worries me. Nero Tatum is with Bolen, and the Dunn clan will stay with us." The figure said.
"What about Dinsmore?" Len asked.
"You never know with him. That man's half insane, and he'll do what he wants, so he must be watched."
Len signed, and looked at the sky.
"You think we can do it?" He asked.
"Take the Ranch? You sounded confident." The figure responded.
"No not that, I mean this whole thing. Does the boss really think he can rule the entire cattle empire in this area? This territory stretches into three, even four states, and that's not to mention Mexico. We've found men, but how long until this operation leaks out and we all find ourselves dead?"
"We'll get it done," The figure said.
"I hope so," Len said.
Together the men walked off, and Bowdrie stood silent with Milo and Cocker.
"What now?" Rip asked finally.
"We could take them on." Milo said hesitantly.
"They have over forty five men ready to attack us, and what do we have?" Bowdrie asked.
"Well, discounting those spies on our ranch, we have four hands who will stand, plus us, and whatever help we can muster." Milo said.
"We could send for some Rangers." Cocker suggested.
"They wouldn't get here on time." Bowdrie said.
"Then what do we do?" Milo asked.
Bowdrie was silent for a long time, then said, "Milo, would Em ever consider leaving the ranch?"
Milo signed deeply, then said, "She's do it screaming. Pa built that house and she would not give it up for the world. She might leave, but she'd rather fight."
"I don't think we can hold off that many of them, so I say we book it. Milo do you have a wagon?" Bowdrie asked.
"Yeah, but even if we can convince Em to leave, we'd never get everything ready in one night. Plus it would make the spies suspicious, and they could attack early."
"I think it's our only option, and I got a plan, but we have to convince Em to leave." Bowdrie said.
"Alright Bowdrie," Milo said hesitantly, "what's your plan?"
Quickly then, he laid out his plan to Cocker and Talon. Milo would round up the rest of the loyal hands, and together they would prepare a buckboard to leave. Molly and Em would be hidden in it, and when the spies asked what was happening, they would lie and say they were getting supplies in town.
Bowdrie and Cocker would stay at the ranch until they could escape without being seen, and then they would flee into the forest. They would take the trial to the next town, where the group would meet and head south, Bowdrie would send word to the rangers, and they would then find a way to retake the ranch.
"We wouldn't be able to get much into the buckboard." Milo said.
"I know. Just grab the important stuff and get away. We could try and take them on, but I think it's too risky."
"What if the spies get wind of our plan?" Cocker said.
"Try to fool 'em. If shooting ensures, then make sure that the rest of the outlaws don't find out. We have to get under here unnoticed."
Together the three men headed back to the ranch, all quiet and silent. They knew what was going to happen. They were practically giving the ranch to the outlaws, and this was far bigger then all of them. Em would not like it, as Reed Talon had spent his life working to build the beautiful ranch. Tonight, they would leave it behind, and soon they would have the outlaws after them.
When they came to the ranch they gathered Em, Molly, and the hands they could trust. Quietly they explained the situation and the plan. Em did not like it at all, refusing to leave her home. But Milo eventually convinced her, and the plan was set in action.
Quickly the hand packed the buckboard, filling it with food, a few personals, some cloths, and plenty of ammunition, and set out for the town. As they left, Bowdrie and Cocker noticed the spies getting suspicious, and watched as they walked over to them.
"Hey," one said, "Just what's going on here?"
"What are you so jumpy about friend? Milo sent of a few hands to get some supplies from town." Bowdrie said.
"That was a mighty packed wagon? What all was in their?" another said.
"I told em to load some rations and run an errand for me. There are some starving ranchers east of the Pecos. Rustlers robbed 'em and their living off of next to nothing. They are some old friends of ours, so we thought we'd send them some food to help."
"Where's Em? She's usually out and about at this time." The first one said.
"She and Molly are working on something in the house. They asked not to be disturbed for a while, and if Milo's leaving them alone then I'm ain't gonna bother them." Cocker said.
The hands were unconvinced, but seeing their argument was going nowhere, they simply walked away. Bowdrie and Cocker caught their eyes several times that morning, and every second they stayed they knew time was running out. They tries to slip away unnoticed, but the spies seemed to always be watching.
Then Bowdrie got an idea. Slipping away with Cocker, he palmed his six-shooter and marched into the middle of the forest by the ranch. When he was concealed by the trees, he fires point blank into the open air, knowing the sound would echo throughout the entire forest and reach the ranch.
Quietly they started their horses away. They were less than a mile away when they heard the spies show up. There was confusion among them, not knowing why the shot had been fires or where it came from. Still they pushed their horses, and Bowdrie noticed Cocker getting worried with every second.
"Bowdrie, were leaving behind plain tracks. They follow them and find us in no time."
Bowdrie reached into his bag, and took out some burlap bags.
"You ever see what burlap can do to a horses tracks Rip?" Bowdrie asked.
Rip was about to answer, then he gave a huge grin.
"Course I know. You tie 'em on the horses feet, and they leave behind no tracks. You can only use them for short periods of time though-soon the horse won't be able to walk in them."
"We aren't going far. Milo told me of an old trail only his family knows. Tie the sacks to the horse's feet. We'll circle a few times just to through them off further. Then we'll take the trail out here, and meet 'em in the town."
Quickly they strapped the burlap, and dusted off.
Two hours later, when The Ruffs rode down to the ranch with all their men, they found the place empty, except for the spies, who were mad clear through and had a story to tell.
"Tricked us they did," One said, "They loaded up a buckboard and said they were going to town. We had our suspicions, but we let them go. Bowdrie and that ranger then tricked us into going into the forest, and they dropped clean off the face of the earth!"
"What do you mean?" Len asked.
"I mean they tracks vanished. We followed the tracks until we reached a point, and then they just disappeared! Nothing was left."
Charley Ruff took all of this in, and stared bitterly at the ground. Why was nothing going right? Sure they had the ranch, but the people they wanted were gone, and now their operation might be exposed.
"Did they know about our meeting?" He said at last.
"I was gonna get to you on that," An outlaw said as he was running up to Ruff, "I searched the spot of our meeting last night and found tracks coming from a small grove where someone must have spied on our meeting. They were fresh tracks, made just last night."
Len took this all in gravely. Why was he in on this anyway? Bowdrie and Talon were gone, and with them they might find evidence to arrest and find him. He was risking his life here, and for what? Queen and Monson had failed, and now they had partially failed. They had the ranch, but with those men free they would now be under fire.
Len was a man who liked life and the thrill it brought, but he did not want to end up dead. There was betrayal and deceit going on in the operation, and the more the boss pushed for his prize the more enemies he made. Sure the boss was unsuspected now, but soon he would make enemies with the entire country, all to be the "King" of the cattle empire.
Why was he still here? Death awaited him, and he had no stomach to face the likes of Bowdrie or Talon with a gun. If one was to leave, the time was now. It was time to get out, get away, and be free. He could . . .
His thoughts were interrupted by the shouts of Charley Ruff.
"Alright boys, they got away, but we have the ranch. I have no idea where they are, but they must be found, so were splitting everyone up. I want eight men here on the ranch, and they rest of you to split up into parties and search the surrounding area.
"I want one group at the town, and another at that ridge five miles away. Another group can go and scout that ranch not too far from here, but be sure you don't get caught in the wrong ear. The rest of you scatter around this part of the country, and report if you find anything. Until we get word from the boss, were holding the ranch!"
Len stared at Charley Ruff, watching him give the order. Did Charley realize he was just a pawn? Did any of them realize? Sure the boss needed them now, but who's to say he'll just forget them later, or maybe have them killed to avoid connection. He had been told the reward would be great, but, looking at it now, he realized it was nothing a man could not achieve with a few honest years of good work, or a few lucky nights gambling in the saloons.
Whatever the case, he knew he was losing faith in the operation. It was too big to be pulled off, and many would die, just so one man could reap a huge prize. Several had died in Queen's raid, and he heard that Price, Porgin, Sorrel, and Mack had died. Bowdrie had killed Boval and Lenard, and Heater had been shot by a Sackett apparently. All those men gone, and how many more would be next? Who would be next? The Ruffs? Queen? Dinsmore? The Boss? Or . . . even him?