A/N: Again, thank you to all who've been following along. I do appreciate your reading.
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Brooker's order was simple but Matt was having a hard time carrying it out. As soon as he received the Judge's reply, Matt had claimed his horse and rode straight to the Granger ranch. But he couldn't find anyone there. At least, not the one he needed.
The housekeeper, a Mrs. Brooks, informed the Marshal that she didn't know where the men of the house were. They'd gotten up early and left without breakfast. She seemed more concerned with that than the fact that the Marshal was there to arrest one of them.
Matt asked the few ranch hands he was able to find, if they'd seen the Granger's but they either hadn't or weren't about to tell him. Matt suspected the latter. Deciding to waste no more time at the ranch, Matt mounted his horse and rode out, stopping just as he reached the gate. He'd been trying to think of where Dale Granger would have taken his son but he realized he was asking himself the wrong question.
Deciding to go with his gut, Matt headed north to the small village where the girl had died. He hoped he was wrong in what he was thinking, but he doubted it. When he got here, he heard a gunshot coming from the end of the small main street. Racing down the street, Matt yelled when he finally reined in. "Hold it!" He demanded.
Standing defiantly in the middle of the street, stood Dale, Rey and Tag Granger backed up by several of the Granger's ranch hands. Each of them, aside from Dale, held a rifle or a handgun.
Dale had Victor in his grasp. "Here's the Marshal." Dale yelled as he pulled on the farmer. "Now, you're going to tell the law the truth, old man." Dale was yelling. "You're going to tell him my boy didn't do anything to your daughter!"
"Let him go!" Matt roared as he practically jumped from his horse and grabbed Dale by the arm. "Let him go, I said."
Instantly, Dale's men pointed their guns at Matt. But Matt was undeterred as he wrestled Dale away from Victor and into his own grasp. "They shoot," Matt pulled Dale tightly against him, "and you'll be the first one they hit. Now, I don't know what you intended to accomplish here but guns won't help anything."
"I was just going to bring that man to you and force him to tell you the truth." Dale tried to pull out of Matt's grasp but wasn't successful. "He's lying about my boy."
"That'll be up to the law to decide." Matt told him. "Now you and your men need to go home."
"Not till he tells the truth." Dale stubbornly insisted. "We out number you, Matt. We're not going anywhere."
"Alright." Matt nodded. "Then tell them to go ahead and shoot. Like I said, you'll be first. Then who'll defend your boys? Your men will be guilty of your murder and mine. So they'll be alone. Can they handle that ranch now? Alone?" Matt could tell he was getting thru as Dale relaxed under his grip. "Tell em to back off, Dale. Tell them."
"Back off, boys." Dale growled finally. "Just back off."
The Granger cowhands lowered their weapons but they didn't lay them down. Rey and Tag didn't move, although it looked to Matt like Tag was ready to bolt at any moment. "Tell your boys to drop their guns." Matt ordered. "Nobody needs to get hurt here."
Dale Granger looked to his sons then his men and finally the villagers that had come out in defense of one of their own, rifles at the ready. Finally, he nodded. "Alright. Rey, Tag. Drop your guns. Men, it's ok. It's ok. Do as he says."
Matt held onto the rancher for a moment longer until their guns had indeed been dropped then let him go. "Victor, same goes for you all. Drop your guns."
As did the rancher, Victor looked around him, took stock of the situation and decided that for then, at least, it was best to relent and let the Marshal have his way. "Let them be." He told his friends. "It vill be fine. Let them be!"
It was obvious to Matt who the leader of this village was as each of the residents immediately lowered their weapons and took several steps back. Sensing that the peace would not hold for long, Matt quickly reached out and grabbed Rey by the arm; which elicited an outcry from Dale, Tag and the Granger cowboys.
"Now, wait a minute, Marshal!" Dale yelled. "You have an order from Judge…"
"I have another order from Judge Brooker." Matt told him. "He outranks Judge Hale in this jurisdiction and he told me to re-arrest Rey and take him back to jail."
"But you can't!" Tag suddenly found his voice. "He…"
"Let it go, Tag." Rey shook his head furiously at his brother. "Like I told you, Pa ain't gonna let anything happen. Just let it go."
Tag tore his eyes from the Marshal to his brother and although no words were expressed, a whole conversation took place. With a sigh, he wordlessly dropped his head.
"Come on, Rey." Matt pushed the boy towards his horse. "Get mounted." He turned around and looked at all the others still standing there, watching. "The rest of you, go home. Let the law deal with all this. Rey will get a fair trial and justice will be done. Now go on." He l0oked to Dale when his men didn't move. "Dale, please. Let the law handle this. You know I'm right."
"Go on back to the ranch, men." Dale grudgingly told his men. "I'll handle it."
"Boss, are you sure?" A middle-aged man with a gruff voice and exterior asked. "We can…"
"No, Huck." Granger shook his head at his foreman. "Just take the men on back to the ranch. Tag, you go with them."
"Pa, I…" Tag started but stopped when he saw his father's stern expression.
"Go home, Tag." Dale told his youngest. "Go home."
After seeing to it that Rey was mounted on his horse, Matt climbed aboard his own horse and looked down at Victor. "You'll be expected to testify. I'll let you know when."
Victor said nothing, merely stood stock still as the men from the Granger ranch rode out, followed by Dale, Rey and Matt. When they were finally out of sight, Victor looked to the men around him. "Trial or no trial, dat boy vill not get avay with hurting my Anya. He vill pay."
"I don't know." One of the men spoke up. "Dat boy's father is rich. Maybe he hire a big lawyer who gets him off."
"It vill not matter." Victor stared angrily at the dirt road where swirls of dust from the departing riders could still be seen. "Dat boy vill pay and he vill pay by my hand. Not dis law of de Marshal. He vill pay by MY HAND!"
TBC