Chapter 2

Dave told us that it was an eight to ten day ride back to Boseville, his town. So us leaving in a hurry wouldn’t be necessary as long as he could get to the telegraph to warn Belinda Sue. He mounted my roan gelding and took off for town and the telegraph.

As soon as he rode off, I went to the stable to check on the grulla. He was down in his stall. I checked him to see that he was OK. He was. He lifted his head a little and I stroked his neck and spoke softly to him. I never thought about the relationships between horses. But it seemed that my grulla had a connection to his mares that I didn’t understand as he knew from afar that something was amiss. I left him lying there and made sure that if he got up again that he had feed and water within reach.

I left the stable and it tore my heart out to see the dead mares. I knew that several of them were pregnant. The anger that rose in me was such that I knew only one thing would calm it. Back in the house I found Elizabeth sitting at the table holding Hanna and John’s blankets. When I came in she tried to quickly dry her eyes and put on a calm face.

“Elizabeth, go ahead and let it out. It will make it easier to handle when we have to face the Sweets.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said trying to hold back a sob.

“No you won’t. If you don’t get it out of your system when the time comes to face them, you’ll get emotional and do something to hurt yourself, or the kids, or me. Now come here and let it out. Dave is going to town and we need to be ready when he returns. It’s going to be about a week and a half or so before we can get the kids back and put an end to the Sweets.”

“We are going to get them back. We are.”

She buried her face in my chest and let out all the pent up anguish for her children she’d been holding in.

Sheriff Dave O’Dell rode into town and went straight to the post office where his cousin Chris had told him the telegraph was located. After tying up the roan, he walked in and was greeted by Ed Fitzgerald, the shopkeeper.

“Howdy, Sheriff.”

“Hello. Chris told me that this is the telegraph office too. I need to send a message to Boseville, TX. Can we get it out today?”

“Yeah. It should route through and get delivered tomorrow.”

“Good enough.”

“Just write it on this form and I’ll get to it.”

Dave took the form and thought how to get the message out and convey the severity of it in the limit of words he had. He formed his thoughts and took pencil to paper.

“Bobby Davis. Danger. Sweets stole two babies and raped the wife of Chris O’Dell. O’Dells going to war. Get ready. Warn Belinda Sue. Sheriff Dave O’Dell”

“Here you go.”

Ed Fitzgerald read the message and then looked back at Dave.

“Is this for real?”

“It is. The Sweets raped Elizabeth O’Dell and took her two children.”

“Is Chris OK?”

“He’s pissed. He, Elizabeth, and I are going after them.”

“Then you can start with me,” a voice from behind Dave said.

Dave turned and looked at a familiar face.

“Hello Levi,” Dave said.

Levi Sweet was the oldest son of Radney Sweet and he was just inside the store’s front door. Levi took a second to think.

“What are you doing here, Dave?”

“I’m an O’Dell, Levi, and your kin raped my cousin’s wife and took his son and daughter. You declared war and I’m here to help fight it.”

Hearing those words, Levi went for his gun but Dave drew faster and put a bullet just above Levi’s belt buckle and then put another one lower. If Levi lived he would forever have trouble taking a piss and would never have children. But that was no problem because he fell backwards out the door he’d just came in and fell flat on his back clutching his hands to his groin and belly.

Dave walked out the door and looked down at the dying man. Remembering the words of his grandfather he looked down at Levi Sweet and said, “You don’t trifle with the O’Dells.”

Then he put a bullet in Levi’s head and looked back inside.

“Please send that message as soon as you can!”

“Will do,” Ed Fitzgerald replied.

The gun shots had drawn a crowd and among them were Clay and Brody Sweet. The two men looked down. One at his brother and the other at his cousin.

Dave had just stepped outside the store and saw the two men and turned to face them. The crowd immediately knew what was coming and scattered.

“Clay, Brody. Get out of town now or die.”

“Die? From you?”

“Yes from me. You declared war on the O’Dells and I’m one of them. Face me or run you rapist child thieves.”

The men went for their guns and Dave drew. He put two into Brody, who was the bigger target, then felt a bullet spit past his head and then a burn. He fired at Clay and put one in his forearm. Pulling the trigger again, he found he was empty. Clay smirked, knowing his enemy was helpless. He saw the blood flowing from the side of Dave’s head and moved closer to gloat and be sure of his shot.

“So you’re gonna fight a war against the Sweets? Gonna be hard with a bullet in your head.”

Dave O’Dell reached up to touch the wound on the side of this head and then reach past it and behind him. He pulled out the Arkansas Toothpick he always carried in a scabbard strapped to his back. With the last of his strength he launched himself at Clay Sweet, grabbing his gun hand and driving the knife up into the top of his stomach, just below where his ribs met and then he turned it up and drove the needle sharp tip into Clay Sweet’s heart. The man’s eye opened wide and he screamed as he sank to his knees, falling forward, causing the knife to drive in even further.

In a daze, Dave rolled Cody Sweet’s body over and pulled the knife out. He struggled back to his horse. Mounting the roan, he took off out of town, not knowing how many more Sweets were there and knowing he was in no shape right then to fight them. He spurred the roan and it took off past the edge of town.

Dave O’Dell had no idea how long he’d ridden before he stopped but the roan was breathing hard. Dave pulled his canteen loose from the side of the saddle and poured some water into his mouth before he poured some into his hand and wiped the side of his head where the burning sting was still strong. His hand came back soaked in blood and the sting got sharper as the water got into the injury.

He was feeling more lucid, so he poured some water in his hat and let the roan drink a bit, then returned the canteen to its place on the saddle and gently urge the roan on.

“Go home, boy.”

We heard the approaching sound of a horse in a hurry and we both took up one of the rifles we kept at the windows. Looking out the windows we saw Dave O’Dell galloping up to the gate on our roan. He barely opened the gate and once inside rode straight to the house without closing it. He didn’t look steady in the saddle. Something was wrong.

The gelding trotted to the house and Dave was off the roan before the horse stopped. He fell against the door and when I opened it he fell to the floor. There was blood all over his shirt and the side of his head. Elizabeth went to him and dragged him inside and I closed the door checking his back trail.

“Dave, what happened?” Elizabeth asked him quietly as she gently turned his head and looked over his shirt for wounds.

“Sweets in town,” Dave O’Dell gasped.

“Did they have my babies!?” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“No. Different men. They were looking for Chris.”

“Are they coming here?” I asked.

“No. They’re being put in boxes. I got the three of them.”

“How is he?” I asked my wife.

“He has a burn across the side of his head. But no holes that I can see.”

“I didn’t duck fast enough,” he said and passed out.

“Bobby, I got a telegraph for you,” the boy said to the deputy sheriff in Boseville a couple of days later.

“For me?”

“Yes sir.”

Bobby Davis took the small paper and opened it. As he read the words a chill ran up his spine. He knew the Sweets and he knew his sheriff. If Dave was sending a warning and the Sweets and he were involved it was going to get bad. He immediately sent word to Belinda Sue O’Dell that the Sweets and O’Dells were going to war and she should get ready.

He set out to make sure that all the weapons in the jail were cleaned and fully loaded. He brought in a supply of coffee and grub for the jail in case it became a refuge under siege. All of his activity caught the eye of several citizens.

“What in tarnation are you doing, Bobby?”

“I just got word that the Sweets and O’Dells are at war. They took two children from an O’Dell up north and raped his wife. They’re coming for the children.”

“Any idea where they’ll get together?”

“If the Sweets stole the kids, I assume that they will head to the ranch. But since Dave lives here in Boseville, it might spread to town.”

“And after so many years of peace.”

“We took his two kids and brought them home to make up for losing my brothers.”

“And you killed O’Dell?” she asked.

“No. But me and the boys had some fun with his wife before we took the kids.”

“You raped his wife and took his kids and left him alive?” the older woman was getting angry.

“He wasn’t at the ranch. So we each took his wife and each of us killed one of his six mares. I thought we left a good message.”

“You fool. If he’s anything like the O’Dell in Boseville, you’ve just started a war. We need to find out how many O’Dells are his kin and will come to help him,” now Ruth Sweet, matriarch of the family, and wife of Josiah was angry.

“We left Levi, Clay, and Brody back there to take care of him. They’ll deal with Chris O’Dell and get a piece of his wife for themselves before they kill them both.”

Josiah Sweet looked at his last son and his nephews. A sudden chill ran through him. He had a very bad feeling about this whole thing. His family had already lost all but one of his sons and his two brothers had lost at least two sons each.

“Pa,” his young daughter said from behind him. “Supper’s almost ready come on to the table.”

“Alright, Becky,” Josiah said before turning back to his son. “Zach, you better get ready for a fight. I got a feeling that we’re gonna be seeing the O’Dells sooner than later.”

“Yes, sir.”

Zach Sweet, back in his father’s good graces, turned and left but as he walked out of the house, it occurred to him that if things didn’t go well, he could be the last of the Sweets. He started thinking about the meaning of that. He would inherit everything. He’d be the cock of the walk.

If he lived.

With Elizabeth keeping good care of him, Dave O’Dell was ready to go rescue the kids two days after being wounded. He still had a little bit of a headache but he was no longer feeling like puking his guts out whenever he stood up. That morning he was outside getting his coordination back as he practiced drawing his pistol over and over.

He’d even helped to drag the dead mares out to a remote portion of the ranch that afternoon. There were plenty of animals that would take care of the carcasses. He thought about letting some of the local Indians have them but they were dead too long to be considered fresh meat.

After dinner, Dave and I were sitting on the porch and talking about ... things.

“Chris, have you notice your stallion acting different?”

“Yeah, he’s gotten really aggressive,” I answered. Then after a few seconds of thought, I added, “I think he wants at those bastards as badly as Elizabeth.”