Petticoat Ranch (36 page)

The sheriff shrugged, plunked his hat back on his head, and threw his reins over the buckskin’s neck. “No man ever relaxes much in the West. It just ain’t a country that inspires relaxation.”

Clay had to admit that was true.

The sheriff mounted his horse. “We’re not giving up, Clay. I just thought it’d be neighborly to tell you what’s going on with the investigation.”

“ ’Preciate it, Josiah. While you’re investigating, you might remember that if Judd Mason killed Cliff two years ago and waited till now to kill the Meads, then he’s a planning man. He’s not a man who’s gonna give up easy.”

The sheriff looked unhappy with that obvious bit of truth. “Nothin’ worse than a patient outlaw.”

“Good luck.” Clay tugged on the brim of his hat.

“I wish I didn’t need it so bad.” Everett rode out of the yard.

Clay had been planning to go to the house, but he didn’t want to go in there and have Sophie start nagging him for details of what the sheriff had said. He was mad enough to tell her everything and not soften his words, even in front of the girls. Instead he spent another hour working around the ranch. By the time he was done with the grueling work, he’d settled down.

Clay didn’t like the fact that Mason had disappeared. They’d have to remain on guard. But the hard work of rounding up strays was over. He and the men would have more time to do just that.

It was time to start proving to his new wife that he was the best husband a woman ever had. Way better than Cliff. He thought she already believed that, but he wanted to make sure.

Smiling for the first time all day, he came in to supper, slung an arm around Sophie’s waist, and gave her a loud smack on the lips. “The cattle are settled in the summer pasture. Tomorrow I start working around the place, repairing and adding here and there. The men will be able to help, too. I hope you didn’t do all the man’s work yourself, Sophie darlin’. You did leave something for me, didn’t you?”

“Clay, you’re filthy.” Sophie slapped at Clay’s chest, but he could tell by her grin that she was pleased with his attention.

“It’s hard work and honest dirt, darlin’. Let me share a little with you.” Clay pulled her closer, but she jumped back, grabbed a ladle off the stove, and waved it threateningly at him, failing to suppress a smile.

The girls started giggling, and maybe for the first time, Clay didn’t mind it at all.

“Have you had a chance to inspect the traps I built, Clay? I don’t want you or any of the men to stumble on them and set them off by accident.”

“I haven’t gotten to your little surprises, darlin’. I’ll add it to my list of
things to do tomorrow.” Clay turned away from his wife to wash his face in the basin full of warm water she always had waiting for him. He sighed as he scrubbed his face and hands. He thought of the sheriff dipping his head into the cold tank. Many’s the time he’d done that himself, but he hadn’t considered it today, even though he was as dirty as the sheriff. He’d purely gotten a taste for warm water in a clean basin.

He marveled at the hundred ways a woman made a man’s life better. He dried his face on a towel. “If I’d’ve only known how nice havin’ a wife was, I’d’ve gotten married when I was twelve years old.”

“Well, I would have been ten at the time.” Sophie poked him smartly with the ladle. “You wouldn’t have married me.”

Clay grinned and lunged at her. She didn’t have a chance to get her ladle up. He hoisted her in his arms and swung her around in a circle. “Well, I’m glad I waited then.”

He set her down and held her steady until he was sure she wasn’t dizzy, then he turned on the girls, growled at them, and charged.

They squealed and ran, but they didn’t run out of the room. They just dashed around in circles, colliding with each other. Clay snagged Mandy first, and while he held her and tickled her with his whiskery face, Laura toddled up and latched on to his leg. Being careful not to shake her loose while he dragged her around after the others almost made it a fair fight.

He grabbed Beth when she danced too close, then, with his hands full, Sally jumped on his back. By the time they were done, Clay was flat on the kitchen floor, buried under three sets of petticoats and one soggy diaper.

He remembered his first impression when he’d regained consciousness in that awful shed, that he’d died and he was surrounded by angels. He hadn’t been far from wrong.

Judd Mason pulled up on his black mustang, then wrenched the reins
to turn the horse around. “We’re not shaking ’em. Whoever’s on our trail is a bloodhound.”

Eli rode up beside Judd. “It’s rangers, Mr. Mason. I worked up close enough to see their stars with my spyglass. They’re still a few hours behind us, but they’re reading the trail like it was the written word.”

Rangers! Judd had been smart enough in his life to fight shy of Texas Rangers. They were the toughest, most relentless lawmen the West had to offer.

“It’s time to cut our losses, Judd.” Harley reined in his horse to look back in the direction of the men hounding them. “The only way to leave a ranger behind is to leave Texas behind and not come back.”

“I’ve heard of ’em following someone clean across the country, chasin’ after ’em,” one of the gang said gloomily.

“We’re not quittin’,” Judd roared. “I’m not leaving this country without making McClellen sorry he ever tangled with me. And I’m not leaving that woman behind to live on a ranch that she stole clean out from under my feet.”

Harley rode up until his horse pressed against Judd’s mustang. “Let’s ride off a ways and talk this out, Judd,” he said under his breath. “There’s a few things the men don’t need to know.”

Judd wanted to refuse, but he wondered just what Harley knew that he didn’t want to talk about. With a terse nod of his head, Judd wheeled the mustang around, and the two of them rode off a fair piece.

Judd jerked on his horse’s reins viciously and turned to Harley. “This is far enough. Say your piece and let’s get back.”

“What’s this really about, Mason?” Harley asked calmly. “You know there’s no way you can take that land now. You’re a known outlaw in these parts.”

“That ain’t news, Harley,” Judd sneered.

“Then why hang around? You’ve got a lot of money in your saddle bags. You’ve got your whole share and the share of every member of this gang who has lit out. There’s nothing for us here ’cept a bullet or a noose.”

“I’m not leaving without paying McClellen back for taking my land.” The mustang reared up, fighting Judd’s hard hand. “I avenge a wrong done to me.”

“Judd, no wrong has been done to you.
You
killed Edwards.
You
killed the Meads.
You
plotted the murder of McClellen and his wife. You’ve handed out all the wrong in this mess. You don’t need to get revenge against McClellen. That’s just your pride talking, and pride won’t stop a bullet.”

Judd turned red in the face and his mule-headedness kicked in full bore. He shouted over his shoulder, “Men!”

The rest of the vigilantes rode into the clearing.

“Harley wants to cut and run.”

Eli rode his horse up beside Judd, showing his loyalty. One by one the men, most of them showing far less assurance than Eli, rode to Judd’s side, spreading out, mindful of Harley’s quick hand with a gun, until they’d formed a circle around Harley.

Judd knew Harley Shafter was nobody’s fool. He wasn’t about to challenge the whole gang. Harley kept his hands held loosely on his saddle horn. Judd knew it was so no one could make the mistake of thinking Harley was going for his gun.

“I see you all don’t share my view.” Harley watched them with cool eyes.

Seven tough men sat silently, waiting for a wrong move from Harley.

Harley kept his voice calm and his eyes flat. “If you’re all still in, I’m in.”

The moment strung itself out, until abruptly Judd relaxed. “I’m glad to hear you’re still with us, Harley.” His voice was ice cold when he spoke.

He turned to Eli, who’d been gone most of the last two days. “Did you take the horses and hide them out where I said?”

“They’re waitin’, boss”—Eli nodded—“right up top of Sawyer Canyon.”

“Okay, then it’s time for a little plan I have in mind that should settle things between me and the McClellens. Then”—he looked square at Harley—“
after
I’ve done for the McClellens, we’ll leave this lousy country and go find us some ranch land.”

Harley fell into line with Judd leading and Eli bringing up the rear.

“Ma, isn’t that one of the sheriff ’s deputies?” Beth came in from sweeping the front porch.

Sophie hurried to the door in time to see a man come charging into the ranch yard. “Yes, I recognize him from last Saturday.”

There was an urgency about the way the man rode that sent Sophie to the edge of the porch. The man ignored her. He galloped on past the house toward a pair of men herding the cattle. The deputy talked to the men, then rode off into a valley where Sophie knew there were more cattle.

“What do you reckon he wants, Ma?” Mandy tugged on Sophie’s skirt.

Sophie heard the fear in her daughter’s voice and regretted all the girls had been through. “I guess he just wants to talk to the men, not us.” Sophie hoped Mandy wouldn’t notice she hadn’t answered her question.

Sophie looked around the corral and barn. There’d been someone close-up all day, working on repairs she’d been itching to get at ever since they’d moved back. Having someone else do things for her was a luxury.

“I don’t see any of the men who’ve been guarding the house.” Sally came out and went down the porch steps, looking all around.

It struck Sophie as odd. Clay had been in and out of the house a dozen times. She’d made extra coffee because Luther, Buff, and Adam had stopped in to talk more than once. She’d also offered it to the hands and had a few takers, although they had their own pot brewing in the bunkhouse.

She’d even had Clay bring in several grouse for supper when she hadn’t thought to put hunting on her list. She hadn’t needed to leave the house all day, and at Clay’s insistence, she’d taken a nap after the midday meal, with Laura nestled at her side.

Sophie and the girls kept watching the direction the deputy had gone. After several tense moments, Clay came galloping back toward the ranch house with the deputy at his side. He swung down off his horse and strode toward the cabin.

“What is it, Clay?” Sophie expected the worst. All four girls edged up beside her to hear whatever Clay had to say.

“The sheriff has Mason cornered in the rocks a few miles south of here. The posse he has with him saw the whole gang ride into a box canyon.”

“That’s got to be Sawyer Canyon. It’s the only dead-end canyon in that direction.”

Clay nodded. “Sawyer Canyon. That’s the name Deputy MacNeal used. They chased them in there last night. The sheriff has the only way out blocked, but Mason and his men are undercover. The sheriff isn’t going to risk any lives staging some kind of assault. He’s planning to wait them out. He wants me to send as many hands as I can spare to spell his men.”

Sophie heaved a sigh of relief and hurled herself into Clay’s arms. “It’s over then. Finally. All but this last showdown.”

Clay held her tight. “Yes, it sounds like it’s finally over.”

Sophie squeezed her husband tight for a long second, then released him and stepped back. “Of course we need to send help. There—there won’t be any shooting will there?”

“The sheriff hopes to take the gang without anyone getting hurt,” Clay said soberly. “But Mason is facing a noose.”

“He won’t come out with his hands up.” Sophie tried to steady her nerves.

Clay pulled his leather gloves off his hands and tucked them behind his belt buckle. He brushed Sophie’s hair back with one hand. “We
won’t be reckless. We won’t trust him for a minute.”

“Do you have to go?” As soon as she said it she was ashamed. She covered her mouth quickly with one hand, wishing she could call back the words.

“Sophie, I can’t ask my men to go do something I’m not willing to do.”

“I know,” Sophie whispered. “I know. If you could, you wouldn’t be the man you are.”

Clay nodded. “I’m leaving six men behind to guard the ranch. That should be plenty. We’ll stay at the canyon for a while, then when the sheriff ’s posse is rested, we’ll come back to eat and sleep. It may be awhile. We don’t know what supplies Mason has. He could stay holed up for a long time.”