Brown sat next to the fire and rubbed his calloused hand across his jaw. Jed and Pip looked on. Brown's eyes reflected the fire which coincidently matched his mood. He was deeply angered at Erik Johnson and his men. But more-so he was angry at Matt Dillon. In his eyes he had no call for hitting him. In his foggy alcohol blurred mind he was set to seek some sort of revenge.
Jed and Pip continued to watch their boss and then Jed spoke, "If I were you, I would have it out with that marshal. He shouldn't have done that to you..." Jed chewed on a piece of beef jerky.
Brown's head quickly lifted and he peered into the night across from the fire looking at Jed. "Well, I just can't walk into Dodge and call him out. I need to provoke him again, and then I'll be ready to tan his hide - fair and square."
Jed and Pip nudged each other. They hated the marshal from the last time in Dodge when he locked them up for roughing up Burke because the freight office clerk couldn't keep his mouth shut about their boss. "I'd personally like to see that..." Jed sneered.
Brown's eyes narrowed on his lead cowhand. "You will..." Then he stood up and stretched his back. "You boys had better get some sleep tonight. The cattle association will be inspecting the beef tomorrow and I don't way you to look like a bunch of bums." Brown walked into the darkness toward his bed roll. Jed and Pip continued to chuckle at the prospect of their boss putting down the Dodge marshal.
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Across the way, Eric Johnson was slightly less angry with Matt, but more annoyed that Templeton Brown's outfit had arrived in Dodge first. That meant that the cattle association would be looking at his herd first. He hoped that Brown drove them hard and it showed, where as his men worked his cattle slowly and more carefully along the way. However, he could only blame himself for getting to Dodge the last - it was his decision to wait out the storm.
Johnson stood next to the chuckwagon which was basked in the glow of the fire. "Randy, you and your shift get out there to watch and sing to the herd."
"Sure thing boss." Randy nudged Ross and the two cowhands stood and placed their dishes next to the wash basin att he chuckwagon. Ross patted Moose, the chef on the shoulder and made a yum sound. Moose chuckled. The two cowboys then wove past the other cowboys to find the rest of the men for the midnight shift.
"Moose?" Johnson called for the cook and keeper of all things. "Give the men a good meal tomorrow. Might keep them preoccupied. I don't want all of them heading to Dodge at once, so if you could stager it in shifts..."
Moose nodded. "Seems we did that a few years ago. It worked." He returned to the dishes.
Johnson was satisfied with Moose's comment and retired for the night.