"You've slipped up big time, Jardine!" Carling barged into the private room of the Old Bull as unceremoniously as he had barged into Aycliffe's drawing room a little earlier.

"Slipped up?" Jardine raised one eyebrow quizzically. "One thing I can assure you of, Carling, is that I don't 'slip up'. What's given you an erroneous idea like that?"

"The fact that when I went to Foyle's bank to get the cash to pay our workers from the south, Foyle told me he couldn't give it to me. Seems Dennison's under age and the money can't be spent without his father's permission." The escalating rage showed on Carling's face.

"Mr Foyle has received the wrong information, then," Jardine responded. "Do you think I wouldn't check on something so obvious? Yes, Dennison is under age, but under the terms of his grandmother's will he has full access to and disposal of the money. What's happened to make Foyle think otherwise?"

"Lancer, this Scott Lancer that Aycliffe was talking about the other night," Carling growled. "He's a friend of Dennison's and he's told Foyle that if the money is released without the father's permission, the older Dennison will start prosecuting. Foyle's terrified and even if we tell him Lancer's wrong, I think he'd still be too scared to take the chance. And," he paused, his fury increasing, "…Foyle told Aycliffe about this two days ago and Aycliffe has never said a word to us."

"And why do you think that might be?" Jardine's voice was calm but the look he gave Carling was sharp.

"You remember he wanted to do a quick land deal with Lancer?" Carling asked. Jardine nodded and Carling went on. "Well, according to Foyle, Aycliffe's been negotiating with Lancer. Sounds to me like he's thinking about arranging that land deal, probably with a fast disappearing act afterwards."

"Have you spoken with Aycliffe? What does he say?" Jardine wanted to know.

"He says he's going to get cash off of Lancer to use instead of Dennison's money, but I don't trust him." The scowl on Carling's face deepened.

"I don't trust him either," Jardine commented, "but it seems to me we might as well let him go ahead. Whatever his intentions, if he manages to get the funds it will save us the bother of forcing Foyle to hand Dennison's money over – which we can still do, if by chance Aycliffe doesn't get the cash off Lancer. But I think he will."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Carling sharply.

"Because if Lancer has gone to so much trouble to undercut Dennison, then he must be almighty keen to get in on the deal himself," Jardine stated.

"But why? What is it he's after?" Carling queried.

Jardine shrugged. "Who knows? Most likely Aycliffe's right and the Lancers want to expand into Kansas, and this Scott Lancer thinks he's found an easy way of doing it. Doesn't matter," he went on as the angry expression came back onto Carling's face. "We'll get his money off him and give him just the same return we were planning to give Dennison." A touch of amusement had crept into Jardine's voice as he spoke the last words.

"Lancer may be harder to fob off than Dennison," Carling remarked. He wanted to see if the same solution occurred to Jardine as had to himself. It did.

"Your friends from down south could obviate the necessity of placating him, I'm sure." Jardine's voice still held amusement, albeit now a little steely.

A slow smile came onto Carling's face. "Oh, yes, provided we have the cash to pay them I'm sure they'll be happy to help."


"There's the Old Bull. What do we do, knock quietly on the back door?" Isham asked.

Johnny grinned. "Nope, no need for that. Our faces aren't famous in Abilene – not yet anyway. I say we walk in and get a drink."

"Might be the easiest way, at that," agreed Isham.

They found a spare table and ordered drinks.

Isham leaned back in his chair. "Now, we just have to keep an eye out for Mr Carling."

"Or the other two. Harkness was pretty good with his descriptions. I reckon we got a good chance of spottin' 'em." Johnny lifted his glass. "Here's to success!"

"Here's to gettin' paid!" responded Isham.

"That too!"

They drank, and waited.


In the back room, Jardine paced around. Carling had gone out to watch for his two experts.

Jardine was more worried than he had let on to Carling. More worried, by a long shot. He knew of Murdoch Lancer by reputation and he suspected that there was more to a relation of his turning up than just getting a foothold for the Lancer ranch in Abilene. Murdoch Lancer had founded a Cattlemen's Association in California, a do-good organization whose members all looked after not only one another's interests but also the interests of the small ranchers in their district. It would be just like a man of Murdoch Lancer's stamp, if somehow he heard what was in the wind, to send one of his family – son? nephew? didn't matter – to interfere.

He wondered how the Lancers might have heard about the plan of action here in Abilene. Through Dennison, perhaps? The younger Lancer seemed to know enough about Dennison to have frightened off Foyle. But who would have thought California cattlemen would have any acquaintance with a Boston society family?

Jardine scowled. He wasn't going to have the plan stopped now. He'd been working long enough on getting the Prohibitory Law passed and was sick of the delay. He wanted these nice profitable Texas cattle driven to Ellsworth, where he would have control. Before McCoy had set up this operation in Abilene, Jardine had done very well for himself diverting the herds on the trail to points where he and his fellows could get rid of the drovers and 'acquire' the cattle. McCoy had ruined that. Now was his chance to get back in the game and he didn't intend to lose it.

Lancer's interference would have to be stopped, and quickly. All very well to talk about Carling's gunhawks getting rid of him but that plan would be of no use if Lancer really was here to put a spoke in the wheel. No money from either Dennison or Lancer meant no gunhawks. Jardine's hand moved briefly to the gun he always carried hidden beneath his coat. Eliminating Scott Lancer, he decided, was something he had best see to himself.


"Mr Lancer?" a bleary-eyed Perry responded to Aycliffe's question. "He's staying at the Drovers' Cottage."

"Are you sure? When I asked for him at the desk, they'd never heard of him," Aycliffe almost snapped. Perry drew himself up in offended dignity at Aycliffe's tone.

"Of course I'm sure. You'll probably find him there now, if you want to see him. I doubt if he would have gone out yet – it is rather early for a gentleman to be up," he remarked pointedly.

"Hmph," responded Aycliffe. "Well, I'll try there again." He turned abruptly and walked off.

Perry looked after him. The cheek of the fellow! Almost implying that Perry didn't know what he was talking about. Well, he wasn't going to stand for that. Devilishly early as it was, Perry decided he would get dressed and go after Aycliffe. He could get breakfast at the hotel. It would be worth the trouble to have the satisfaction of watching Aycliffe when he found Garrett there. Or Lancer. Must be awkward for him being known by two different names out here, Perry thought as he went back into his room to dress. He was thankful he was a Dennison, with no uncomfortable connections to explain away.


Carling saw Madrid and his partner at the corner table. He joined them with a brief "Good morning." He would have to keep the talk off money for the moment, until he heard from Aycliffe.

"I hope you've decided to go ahead, gentlemen," he began.

"Well, now, we're thinkin' we need to know a little more about you," responded Isham.

Carling was taken aback. "What do you need to know?" he asked cautiously.

"What my partner means is that we'd like to talk to Mr Dennison and maybe anyone else who's working with you," Johnny told him. "In our line of work we have to be real careful; make sure we don't get tied up with the wrong people, you know."

Carling frowned. "Mr Dennison prefers that I act on his behalf in this matter," he stated. Lord above, the last thing he wanted was Dennison meeting the men at this stage.

"Oh, we won't take up too much of his time, just a 'howdy-do', that's all. And I suppose an important man like Mr Dennison has other people working for him. You don't mind if we get to meet them as well, do you?" Johnny watched Carling carefully. He wanted to get a sight of those other two, Aycliffe and Jardine, but he was curious about this Mr Dennison. Harkness hadn't mentioned him and the way Carling was pussy-footing, Johnny was starting to wonder if Mr Dennison really existed.

Carling grit his teeth in irritation. Still, at least they weren't demanding cash he didn't have yet. Perhaps he should get hold of Aycliffe, he was the slick talker. He should be able to convince a couple of gunhawks to get on with the job they were being paid for. And if Madrid and Isham were willing to sit around waiting to be introduced to people, well, that would buy a little more time to get some money together.

"Very well," he said. "Why don't you wait here and I'll bring my colleagues along in a moment. Order yourselves some more drinks – I'll have them put on Mr Dennison's account."

"Very nice of you. Thank 'ee," Isham said with a smart grin that made Carling feel uneasy. These two gunhawks seemed just a little too sure of themselves. He rose and went out of the saloon to try to intercept Aycliffe.

Isham turned to Johnny after Carling had left. "At least we're gettin' a few drinks courtesy of dear Mr Dennison. No harm in taking that much from the other side, I reckon."

Johnny was looking thoughtful. "There's something strange about dear Mr Dennison, Isham. Don't it strike you as odd that Harkness didn't say anything about him?"

"Maybe he just don't know about him," Isham shrugged. "Maybe we should tell him and get paid for takin' care of one more." His ready grin appeared again.

"I'm wondering if there really is a Mr Dennison or if Carling has just made him up to cover himself," Johnny said.

"Well, since we're not gonna work for Dennison or Carling anyway, it don't make no difference." Isham pointed out.

"You're right," Johnny laughed. "I guess I'm just curious, is all."

"Careful you don't get too curious for your own good one day," Isham returned.


Carling caught sight of Aycliffe coming down Cedar Street and called to him.

"What is it, Carling?" demanded Aycliffe. "I'm on my way to see Lancer."

"Come over to the Old Bull first. I need you to talk to the two men from Texas," Carling ordered.

"Your cattle experts? Why do you need me to talk to them?" Aycliffe asked.

"They're demanding to see Dennison. They want to meet the man who'll be paying them," Carling told him.

"Well, that's no matter," responded Aycliffe. "They'll have to wait until Dennison gets up, though."

"Don't be a fool, Aycliffe," snapped Carling. "What happens if Dennison starts chattering on about finding the perfect cattle for the darling ranchers? If these men realize he doesn't know what they're being hired to do, they're likely to think he might not pay them and leave."

"But he's not going to pay them," Aycliffe pointed out. "Why not just tell them their money is coming from somewhere else and leave Dennison out of it altogether. I don't know why you mentioned him to these men in the first place, come to that. It's you they're working for."

"I had my reasons," Carling told him shortly. "They think it's Dennison who's hiring them and I want it to stay that way. You come over and reassure them that everything's fine in your nice, convincing manner. Come up with some reason why Dennison's not available to speak to them. It'll only take a minute then you can get on with prising that cash out of Lancer."

Aycliffe didn't like what he was hearing. He wondered what Carling's 'reasons' were for exaggerating Dennison's role to these cattlemen. But he liked even less the look in Carling's eye as he gave Aycliffe his orders, so he turned his footsteps in the direction of the Old Bull and followed Carling into the saloon.

He was surprised when Carling led him to a table in the corner where a couple of young cowboys were sitting. He had been expecting impressive, and older, men but these looked like ordinary… his eyes dropped to their gun belts. Even sitting, it was apparent that those holsters were slung very low. And on second glance, these fellows didn't carry themselves like the average cowboy. They appeared more confident, more arrogant – and more wary.

"Gentlemen, this is my colleague, Mr Aycliffe," Carling introduced him. Aycliffe noticed he didn't give the men's names. Giving another quick glance at those guns, he decided it might be just as well not to know.

"How do you do?" he greeted them, careful to keep his voice steady. They nodded to him with a brief "Howdy" from both. Carling looked at him meaningly.

"I understand you would like to meet Mr Dennison," Aycliffe began.

"That's right," said one of the men, the darker of the two – Mexican, maybe, thought Aycliffe.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be delighted to meet with you a little later, but he is involved in some business discussion this morning. I can assure you, however, that he greatly appreciates the assistance you are giving us, especially considering the distance you have had to travel. Mr Carling has made sure you have everything you require, I hope?"

"Yeah," said the second of the two men, indicating the bottle on the table. "He's lookin' after us."

"Excellent, excellent. Now, if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I must be about a little further business. Mr Carling has all the details of the work Mr Dennison would like you to carry out. I am certain you will find all the arrangements satisfactory. Good day, so pleased to have met you." The two men simply nodded a farewell as Aycliffe took his leave of them and headed for the door of the saloon. Carling followed him outside.

"Good enough," remarked Carling. "That should keep them happy until later in the day, at least. By that time we may have some cash to give them – they'll find that more satisfying than meeting the boss, no matter what they say."

"In that case, you'd best let me get on with getting that cash for you," Aycliffe responded.

"And you'd better succeed in getting it. Where's Lancer?"

"At the hotel. And the sooner I get there, the sooner you'll be able to keep your friends happy. So if you'll excuse me …" Aycliffe nodded to Carling and walked off. He wanted to put some distance between himself and those two cattle experts who had turned out somewhat differently to what he had expected.

Carling watched Aycliffe head towards the Drovers' Cottage. He just hoped that Jardine was right and Lancer would be eager to hand over his money. And that Madrid and his partner had bought Aycliffe's story and were content to wait a little longer. He would go back to them now and make sure.

Carling re-entered the saloon then suddenly stopped. The two pistoleros were gone.