Chapter 6

The spaghetti was a hit with the entire crew at the supper table. We didn't have enough to satisfy everybody, but everybody still got a good sized helping. We filled everybody up with regular food, but they all wanted to know when I was gong back to Johnson.

After supper, I told Jane and Juan what I had done in Johnson about trying to find the mysterious dandy and they agreed that we would have to come up with a better description. In the meantime, we'd just have to keep our eyes open and our guns ready.

We discussed the problem of what to do with Joe White and Jack Hadley. We agreed that we would keep Joe in the bunkhouse and continue to treat him well while his bones healed. Juan said that he would try to find some way to hire Joe when he was cured, but it might be a make-work job. Jane and I agreed to do it anyway and give the kid a chance.

We just didn't know what to do about Hadley. Jane and I hated to just turn him loose on the world after he was cured, but we couldn't bring ourselves to kill him in cold blood. There had to be a solution; we'd just wait for it to show up.

We talked about other facets of ranch business for a while and then Juan left for bed. Jane and I held hands and talked for a while and she eventually came over to sit beside me on the sofa. We progressed to kissing and holding each other until she grasped my hand and put it firmly and unequivocally on her breast. I was startled, but I did keep my senses about me and didn't panic! I did what any man in his right mind would have done, I massaged and kneaded her breast, gently at first and then more firmly as she began to moan.

I could feel her hard nipple under her dress as she pushed her breast harder into my hand. I took my other arm from around her shoulder blades and began to knead the other breast. We were still kissing and she moaned into my mouth as I began to twist her nipples between my fingers and thumb. This was starting to go too far, so I pushed her gently back away from me and broke our kiss. "Jane, are ya absolutely sure ya know what ya are doin'? This is goin' too far ifen we don't back off pretty soon."

"What makes ya think that I want ta back off?"

I took that as a yes, so I resumed the kiss. I was only able to last a few more minutes before I bowed to the inevitable. I picked Jane up in my arms and carried her to her bedroom and lay her on the bed. I went to close the door and turned back to her. She was already unbuttoning her dress. I said, "Let me do that, ifen you please."

The next morning, I may not have gotten to my own room before the other women were about the house, but no one ever let on that she had seen me. Jane was her usual self, as if nothing unusual had happened the previous night. I would have wondered if I had just dreamed the whole wonderful occasion if she had not gently squeezed my hand at every opportunity that next day.

The next few days slipped into a wonderful routine for me. I spent most of my time during the day with activities around the ranch and most of my time at night in Jane's bedroom. The wedding had become a mere formality as far as I was concerned, but the women were all still fluttering around getting ready for the big occasion.

It finally became obvious to me that my "secret" meetings with Jane were no secret to anybody. My fifth day and night of bliss were interrupted when there was a pounding on Jane's bedroom door and a woman shouting, "SENOR BILL! SENOR BILL! COME QUICK! THERE ARE RUSTLERS AT LARGE!"

I jerked on my pants and ran to the door. The housekeeper was frantic! A man had ridden in to get Juan and me to come to the south range. My horse was being saddled and all I had to do was put on my clothes. I finished dressing and rushed out to meet Juan at the corral. We mounted and rode as fast as we could toward the south range.

We weren't too late! We heard shooting as we approached and we could see a lot of cattle milling around in the light of the full moon. Our men had formed a protective ring around the cattle and were shooting at riders as they swept around the cattle. As soon as we got in range, Juan drew his rifle and began shooting at the riders from horseback. I knew that it was virtually impossible to aim accurately under those conditions, so I drew my shotgun and rode closer.

When I was close enough, about 30 yards, I turned to ride against the direction the raiders were riding so that I could get quite close before firing. They were not expecting anything like what I was doing so they didn't know how to react. I shot the first raider at a range of about 25 feet and blew him out of the saddle. I fired the second barrel at the next man in line and wounded him, but I didn't think that I had killed him. I then swerved away from the raiders to have time to reload.

It took only a few seconds to reload and I tore back into the confused raiders. I was able to shoot two more and get away before I was hit. The third time I turned to charge the rustlers, they broke and fled. I was mobbed by our people and congratulated on driving off the rustlers, single-handed. I tried to protest that I was not the sole reason they fled, but nobody listened. I think that I did wonders to promote the sale of shotguns that night. I knew right then that I was going to get a lever-action shotgun for my own use!

A post-action report revealed that the night had been full of sound and fury, but not much else, until Juan and I arrived. The rustlers had been spotted by alert guards well before they had been able to attack. As a result, the defenders had plenty of time to position themselves and fight off the initial charge. The battle had been going on for about 30 minutes when Juan and I arrived with both sides doing a lot of shooting, but not much of note happening.

I asked why they had not shot at the horses as Juan had ordered. I got some blank looks and remarks of the type, "We didn't think that he was serious." I pointed out that rustlers couldn't do much rustling without their horses, so shooting their horses was the first order of business. This time, I heard, "Shit! He's right. Why didn't I think of that?"

Hopefully, next time, I'll get the results I wanted. I couldn't be too hard on the men, because I, too, had had forgotten to shoot at the horses during the heat of battle. Oh, well, live and learn.

We did look around, but the only raider we found was the man I had killed with my first shot. It's amazing how much damage a load of buckshot can do at close range! His face was cut to pieces and he was totally unrecognizable. His upper chest was smashed in as if he had been hit by a big rock. I imagine that he, literally, never knew what hit him. He had nothing of value in his pockets and we never found his horse or weapons. We tossed his body in an arroyo for the coyotes and forgot him.

It took a little while to get the cattle quieted down, again, but we finally did, and Juan and I rode back to the ranch. The sun was just showing over the horizon as we rode up to the house, so we were in time for the big breakfast the cook had waiting for us.

Jane was dressed by the time we got home and she came in to eat breakfast with us. She had a funny grin on her face; I was the only one in the house to think that our "secret" was really a secret. Oh, well, I could live with that!

I told Jane of our activities with the rustlers and that I was going in to Hixville for a new shotgun. She wanted to go with me and see "her" saloon. If we got there soon enough, she could go in before Walt opened for business; thereby saving her reputation among the "good" women of the town. We decided to take the buckboard instead of riding so that we could easily bring back some things she wanted from the store.

With all of the ambushes taking place lately, I decided to take both my shotgun and my rifle with us, and I cautioned Jane to go armed with something more lethal than her popgun pistol. She dressed in shirt and pants, instead of a dress, and wore a gunbelt around her waist. We were ready to leave before 7:00 AM.

We arrived in Hixville in time to catch Walt as he was entering the saloon and I explained what Jane wanted. Walt laughed and ushered her into their saloon. He showed her around and Jane asked to see the bullet holes. "Why on Earth would you want to do that?" he asked.

"Because, according to Bill, that's the part of the saloon that I own!"

Walt burst out laughing and we had to help him to a chair. "That's the funniest thing I ever heard." gasped Walt, around his laughing. It must have taken him 10 minutes to regain complete control of himself. Once he was back in control of his legs, Walt pointed out all of the bullet holes, especially where the marshal had fired his shotgun into one of the walls. Jane was suitably impressed and thanked Walt for his courtesy. We left to do our shopping before Walt's regular opening time.

The first place we went was to the general store where I had bought the lever-action shotguns. The proprietor had ordered in several more, so I was able to get one on the spot. Jane did her shopping while I played with my new toy. The action was very smooth and I bought a box of smokeless powder shells for it; I planned to load up as soon as we were outside.

Jane was just finishing her shopping when I heard a lot of shooting. I rushed to the door and carefully looked out. I saw Sol, the marshal, running down the street, so I called out, "WHAT IS IT, SOL? NEED HE'P?" He waved at me to come on, so I rushed out behind him, still carrying my new shotgun and box of shells. I ran hard and caught up to him. "What's goin' on?" I gasped out as we ran.