The Reluctant Bride (36 page)

“I’ll be there. Now I’d better see about getting Miss Gallant something to eat before she faints from hunger.”

Tanzy didn’t like the look of the gathering the moment she stepped inside the saloon. The men appeared angry, impatient to find the man who was threatening their livelihood. The fact that Stocker was in the center of the most agitated part of the room added to her feeling of unease.

“I’m not sure coming here was a good idea,” she said to Russ.

“I would prefer to know what they’re saying about me.”

“You
know
what they’re saying. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know yet. Let’s see what happens.”

Tanzy didn’t like the saloon. It combined the worst attributes of establishments of its kind. It was too small for the number of people inside, the smoke and liquor fumes were so thick she could hardly breathe, and the noise level was so high she could hardly hear Russ. The tables were too close together, nothing appeared to have been cleaned recently, and no one was required to leave guns at the door. She wished Russ had chosen a table closer to the entrance.

In a few minutes Stocker called for quiet. Some of the men chose to stand at the bar. Some sat down but continued to mutter with their neighbors.

“You all know why we’re gathered here,” Stocker said, “so let’s get right to it.”

“I’d like to
get right to
the thief who’s stealing my cows,” one man said. “If it doesn’t stop soon, I’ll be broke.”

“How many have you lost?” Russ asked.

“I won’t know for sure until roundup,” the man said. “Maybe you can tell me.”

Russ ignored his implication. “Anybody else know how many cows they’ve lost?”

Several ranchers said they wouldn’t know until roundup, but they were sure they’d lost a lot.

“Nobody can say how many cows they’ve lost, so how do you know rustlers have been taking your cows?” Russ asked.

The room burst into shouts, with threats and accusations flying freely. No semblance of order returned until Stocker signaled for quiet.

“We don’t have to know the precise number to know we’ve been losing cows,” he said, addressing Russ. “We’ve seen the footprints leading away through gulches and canyons. We know they’re being taken, and we know who’s taking them.”

“Do you know where they’ve gone?” Russ asked before Stocker could make the accusation that was on the tip of his tongue.

“No, but you do,” one man shouted.

“I’ll lay odds they’re in your valley.”

Accusations flew fast and furious, but Russ remained calm. Gradually, as the men exhausted their litany of complaints, they quieted down.

“There are no stolen cows in my valley,” Russ said, his demeanor calm. “I’ve offered to let any delegation you choose come out so you can look for yourselves as long as you bring the colonel at the fort with you.”

“You accusing us of lying?”

“Are you accusing me?”

“You’re damned right!” several shouted.

“Where’s your proof? You’ve been accusing me of stealing your cows for weeks, but not one of you has ever produced even a shred of proof to back up the accusation.”

“We don’t have to see the coyote that steals in the night to recognize it’s a coyote,” Stocker said.

“But you have to see him to know
which
coyote it is.”

“Are you implying that one of us is doing the rustling?” one man asked.

“Any one of you would have as much to gain as I would.”

“We’re all honest men.”

“Can you prove that?”

For a moment the room lay in shocked silence. Then everyone started shouting at once. Tanzy was afraid some of his accusers might attack Russ with their fists, but he remained calm in the face of their fury.

“You know why you can’t prove it?” Russ asked when he could be heard. “You’ve been so certain I’m doing the rustling, you haven’t looked at your neighbor. Have any of you followed the trails?”

“They disappear.”

“You didn’t bother to look hard because you were sure I was the guilty one. Yet when I offered to let you come check my herds, no one took me up on it.”

“Don’t let him confuse you,” Stocker said. “He’s trying to set us against each other, make us suspect the fine, upstanding men who’re the backbone of this community. Who’re you going to listen to, your neighbors or a lying thief who murdered my brother in cold blood?”

Stacker had worked the men up to a frenzy, but Tanzy saw a sudden change in the temper of the room when he accused Russ of having murdered his brother.

“You can sit here talking all you want,” Stocker said, “going back and forth over ground that we’ve already covered, and you’ll end up right where we are now, losing cows to Russ Tibbolt. How do you think an ex-con came in here without a cent to his name and was able to stock a ranch?”

“I’d have told you if you’d asked,” Russ said. “I’d also have told you how to go about finding out who’s stealing your cattle.”

“How?” several men asked.

“First we need to establish as accurately as possible how many cows have been rustled. Then we have to study the trails to see where they go. If we can’t follow them, then we should hire someone who can. If one person or gang is responsible for all the rustling, the trails will probably join at some point. Then you’ll either find the cows or find where they’ve been taken. At the same time, we need to locate the most likely markets for stolen cattle. I think we should ask the colonel at Fort Lookout to help with this. He has many more trained men at his disposal than we do.”

It seemed for a moment that the men were giving Russ’s sensible suggestions serious consideration. Then Stocker spoke up.

“All that’s a waste of time when we know you’re doing the stealing,” he said. “All we have to do is force our way into that valley of yours. We’ll find the stolen cattle and more.”

“There’s never been a single cow in that valley that I didn’t pay for. My men will testify to that.”

“We’ve all had enough of your lies,” Stocker shouted. “We don’t believe anything you or your gang of ex-cons says. We’re a fine, upstanding community of decent citizens. Even if you weren’t stealing us blind, we wouldn’t want the likes of you or those men anywhere near us to lead our young men astray, to degrade our women, to—”

Tanzy couldn’t stand it any longer. She got to her feet and walked across the room to face Stocker. He was so shocked he stopped in mid-sentence.

“I have never heard such a lot of nonsense from a group of supposedly responsible, sensible, law-abiding men in my whole life. Russ has just given you a perfectly sensible way to go about trying to find the rustlers, but rather than do anything constructive, you prefer to sit around making accusations you can’t prove.”

“I don’t think it’s the best way,” Stocker said.

“Then propose an alternative, but do something instead of just talking.”

“I propose we raid his valley!” Stocker shouted.

Tanzy raised her voice so she could be heard over the murmurs of approval. “I don’t see why you feel the need to
raid
his valley,” she said. “I’ve twice heard him invite you to come look for yourselves. His only condition is that you bring the commander of Fort Lookout along with you.”

“That sounds mighty suspicious to me,” one man said.

“Would you want Russ and his men to be the only ones inspecting your herd to decide if you were doing the stealing?” Tanzy asked, turning to face the man before he could hide in the anonymity of the group.

“Hell, no. I wouldn’t trust him on the place.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s a thief.”

“Can you prove that?”

“I don’t have to. I know it.”

“I know you’re a fool. Can you prove you’re not?”

The man looked shocked. His shock turned to anger when he heard snickers around him.

“I was in the hotel when a group of you met to choose a delegation to go out to Russ’s ranch,” Tanzy said, “but you let Stocker talk you out of it.”

“There’s no point,” Stocker said. “He’d have hidden the cows by the time we got there.”

There’s no way to take cows out of that valley except through the pass,” Russ said. “You can send someone right now to watch it, and we can go out tomorrow. That way I won’t have time to warn my men to hide any stolen cows.”

“You’ve probably hidden them already. You just used those men you brought in as an excuse to make us go out there on a wild-goose chase.”

“I’ve often wondered why some of you are too cowardly to face what you know to be the truth, but I never thought you were stupid,” Tanzy said, shocking the entire room into silence. “Setting aside the fact that such a proposal is idiotic beyond belief, how could Russ possibly convince five men to attack his ranch and agree to let two of their number be killed and two more wounded? Why would you suppose Tardy Benton and I would agree to it? I’ve got a dozen tiny wounds on my face and neck from splintered glass when a bullet came through the window. It could easily have been my eyes. Why would I take such a chance on being blinded?”

“Because you’re in love with Russ Tibbolt.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Tanzy spun around to see Ethel Peters standing just inside the doorway. Her complexion was pale, her face taut, her body rigidly erect, but her eyes flashed fury. She advanced into the room. “Deny that if you will.”

It took Tanzy a moment to recover from the shock of such an accusation being flung at her in public. She’d never had any reason to believe Ethel disliked her, so Tanzy was unable to account for the sudden attack, the unexplained fury.

“Why would you say such a thing?” Tanzy asked.

“Because it’s true.”

“Even if it were, why do you say it like I’m guilty of some terrible crime? Why do you look as though you hate me?”

“You’ve made a fool of me,” Ethel said, coming closer. “You led me to believe you were a woman of character, of honor, of decency.”

“I made no such claim.”

Ethel was thrown off stride for a moment. “It’s only natural to assume a woman is honorable.”

“And what did I do to lose this
assumed
reputation?”

“You took up domicile at his ranch,” she said, pointing at Russ. “And you wouldn’t leave when I came to rescue you.”

“Do you have any evidence to prove I’ve done anything disreputable?”

“I don’t need any.”

“So you’re like this man over here. You believe it, therefore it’s true.”

Ethel clearly didn’t like the comparison. “Your behavior speaks for itself.”

“What in my behavior makes you think I’m in love with Russ?”

“Because you’re lying for him.”

“So you also believe, like this man over here, that even though you have no proof and have not attempted to gather any, you are entitled to accuse Russ of being a thief?”

Ethel was cornered. She refused to answer.

“So by your standards I don’t need to have any proof for the statement I’m about to make. I merely have to believe it’s true and it will be.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying you were in love with Russ Tibbolt. You tried to force him to marry you, and you’ve been furious at him ever since for having turned you down. But even though you don’t love him now, you’re determined he won’t marry anybody else. You urged me to leave town the day I arrived. When you couldn’t get me to leave Russ’s ranch, you decided to force me to leave by accusing me of lying because I’m in love with him.”

Ethel had turned ashen, her hands clamped rigidly at her sides. Tanzy didn’t know whether she would faint or attack in a wild frenzy.

“That is a hideous lie,” Ethel said. “You have no proof of anything you said.”

“I have just as much proof as you do that I’m in love with Russ.”

“I know you are! I can see it in your eyes.”

“Only a woman who loved Russ could see love for him in another woman’s eyes.”

“You’re a hussy. A strumpet.”

“If loving Russ could make me that bad, you’re worse. You’re trying to destroy him for the sole reason that he didn’t return your love.”

“I don’t love him. I never loved him.”

“That’s not what you wrote in your diary,” a new voice announced.

Tanzy looked around Ethel to see that Tardy had entered the saloon, but Ethel didn’t turn. Her eyes grew wider and she seemed about to dissolve.

“Richard Benton,” she said from between pressed lips, “you’re never to set foot in my house again.”

“I didn’t want to tell on you, Aunt Ethel, but I couldn’t let you lie about Miss Gallant. She’s the nicest person in the whole world. You know she’s not doing anything wrong because I sleep on the couch just outside her door every night.”

Ethel turned slowly. “As far as I’m concerned, you will sleep there for the rest of your life. And if you ever repeat a single word of what I may have written in my diary when I was a young and foolish girl, I will hunt you down and shoot you between the eyes.”