Diamond Buckow (21 page)

Diamond looked a minute and then said, “It's just Jake and Sean.”

But after a couple of seconds he said softly to the chestnut, “You may be right, old-timer. They ride like trouble.”

With that he set about getting his saddle on Bones. When the other two stopped at his back, he fastened the cinch and asked, “Problems?”

As Diamond turned, he saw that each had a very young calf across his saddle. Jake slid down, grim-faced, the two-day-old in his arms.

“ This here's what's left of our breeding herd.”

His boss stared. “What in hell ... ?”

“Gone, Diamond. All fifteen hundred head. Signs say they went west by southwest day afore yesterday with four riders pushin' 'em.”

Diamond watched Jake put his calf in the barn and come back to take the heavier one that Sean balanced in front of him. Finally one explosive word shot out of his mouth.

“Rustlers!”

Sean urged, “Climb your horse, Mr. Diamond. Let's go bring 'em home.”

The breed's tight voice snapped his boss back. “No. If they got a two-day start, we couldn't hope to catch up in just a few hours. We'd best make some plans. Sean, you get a sack of grub for two men. Enough for, say, four days.”

He turned tensely to his partner. “Jake, let's you and me pick out a couple of good horses apiece to lead. Going in the direction they chose, those rustlers must be meeting a buyer at some pre-arranged place in the mountains in Colorado. That should mean we got a little time.”

“Boss,” O'Malley broke in, “I want to go with you and Jake. You'll need me to help bring back the herd. And if they's a fight, three against four's a hell of a lot better'n two against four.”

Diamond held up his hand. “Sorry, Sean. That chance of a fight is exactly why you can't go. I was about your age when I acquired this here necklace brand.”

He tugged at his throat bandanna. “I don't want you involved in anything like that, no matter which end of the rope you're on.”

Sean turned away, swallowing an angry answer.

Diamond watched him as he added, “From now on, one of us will stay on the ranch all the time. If I'd hired help for that drive to Dodge, one of us could've been left here. Then this would never have happened.”

The trail of the stolen cattle was easy to follow. The two riders changed mounts once and continued on in the same direction they'd gone for a couple of hours after dark. When they stopped they hobbled all the horses but Bones, who was trained to stay put. Each man had a tin of coffee and a chunk of jerky before rolling in his blanket and sleeping in the open.

The stars had just begun to pale in the east when Bones left the other horses and walked into camp. He put his nose close to Diamond's beard and gave a blast. But it wasn't his owner who reacted. Jake came out of his bedding and up on one knee, his sixgun trained on the animal.

As Diamond began to sit up, Strickland cried, “Why the hell don't you teach that cayuse some manners?”

His partner grinned widely, but the top hand was not amused.

“Devil ever does that to me,” Jake mumbled, “I'd shoot the son of a bitch.”

Diamond began to chuckle, and Strickland finally managed a sheepish smile.

“Well, one thing's sure. With this old bonepile along, them rustlers'll never get up of a morning before we do.”

Good-natured now, he built a fire to heat the coffee while Diamond took Bones bareback to bring in the other mounts. They broke camp and moved out long before the sun peeked over the horizon.

Both men knew they'd chanced losing the trail by riding after dark last night, but this morning they saw their risk had paid off. By zigzagging, they found the trail still going a little south of west. Since they changed horses every two hours, they covered distance much faster than the rustlers could possibly move their cattle.

About mid-morning they found a small stream where the herd had been allowed to spread out and drink. Jake rode downstream. Diamond went up until he couldn't find any more cattle tracks in the bed. Then he crossed and headed back to meet Strickland opposite where they'd first come to the water.

They filled their canteens just up from where the horses drank.

Diamond asked, “See many tracks down where you went?”

“Yeah, one hell of a lot. You?”

“The same. You know, Jake, they got to be driving a lot more than our fifteen hundred head.”

Strickland got to his feet, wiping his chin. “I was thinkin' the self-same thing.”

As they both saddled fresh mounts he added, “What I don't savvy is where the rest came from. There's no ranches over this way where those jaspers could help themselves to cattle.”

“Right,” Diamond nodded, his jaws clenched.

“And another thing, partner.
When
did these new critters join up? Seems to me we should've seen where that many tracks fell in.”

“I don't know, Jake. But one thing you said is sure right. There's nowhere over here along the state line where they could've come from. So it must've been from further east.”

Strickland scratched his head, puzzled. “But if that's so, why didn't we notice how many we was following yesterday?”

“Only answer is that we must have passed the place they joined during the night,” Diamond said as they mounted.

They'd ridden a ways west when he added, “I've been thinking. If these owlhoots stole cattle between us and Dodge, they most likely had a meeting place set up with a buyer over in Colorado. They just might've happened along, saw us making up our herd, and went on by. Then, after we were gone toward Dodge, they slipped back to pick up our herd and take 'em along to catch up with the ones they already had.”

“Well, maybe,” Strickland conceded.

He frowned as he kicked his fresh mount into a lope. Two hours later they changed the saddles again. Jake picked up the thread of talk as if no time had passed.

“If it was the way you think, then another two or three riders would be holding the first herd from east of us while the four whose tracks I seen was catching up with ours.”

“Yeah. I was trying to remember something, Jake. I'm sure there were at least three different sets of horse tracks along that water. Can you recollect how many you saw on the downstream end?”

The top hand just looked at his partner, then swung up into the saddle. Diamond did the same, knowing Jake would turn over in his mind every step along that stream. He'd go back on it until he could tell something about every horse that had crossed downstream.

At the next changeover, Strickland again opened the conversation.

“Now I'm sure there
were
at least three different sets of horse tracks on the downstream side. That means we got not four men to go against, but six.”

Diamond nodded tersely, his own thoughts confirmed.

But by the next stop Diamond had a question. “Did you take note how fast they must've pushed these cattle ever since they watered 'em?”

“Sure. To my way of thinking, it fits in with your theory.”

“How so, Jake?”

The mount Strickland was saddling grunted as he rammed his knee into its belly and jerked the cinch tight.

“They mostlike wasted some precious time waiting for us to head toward Dodge. Then when they got 'em watered back at the stream, they started in to crowding 'em faster than cattle ought to be pushed.”

“Which means that their buyer is probably already waiting,” Diamond said as he leaped onto his horse.

“We'd best hurry if we aim to get them back before they're sold.”

They rode this time until twilight and another stream appeared. As before, the partners went in opposite directions, one upstream and the other down. While their animals watered they scouted around and then met to compare notes.

Jake spoke first, quietly. “See how fresh these tracks are?”

“I do for a fact. You know what that says, no fire or hot coffee tonight.”

Strickland sighed hard, accepting the inevitable. “Didn't expect any. But I wonder if we should camp here for the night, not go on 'til morning. Sure as hell don't want to get too close before we're ready. Fighting odds being what they are, we got to surprise them.”

Diamond looked again at the cattle tracks in the stream bed, then studied the darkening sky.

“No, Jake, we'll not camp here. We'll go a little further tonight. We've gained an awful lot on them, but we're not close enough to give ourselves away yet if we're careful.”

But now the pace he set was slower and more cautious. Neither man talked. Both kept their senses open to any sight or sound that might give away the presence of a large herd. At length they came upon the sign and all but failed to recognize it.

Diamond held up a hand in warning, and Strickland stopped close beside him.

In a whisper Diamond asked, “Jake, do you smell dust?”

The horses stood as if they knew the need for silence. After a lapse of only moments, the top hand answered.

“Yeah. Faint, but it's there. How long d'you suppose dust would linger? No breeze now, but there was right up 'til sundown.”

Before Diamond could reply, Jake's mare tossed her head back. Strickland felt her fill her lungs to whinny, and knew she must smell other horses. Quickly he reined her off to the side, dismounted, and clapped a hand over her muzzle.

Diamond also slid down, handing Jake the reins of his three horses.

He said, “Take these cayuses back aways and make camp. I'll scout on ahead.”

It took well over an hour for Diamond to find Jake and the horses. One minute Jake was alone in the still night. The next, his partner was beside him and talking.

“I followed that smell of dust a good ways but didn't find their camp. They must've pushed 'em a long while after dark.”

“You was gone a real spell. I was just figuring to come after you.”

Diamond considered it, then said, “I'm so hungry I could eat 'most anything.”

“Well, try this here so-called food the breed put up for us. If that don't kill your appetite, nothing will.”

Diamond glared and dug in, anyway. Strickland laughed and went back to the subject.

“You're right about the dust. If it hangs in the night air, them thieves pushed the critters long after dark. Any dust stirred up before sundown was blowed away.”

Diamond grunted. After he ate and washed it down with lukewarm water from his canteen, he asked, “You want the first watch or the late one?”

“Makes me no never-mind. If you want, I'll flip a coin.”

“No, don't bother. If you don't care, why, go on and get to sleep. I'll watch now and wake you up later.”

“Thanks, partner.” Jake smiled and went to get his blanket.

He was soon curled up and snoring. Diamond chose a spot in the shadow of a large rock where he could see Strickland's sleeping form and the hobbled horses. For the first time he had a quiet moment to ponder just what he'd do when he caught the rustlers.

He'd never gone into a fight with so much time on his hands to contemplate his future actions. He'd fought with his fists once or twice. Aside from the day he'd been hanged, the only time he'd ever faced a life or death struggle was when he'd killed Red Pierce—and
that
had burst on him so unexpectedly, he hadn't had time to think. He'd just reacted.

Suppose, Diamond questioned himself, that he and Jake came out on top? Suppose they captured some of the rustlers alive. Could he hang them? Damn, he knew all too well how it felt to sit your own horse with a noose around your neck.

Twice during his half of the night Diamond got to his feet and walked around to restore the circulation and stay awake. He lost track of the hours. Neither he nor Jake had a timepiece, so he had to guess at when to call his friend for the watch. When the stars told him it was well past midnight, he woke Strickland, rolled in his own blanket, and went immediately to sleep.

Something pointed was pressing against Diamond's ribs, moving in a circular pattern. Jake's baritone voice finally penetrated, and the sharp toe of his boot stopped nudging.

“If you don't wake up, that damned hoss of yours will be in camp to help you. And if he's as loud as he was yesterday, he'll announce our position to the whole state of Colorado.”

“HUH? ... Ohhh ... all right.” Diamond shook his head free of cobwebs and sat up.

The chestnut gelding had already started for him. But when Bones saw the man get to his feet, he stopped short and grazed.

Breakfast was a repeat of last night's supper. The ranch partners swallowed it down, not tasting a bite. Diamond and Strickland were both considering how today would be the day. Each wondered if it would be his last.

They didn't lead their own two spare mounts separately this morning. Jake led the four unsaddled horses, which he'd tied head to tail. Diamond rode on ahead just to make sure that if anybody was surprised, it was the rustlers.

Even so, they almost came up on the herd and gave themselves away. They'd been riding more than an hour, the sun three-quarters above the eastern horizon. Diamond went slowly over a low crest. A whole scene spread out before him: the large herd of cattle, five men getting them up off the bedding ground, a sixth securing cooking utensils onto a pack horse.

The blue roan Diamond had saddled that morning started to dance sideways as his head came up. His rider took no chance of having their arrival on the ridge announced. Quietly, he backed the animal out of sight.

Diamond ground-tied the blue well below the crest and worked his way up on foot to find out if he'd been seen. When he was satisfied he hadn't been, he went back to inform Jake he'd found their cattle.

“You got a plan?” was Strickland's only question.

“Not really. Let's just follow along out of sight today. Maybe we'11 see some way tonight when they bed down. I know we don't stand a chance if they see us before we hit 'em.”