War Of The Mountain Man

“There is that much bad blood between them?” Smoke asked. “I knew they didn’t like each other....”

“Man, yeah!” Jim said. “He helped found this town—Joe, I mean. Him and Red don’t like each other at all.”

“Well, I’ll be!” came the shout. “Here’s that so-called preacher from up at Hell’s Creek. He had him a torch and was right in the middle of it all.”

“Dead?” Pete called.

“I’ll say. Plugged through and through.”

Smoke walked the littered street, looking at the dead and wounded. But Alex Bell, Ben Webster, Nelson Barrett, At Martin, Dave Poe, and Val Singer were not among them. That left a lot of very bad men still on the loose, but Smoke doubted that they would ever return to Barlow.

He walked to the hotel, kissed Sally and petted Lisa’s puppy Patches, then told his wife, “I’ll be back. I’m going after Red Malone.”

“I’ll go down and help with the wounded.”

“See you when I return.”

As Smoke was riding out, Jim said to Pete, “I wonder if hell bring Red in alive.”

Pete spat on the ground. “Not if Red tries to draw on him.”

26

Smoke rode easy, knowing there was no hurry. Red Malone was not about to run. But he wondered about Max. What would the big man do—that is, if he were still alive? Or had his renegades returned to Hell’s Creek after their failure in Barlow and killed him? And that was highly likely.

Smoke rode on, keeping Star in an easy canter, sometimes walking him. But the big horse loved to run and they ate up the distance. He was soon on Lightning range and, within minutes, facing three Lightning cowboys. One of them was wearing a bloody shirt, due to a bullet graze on his arm.

“The people of Barlow are signing warrants right now, boys. Best thing you can do is just ride and keep on riding. If you think Sal and his deputies won’t come out here to get you, you’re flat wrong.”

The cowboys looked at each other, then back at Smoke. One said, “You’ll let us ride?”

Smoke jerked a thumb. “Ride on.”

“I’ll tell you this much,” another said. “Red is alone. Except for that no-account daughter of his. But you won’t take him alive.”

“Thanks. But I’d hate to kill a man in front of his daughter.”

One of the cowboys laughed. “Smoke, that girl is as low and mean-spirited as her pa. She don’t give a popcorn poot for him. All she wants is the ranch. I believe she’d kill him herself if she got the chance.”

“Thanks. I hope I don’t see you boys again.”

They grinned. “You won’t!”

They rode out, taking trails that would skirt the town of Barlow.

When Smoke rode into the yard, Tessie was sitting on the porch. A shotgun lay on the porch floor. At the sight of him, she started bawling and squalling. As he drew closer, he could see that her dress was torn. She stopped crying long enough to expose more skin. Then she resumed her blubbering.

Smoke sat his saddle for a moment, staring at the young woman. “Where’s your father?” he asked when there was a break in the hollering.

“He’s dead!” she squalled. “In the house. He tried to attack me. He went crazy. I had to defend my honor!” She began a new round of wailing.

Smoke swung down from the saddle and walked up onto the porch. He really didn’t know what to expect; maybe a trap. He just didn’t know.

He opened the screen door and the smell of blood hit him hard. He walked through the house until he found Red, dead, sprawled in front of a safe in his study. The door was open, and greenbacks and small sacks of gold lay on the floor and in the safe.

Smoke grunted. Red Malone had been shot in the back at close range.

“Ohhh!” Tessie hollered from the front porch. “I’m shamed forever. My own father tried to as-sault me. Oh, the dishonor and disgrace of it all.” She started blubbering.

Smoke looked down at Red. “I hate to say it, Red, but even you probably deserved better kids than you had.”

He walked outside. Tessie honked her nose into a bandana and said, “What am I gonna do with this big ol’ranch? Why, I’m just a woman; I can’t handle men’s work.”

“I certainly don’t envy you, ma’am. Don’t you have anybody else left on the ranch?”

“Just the cook. She’s gone visitin’ friends for the day. I suppose I could get her to help me bury Pa. You think he’ll keep ’til late this afternoon?”

“I expect so, ma’am.” Smoke stepped into the saddle.

“Are you just gonna leave me here all alone with my poor dead father? I could sure use some comforting.” She batted her eyes at him. It was the most grotesque thing Smoke had ever seen—and he had seen some sights in his time.

“I’ll explain to the sheriff what happened,” Smoke said as he backed Star up. Damned if he was going to turn his back to this woman. “I’ll sure do that.”

When he had backed Star to the point where he was reasonably sure she could not hit him with the sawed-off, Smoke gave the big black his head. Star took off like the wind. The horse wasn’t real thrilled with Tessie, either.

When Smoke arrived back in town, he told Judge Garrison and Sal what he’d seen out at the Lightning spread. Neither man seemed very surprised.