Chapter 1

The spread was large. The main house was surrounded by trees which shaded all of the windows from the sun in the summer and blocked most of the wind in the winter. It had taken a lot of years to establish the place. The owners had run cattle and horses. Not always their own but they figured that what they took was theirs until someone took it back.

The large hulk of a man was sitting at his dining room table looking at the seven empty chairs.

“They did what?” the grizzled old man retorted.

“Not them, him, just the one man. He killed them right there in the jail. With a shotgun. They was both locked in the cell.”

“And the others?”

“Jeremiah went out to get even with the man who was sheriff when Wes was killed, that was O’Dell. O’Dell brought him back tied to his saddle. After everything went down I found out that Rod went to take a piss that morning and got arrested. Clyde went to get Rod out. He had his pistol inside the door when the sheriff did something and the pistol dropped and went off. It caught Clyde in the leg and he got put in jail too.

“When Gus found out, him, Mark, Luke, and Matt went to the jail to break them out.”

“And where were you in all this, Zach?” the old man asked.

“I was just getting done with a whore at the saloon. I didn’t think nothing was gonna come of it so I stayed to finish and then was watching it all from the window. The whores don’t allow no guns up with them so I’d left my gun belt downstairs with Matt before I went up with the whore.”

“Go on,” Zach’s father, Josiah commanded.

“Gus and them rode to the jail and he called to the jail that he wanted Rod and Clyde released. O’Dell said no. One of the whores told us that this O’Dell fella had a wife that used to be one of the saloon whores so Gus tells him in the jail that he was gonna ride out to the O’Dell place and they were all gonna have at his whore wife and then take his son to make up for Wes being dead. O’Dell yelled from the jail that if he heard them riding out that he would shoot Rod and Clyde and then come after them. Gus said something to Matt and he got off his horse and walked around to the corner of the jail. Then Gus and them rode off.

“I heard two shotgun shots and Matt walked around to the side of the jail door. When O’Dell came out Matt shot at him but something happened and O’Dell slipped and fell so Matt missed him. O’Dell turned the shotgun he had on Matt and killed him. Then O’Dell come flying out of the jail, gets on this big grulla and he was off and gone.”

“And you went after him?”

“Yeah as soon as I got my pants on and went down to get my gun. By the time I got my rig together and followed the trail out to the O’Dell place, I came upon O’Dell riding back to town with three horses behind him and with Gus, Mark, and Luke tied over their saddles. He was being followed by a wagon. It was driven by a woman and she had two kids with her.”

“And you didn’t shoot them?”

“No sir. I figured that if O’Dell could take out everyone, that I didn’t stand much chance and so I figured it would be best for me to come home and tell you about what happened.”

“Get out of my sight for a while,” the old man growled.

Zach knew that voice and took off out the door and took off to the hills to hide out from his father for a week or two.

The old man looked at his son in disgust and then looked at the last of his boys and said, “Will, you go up north and get Radney and his boys. Leroy, you go South and get Geoffrey and his boys. Have them meet us here in two weeks. Tell them to come ready for a fight. We need to have a reckoning with them O’Dells.”

Josiah Sugar watched as his last two sons rode off to fetch the rest of the Sugar clan. He was still a little in shock to find out about his son and nephew’s deaths. Wes was driving cattle and on the way back he got into a fight in a saloon and got arrested. While he was in jail he got shot. When the trail boss had reported what happened to him, Josiah Sugar sent his sons and their cousins to find out what had happened and the seven of them had been killed by some guy named O’Dell.

First, he couldn’t believe that one man had been able to kill so many Sugars. Second, he was pissed to have his eldest and youngest killed. Third, he wanted vengeance on the O’Dells. When his last two sons returned with their cousins and uncles, he would declare war on the O’Dells and remove their name from existence.

“So, Dave tell us about the Sugars and why you’re involved.”

“Well, they settled in my town several years ago, after a cattle drive. Old man Sugar, Josiah by name, settled the family and have raising all sorts of hell ever since. I’ve tossed a few of them in jail over the years and their family don’t like it. Our judge gives them a fine for disturbing the peace and after they pay, I let them out.

“One time on their way out they stopped and one of them braced me. He drew first, I drew and shot him dead. The others took his body and left town swearing revenge.”

“And why do you think their fuss with you would come to me?”

“I shot one of them, you killed several of them and they aren’t the type to take that sitting down. I’m guessing that when they figure out that the O’Dell in my town is related to the O’Dell here that they are going to organize and come after you in force then come after me. So I thought that I would take a few weeks and ride over and warn you.”

“How did you know I was over here? I’m not really the sheriff. I act as one when the regular sheriff is out of town.”

“A fella came through town and told us about what happened with Wes and how the family had sent the boys to get things even. He told us about the battle and how the men had come to town went after a local rancher and how he single-handedly put them down. Then I found out that the outfit was the Sugars and then I found out that the rancher was a fella named Chris O’Dell. There’s not a lot of folks around this country with that name so I checked, figuring that we were cousins of some sort.”

“I hate to mess with your family line, Dave, but I don’t think we’re related. My people are all from around St. Louis way and settled in Boise.”

“That’s right. Your father’s last name was Marcos, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I said surprised by the fact that he knew that part of my past.

“And his mother, your grandmother, was Juanita Marcos?”

“Yes.”

“And she was in a different sort of a relationship with another woman?”

“How do you know all that?” I was getting very concerned and a little offended.

“I have friends in Colorado and Idaho, Chris, and they knew the original O’Dells that moved west from Nebraska. They told me about the daughter of one of the O’Dells, Michelle O’Dell, who was for all intents and purposes married to a woman named Juanita Marcos. They had a bakery in Boise.”

“That’s right, so far,” I admitted.

“Michelle was the daughter of Mick O’Dell, one of the original three brothers that moved out west together in 1863 after the War. After her mother and father were murdered, Paul and Opal Ann O’Dell took her in and raised her. Well, it turned out that she liked women more than men but managed to like a man well enough to have a baby. Her and her girlfriend Juanita Marcos gave the baby the last name Marcos.

“From what I can figure they didn’t want the shame of Michelle to be on the O’Dell name and Juanita Marcos family abandoned her when she admitted to being in love with Michelle. So with no love lost between Juanita and her family, they gave the baby the last name of Marcos to embarrass Juanita’s parents if they ever caused problems. That baby was your father, Michael Marcos.”

“My father told me the truth of my parentage when I was sixteen and I changed my last name back to O’Dell to honor my true roots. No one knows that story.”

“Well they won’t get it from me, but that does indeed make us part of the O’Dell clan. And that makes us both targets of the Sugars. Our families too. Now I don’t know about your wife, but my Belinda Sue will kill anything that is a threat to me or our family.”

“Yeah, my Elizabeth here is the same way. Matter of fact when Jeremiah Sugar came to the ranch to kill me, I was unarmed and Elizabeth shot him through the chest with a rifle from the house.”

“Good because the word I get is that they like to rape any women who disagree with them. My Belinda Sue is back home and armed to the teeth.”

“So what do you know about the way they attack?”

“Near as I can tell they charge in with all guns shooting and kill everything in the area. As long as they kill the person they are aiming to kill anyone else is just tough luck.

“Great.”

“Chris, what should we do?” Elizabeth asked after sitting quietly through the whole conversation. “Should we pack up and head to town or store up goods and hold up here?”

“If they’re gonna ride in shooting I’d rather us be here than in town where folks could get shot. In town we might could get folks to help and be able to shoot from the 2nd floor of the saloon. But we got the hill top here and it’ll do just as well. I think we’ll stay here. Dave and I will go to town in the morning and load up grub for a month or more.”

“I don’t know about that. The town might be better suited,” Dave supposed.

“Come with me Dave,” I said and led the way around the house. “These walls are solid logs about eight to ten inches thick. The house has no windows in the back so all we have to cover is the front and on the left side where the bedroom is. After Jeremiah came to brace me and when the brothers came for Elizabeth, I put solid steel backing on the window shutters. This place is pretty stout.”

“I guess so,” Dave declared. “So when do we head for town to stock up?”

“In the morning.”

“Well then, I’ll set up my things in the barn. You got a room for yourselves and for the kids and I don’t think there’s room in here.”

“Unless you want to sleep in bed with us,” Elizabeth asked.

“What?” Dave and I said at about the same time.

“Well, I mean he is family. I’d hate for him to be turned out.”

“Elizabeth, I’m a happily married man,” Dave explained. “Belinda Sue would skin me alive if I was to trifle with another woman. Kin or not.”

“Good,” Elizabeth returned looking very happy. “Dave I would never do anything like that. Chris may tell you on the trip to town but I was a whore when we met. He was what I’d been looking for all my life. I had to ask you so I’d know what sort of man you really were. Now that I know, I’ll trust you with my husband.”

We got up and Elizabeth made us a big breakfast and packed us some grub for the trip. Dave rode his roan and I drove the wagon with my grulla stallion tied to the back. He wasn’t real happy about being tied up and for a bit I thought that I would let him run for a while. When we were on the ranch, he’d come to a loud whistle, but I wasn’t sure that once he had his head that he wouldn’t head for the big, bad world and gather himself a new herd of fillies.

If I was riding the grulla it would take me four hours to reach town but in the wagon it took us the better part of a whole day. We stopped once for lunch and a long talk about the O’Dell family before we continued to town. In town, I drove right down the street and stopped in front of the store. Ed Fitzgerald came out when he saw me.