Chapter 25

Walking to the bar it seemed every eye in the place was looking at me. I asked the bartender for a beer and was just leaning on the bar, ready to take my first sip to kill that taste of tequila when there was a rush of horses outside and gunshots.

I set another unfinished beer down on the bar and took the thongs off my Colts as I ran to the doors. I burst through the bat-wing doors and out onto the boardwalk in time to see two men riding into town like hell was on their tails. There was gun fire coming from behind them and I turned to see six indians chasing the two men right into town.

One man was holding something in one arm and as he passed in front of me, I drew my Colt and nailed the first indian behind him. The indian flew backwards off his pinto and bounced and twisted as he landed. The second indian took a shot at the riders and the sound of the bullet hitting the first riders body was a loud thud.

I quickly lifted my Colt and shot twice at the second indian after he passed me and hit him twice in the back. He fell off his horse and then all hell broke loose behind me as rifle and shotgun fire exploded in the night. Three more indians fell and flopped off their horses and the sixth indian wheeled away from the growing crowd on the boardwalk and took off between two buildings across the street and into the darkness beyond.

The two men rode to a stop and I took off running towards them. The first man to ride in, the one carrying the package slowly slumped in the saddle and rolled off, landing hard on his back trying to protect whatever he was carrying. The other man rode to him and yelled, “Walter!”

The man dismounted his horse and quickly knelt at the wounded man’s side. The man on the ground held his arms out and extended the package. The man took the package from the first man’s hands and as he did the man on the ground died. It seemed that he’d spent his last protecting whatever that was.

I leapt off the boardwalk and ran towards the two men yelling as I ran. “What the hell is going on? Who are you two and why are indians chasing you into a town?”

Just as I got to the two men, I heard an unbelievable sound. People had followed me off the boardwalk and as I heard that sound again, Melinda asked from behind me.

“Is that a baby I hear?”

She quickly snatched the package from the kneeling cowboy, looked down at it, and walked away. I looked at the kneeling man and said, “Who the hell are you and who were those indians?”

“My name is Rusty Fillmore. This is Walter Oats. Or it was. We were riding to catch up with our outfit. We got a little drunk last night and the boss told us we had better catch up with our cattle or we could keep riding. So we were tearing up a lot of ground to get here and we came across a wagon out on the prairie. We found a dead man and woman, scalped, and the wagon had been burned.

“Then Walter heard the baby and found it under the woman’s body. It was in sad shape so he wrapped it in a blanket and we started back to follow the herd when the indians came back. It was dusk, we could see the glow of the lights above a stand of trees, and we headed there. I let Walter take the lead and I rode behind him. I was riding low and shooting my rifle back at those redskins.

As we got closer to the lights we could tell it was a town. But the indians kept coming. I know hit a few and we figured that they’d back off when we got in sight of the town. But they kept on coming. Just as we got here, one of them got a shot into Walter. It looks like it hit him in the left side of his lung.

“How many more are there? Is there a chance more will come in and attack the town?” I asked urgently.

“I don’t know how many there were or how many are left.”

“OK, some of you men keep an eye on the edge of town in case more of them come. Does anyone recognize the tribe? They didn’t look like Kiowa from here.”

“Sorry Sheriff I don’t recognize the markings or the paint,” one of the older cowboys replied.

All of a sudden I heard the sound of a horse running from the other side of town and a few cowboys shouted out a warning that a horse was running in hard.

It had to be him.

It was.

Whistle came charging up the street and ran right up to me. He nickered few times and blew once before I stood to calm him. He let out a loud whinny and a few seconds later it was answered as five pintos came running from different directions around town and joined towards him. Whistle arched his neck and made himself look very important before he turned away from me and began to trot towards the livery stable.

All five of the indians pintos followed him. I shook my head and mumbled “Stupid horse”. I looked back at the people gathered around. They were looking at me like I had some say in what that horse did.

“Let’s get these bodies over to the undertaker. Rusty, what’s the name of your outfit?”

“It’s the Angle Eight.”
“Does anyone here know that outfit?”

“I do Sheriff,” a voice behind me answered. “I ride for them.”

I turned to see Wes standing there.

“Is what he says true?”

“Yeah. He and Walter are both hands on the Angle Eight. Both are usually good hands. They’ve been riding together for about four years.”

“OK. Rusty do you need to do anything for Walter right now?”

“No Sheriff. He had no family. I was his only real friend.”

“Well, to ride like he did and saving that baby speaks well of him as a man.”

“Yes sir.”

I looked at Rusty and the gathered crowd and said, “Why don’t y’all head into the saloon. Get with your outfit. Wes, would you get his horse and bring it here to the rail?”

“Sure.”

I looked around and everyone had gone back into the saloon or the Club and three men, armed with rifles, were gathered at the edge of town watching for any more visitors. I was thinking of walking to the livery and seeing what that horse of mine was up to but decided that he was going to do what he did regardless of me. I stepped up onto the boardwalk and stepped into the saloon.

I looked around and everything was calm. The piano player was playing a nice tune and a couple of the girls were dancing with their teats out. The card tables were busy but quiet. I went back to the bar and the bartender asked if I wanted a beer.

“Nope, seems every time I try to have a drink something goes crazy. I’m just gonna take a walk.”

I walked out of the bat-wing doors and turned towards the Club. I looked around as I walked a few feet to the entrance. Pushing open the tall bat-wing doors I was taken aback by a sight I’d never have guessed. The place was almost empty. I looked at Sid doing his normal washing glasses.

“Where’s everyone?”

“Everyone left after the indians attacked. Seems like the married men didn’t want to get caught in an indian battle in a whore house.”

“So where is Melinda?”

“Upstairs in Darlene’s room.”

“Darlene’s room?”

“Is everything OK?”

“Go see for yourself, Sheriff.”

Sid smiled that little smile he gets when he knows something really interesting. I turned towards the back of the Club and walked towards the stairs. Half way through the room I heard a noise behind me and I jumped and went for my gun. I saw that it was Wes and he had just run in and headed into the dining room, ignoring me.

I returned in the direction of the stairs and went up arriving at the top just in time to see Wes enter Darlene’s room. I moved down the hall and knocked on the door. It opened and I saw it was Melinda standing there. She had a funny look on her face and before I could do anything, she had me in a hug and was kissing me passionately.

When she finally relented and let go of me she pulled me into the room and closed the door. Melinda wrapped and arm around my waist and turned me to face a most amazing sight. Darlene had the baby to her breast and was nursing it. I was taken aback a little as I was seeing more of Darlene’s pearl white breast than I had when I thought we were a couple. The baby was working hard suckling. It must have been starving.