Chapter 15

"Well, boys, y'all did a great job on yer last assignment. That there were a nice letter that Col. Jordon put in y'all's permanent file in Austin. He told me that I should give y'all a little vacation to rest up after all the work y'all put in. But I know how y'all feel 'bout vacations, sos I got a job fer y'all, instead."

Capt. Johnson grinned as the smiles changed to frowns and back to smiles on the faces of Ezra and Sean. Both of them hated being idle; Ezra was just the loudest about it!

Capt. Johnson looked serious as he said, "This here assignment I got fer y'all is pretty much a standard cattle rustling case. The sheriff in Solo county's asked fer he'p in trackin' down a gang what's strippin cattle from some of the ranches and leavin' others alone. It just don't make sense! I want y'all to make a little trip over there to see what y'all kin see."

"Shore thin', Cap'n," Ezra replied. "OK ifen we leave tomorrow mornin' 'bout daylight? That's a two-day ride ifen we do it that way."

"That's fine with me. Dismissed!"

Ezra commented, "That's really crazy, robbin' one ranch and leavin' the next one alone. I wonder what the hell could be behind that?"

Sean answered, "I don't know, but there's got to be some reason fer it. Ya kin bet on that!"

They rode out the next morning with the sunrise and were at the sheriff's office before sundown the next day. "Evenin', Ray. Been a while. How ya been keepin' yerself?"

"Tolerable, just tolerable, Ezra. How 'bout y'all?"

"I'm doin' pretty well, but Sean, here's a little frisky," grinned Ezra.

Sean frowned at his friend, and then laughed. "Glad to see ya, Ray. How's the wife and kids?"

"Oh, they're doin' 'bout as good as ya could expect in this here cold weather."

"Yeah, it must be gittin' down toward 40 degrees on the worst nights. It takes a body a while to git used to that."

"Our cap'n said that ya was havin' a spot of trouble with rustlers. We're 'sposed to give ya a hand trackin' 'em down. Still need the he'p?" asked Ezra.

"Yeah, they hit the Jenkins place last night. I jus' got in from takin' a look. Same thin' as usual. They must of taken every steer they could find, an' some of 'em ain't worth dooley."

"I swear to Goshen! Now, why would they do that? Most rustlers got sense enough to take jus' the good stock and leave the culls behind."

"I can't figure why, 'less they wuz trying to drive Jenkins off his land. They done the same thin' to all the other ranches they hit, too."

"Wuz the ranches in a line, like a railroad might want to run a track?"

"Nope, the ranches are kind of scattered. It's shore got me confused!"

"Maybe we should take a look, tomorrow. Ezra's a right smart good tracker. He might see sumpthin' important."

"OK, meet me here tomorrow right after breakfast an' I'll take y'all out fer a look."

The two rangers got a room in the local hotel and had supper in the Hotel's restaurant. "I hope we solve this one quick, cuz this here restaurant's shore gonna ruin my stomach."

"I swear to Goshen, ya're right. This here coffee ain't any better. Let's find us a beer to kill the taste."

They went to the nearest of the town's four saloons and got a beer. Leaning back on the bar, they eyed the saloon's clientele. A grinning Sean said, "Don't none of 'em look like rustlers to me. What do ya think?"

"Nah, too tame."

"Ya shouldn't have said that, Ezra. Looks like some yahoo just slit open that jasper's belly. Back me up."

Sean put his beer down on the bar and walked over to the man wielding the knife. "Now, why don't ya put up that frog sticker and tell me why ya knifed that there poor cowboy."

"Who wants to know?"

"A Ranger wants to know. Now don't make me arrest ya ifen there's no need."

"That there bastard tried to pick my pocket! When I felt it, I didn't think. I jus' pulled my knife and sliced his gut."

"Anybody see it?"

"Yeah," a witness said. "Jess, here, wuz mindin' his own business when that there yahoo tried to steal his poke."

"Well, be sure to clean yer knife when ya put it up. Y'all have a good evenin'."

The miscreant was dead by now; Jess was an expert with his knife. Sean waved the swamper over to clean up the blood and shit and walked back to the bar.

"That there boy, Jess, is shore good with his knife. I'd want 'im on my side in a fight!"

Ezra nodded his head and the two friends finished their beers. They were both tired from their ride, so they went back to the hotel and to bed.

The next morning, as they were riding toward the Jenkins ranch, Ray said to Sean, "I heard there wuz a little dust up at the Silver Dollar last night. That Jess is a good boy, I'm glad he didn't give ya no trouble."

"Yeah, I liked him."

They completed their ride to the ranch and Ray knocked on the front door. A middle aged woman came to the door, "Good mornin', Sheriff Caulfield. What brings ya back so soon. Good news, I hope."

All three men tipped their hats.

"Good morning, Miz. Jenkins, I brought two Rangers to look at where yer cattle wuz rustled. This here's Sean Murphy and Ezra Woodpacker from the Laredo post. They're here to he'p me find the rustlers."

"Well, I hope they kin. Otherwise, we'll have to sell to that land company in Jefferson. Our taxes are comin' up pretty soon and we wuz countin' on the cattle to pay 'em."

"What land company is that, Miz. Jenkins," asked Sean.

"Why, it's the 'Jefferson Land Development Company.' They made us an offer a few days ago. It weren't what the place is worth, but it's better than nothin'."

"Well, I hope we kin he'p y'all, Miz. Jenkins."

"Thank ya, sheriff. Won't y'all come in fer some coffee."

"We'll be back later to take ya up on that there coffee offer, but we better look at those tracks afore sumpthin' happens to mess 'em up." The sheriff tipped his hat again and they walked back to their horses.

He commented, "The Jenkins are nice people. I hope that we kin cotch them rustlers."

They reached the site of the rustling and Ezra started casting around for sign. He rode back and forth for a while and then dismounted. Ezra squatted down and peered closely at some tracks. He studied them for a few minutes and stood up. Ezra waved the other two men over to him and remounted his horse. "There were seven rustlers and they spent a lot of time rounding up all the steers they could find. It looks to me like there wuz one of 'em with a hoss about to go lame. He has a bad split in his hoof an' it looks to me like he's about to throw a shoe. I think we oughta foller them an' see what we kin see."

They rode in the direction the rustlers had used when they drove off the cattle. Ezra had no trouble following the trail; that many steers made a big mess. After following for about an hour, Ezra found where the horse with the bad hoof went lame. It was apparent that the rider had mounted behind another rider and they walked away, leading the lame horse.

The rustlers continued like this for a few miles and then two horses, one of them lame, left the rest and headed toward some trees around a small river. The three lawmen followed toward the trees and came to a shack near the river. There was a shed nearby and a horse was loose in the associated corral.

They picketed their horses and made their way to the shack. When they got closer, they saw a thin streamer of smoke coming from the chimney. They had been moving in such a way that they could not be seen from the shack, so they were able to get all the way to the door without attracting attention. They all drew their pistols and the sheriff pushed the door partially open from the side.