CHAPTER 9
GET OUT OF DODGE!
Matt's hand flew to the butt of his gun, but he did not draw. Not yet. "Hold it, mister. He's a prisoner of the law. He's not getting away, and he'll get his trial."
Charlie fumed, brown spittle flying from his lips. "He killed my kin, Marshal! He has to die by my hand!"
"That's not going to happen," Matt said. "Get out of here, mister, before you do something you'll regret."
Mac and Dennis joined Charlie with their hands on their guns. "You think you can take us all, Marshal?" Mac asked.
Paladin stepped up, crouched like an animal, ready to spring. "He won't have to."
Josh Randall stepped in, as well. "I think this about evens the odds."
"Fellas," Rowdy said to the drovers. "Calm down. This is the law, here."
"Fuck the law!" Charlie yelled. "I'm the wild card!"
Rowdy gritted his teeth. "You listen here, Charlie Kelly. When Mr. Favor ain't around, I'm in charge. If you want to keep your job, you'd better stand down."
Mac and Dennis looked a bit doubtful, and their hands wandered from the butts of their guns. Charlie, however, ignored Rowdy and gave a war cry. Charlie's hand tightened on his gun, and he started drawing down, staring wildly at Other Zim as he did so.
Other Zim closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet that would end his life, and Zim felt his stomach drop as he prepared to be wiped out of existence, but then something odd happened. Matt lunged forward, much faster than a man his size should have been capable of, and thumped Charlie on the side of the head with his gun. Even Paladin, who was used to seeing the fastest people the world had to offer, was amazed by the speed the marshal used in buffaloing Charlie Kelly. The drover went down in a pile while his friends stared in awe.
"Good God!" Zim said. "That was awesome!"
Mac and Dennis knelt down next to their friend. Charlie was bleeding from a gash in his head, and his mouth and nose were wet with blood. He gurgled when he breathed, so everyone knew he was still alive.
"You could have killed him," Dennis said.
"He could have killed us," Matt said. "He's going to be all right. I've buffaloed my share of men over time, so I know when I've struck a killing blow. You folks got off lucky. Pick up your friend, and get out of Dodge. If I see you three around here again, I'll have you locked up."
"He needs a doctor," Dennis said.
"No, he just needs a good rest. Keep him off his feet for the next week, and he'll be ready to start riding and roping again. Now get out of here." Matt stepped aside so they would have a clear path to the door.
Mac and Dennis pulled Charlie to his feet and dragged him out the door. This task did not distract them from giving dirty looks to the marshal. As soon as they were gone, Rowdy stepped up to the group, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about them. They're troublemakers. Good drovers, but they start too many fights."
"You're the ramrod of the Gil Favor outfit?" Matt asked.
"That's right."
"I have a few questions for you, then. Ever hear of a gunfighter named Remington?"
Rowdy shook his head. "Can't say as I have. What's he got to do with us?"
"I hear tell he's riding with your outfit. Riding up here to kill Cris Zim. Does that name ring a bell?"
Rowdy nodded. "Yeah, that one's been kicked around the crew since Texas. Since those three hands were hired on. From what I can tell this Zim fella killed Charlie's cousin and her family. I don't think the other two are his friends, though they were hired on at the same time. I think they're more interested in the reward on Zim's head."
"Do you think Charlie Kelly is his real name?" Matt asked.
Rowdy laughed. "You know how it is on a trail drive. You hire a man, you don't really know anything about him, except what he tells you."
"What about the other two? What are their names?"
"Mac I just know as Mac. Dennis is Dennis Reynolds. Aside from that, I don't know a thing."
"Do you think one of them might be a gunfighter?"
Rowdy rubbed his chin, a grin on his face. "I doubt it. These guys are kind of on the slow side. We got a cook's louse, name of Mushy. He's about the dumbest thing I've ever met, yet somehow these three new fellas share maybe just enough brain cells to be as smart as Mushy."
"What about the rest of the crew?" Matt asked.
"We've been a tight knit group for quite some time. I'd trust these men with my life."
Matt nodded. "Did you hire on any other new men?"
"Just Mac, Dennis and Charlie," Rowdy said.
"All right. Later I'm going to head out to your camp and have a few words with your boss. Make sure to keep control of your men, all right?"
"Of course. We don't cause trouble, but I won't lie: trouble usually has a way of finding us. There is a problem, though."
"What's that?"
"We did come for that Zim fella," Rowdy said. "That's why we were waiting here. I didn't know what those other men had in mind, but after what I heard he did to that poor girl, I wanted to make sure he was behind bars, waiting for his hanging. When is that scheduled, if you don't mind me asking?"
"It's not. Yet. The trial's probably going to be in Houston, so you'll miss out on it."
"A lot of the crew isn't going to like that," Rowdy said. "In fact it might get 'em riled up. They came to see a murderer of women hang, and those three fellas might convince them to make it happen."
"You're the ramrod," Matt said. "Keep your men in line. If you can't do that, you're not welcome in Dodge."
Rowdy nervously scratched at his cheek. "All right. I'll tell Mr. Favor that you're coming."
As soon as Rowdy was gone, the group of men left in the office turned to look at each other, almost in a semi-circle. Matt said, "What do you make of this?"
"The ramrod seems pretty reasonable," Josh said. He popped a cigarette he'd pre-rolled that morning into the corner of his mouth. "In my experience that usually means the trail boss is a good man."
"What about Remington?" Matt asked. "Do you think one of those three men is him?"
"I'm almost certain of it," Paladin said. "Zim. Was the family down in Texas named Kelly?"
Other Zim shook his head. "The might have kin named Kelly, though."
"Then I don't think it's Charlie," Paladin said. "It has to be either Mac or Dennis."
"What if the rumor about Remington is wrong?" Zim asked. "Maybe this Remington dude doesn't even exist."
"Dude?" Chester asked. "You think he's a dude? Traveling with a herd of longhorns?"
Zim vaguely remembered that "dude" meant something different in the old days, but he wasn't sure what it meant. Rather than look like an idiot, which he was too good at doing, he cleared his throat. "It's just a figure of speech."
"Remington is very real," Josh said. "I've heard stories about him that'd curl your toes."
Paladin nodded. "He definitely exists. And I think either Mac or Dennis is playing dumb. Maybe both of them."
"They're in it for the money, remember?" Zim asked.
Josh perked up. "I just had me an idea. Who knows money best out of all of us?"
"Maverick," Matt said.
"I say we give him a stake, send him out to the herd and have him gamble with Mac and Dennis. He'll get the best read on them as possible. If one of them is really a cold-blooded killer, he'll figure it out."
"But if he tips his hand, he might get killed," Paladin said.
"So we hide in the shadows," Josh said. "We keep him covered. What do you think?"
Matt said, "It could work. But we'd be leaving the two Zims vulnerable."
"Let us take care of Maverick," Josh said. "You and Chester hang back and watch after them here in the jail, where they'd be safe."
"All right," Matt said. "We'll do this. Chester, put the Zims in separate cells. Josh, you get Maverick. I saw him go into the Longbranch. Paladin, you wait with Chester. I have to go out to see Gil Favor. While I'm doing that, Josh will ride out with Maverick. As soon as I come back, and it shouldn't be too long, you head out and meet up with Josh to watch over Maverick. Everyone know what they're doing?"
As soon as everyone agreed, they split up to perform their separate duties.
"Come on," Chester said to the Zims.
Zim followed Chester. "I really hate the Old West."
"What's so old about the West?" Chester asked.
Zim sighed as he ambled into his cell. Chester locked it and then locked Other Zim up. "If you need anything, just holler."
Zim dumped himself onto the bed and looked at Other Zim through the bars. "This sucks. Hard."
"I've been in jail before," Other Zim said. "This is one of the better ones." His eyes drifted up above Zim's head. "Look out!" And he dove for cover, pulling the cot down so he couldn't be seen.
Zim looked up to see the barrel of a gun pointing through the bars of the window. "Shit! I can't see the dirty looking one!" It was Dennis.
"Get the other one!" Mac shouted.
The gun moved down, trying to aim at Zim, who pressed himself up against the wall and drew his legs as close to his chest as he could. "I can't reach him! The gun won't go all the way through the bars!"
"Goddammit, Dennis! Try harder!"
There was an explosion, and Zim cringed as the bullet passed him by mere inches. It hit the floor and ricocheted into the back door of the jail.
"Did you get him?"
"No," Dennis said. "Missed."
Chester rushed into the jail with a shotgun in his hands. "Who's there?!" he shouted.
The gun twitched in Chester's direction. Zim said, "Oh fuck!" And Dennis fired three times.
