Chapter 11

As the Three Musketeers returned to the ground floor, they heard a clatter coming from the area of the barn and corral. Jake was in the lead, and he ran to a window facing to the rear. "Oh, shit!" he exclaimed. "The rest of the bodyguards have returned, and they're out by the corral."

Caleb said, "We better git out fast! The three of us can't possibly defend this house, it's way too big. Let's git to the hosses."

They rushed to where their horses were hitched at the front door and mounted them just as a man walked around the east end of the house. He drew his pistol and fired as soon as he saw them. He was so intent on getting off the first shot that he didn't take time to aim, so he missed all three men and their horses. The three lawmen drew and fired just after that first shot, but they did not score a hit, either, though they did scare the man enough that he ducked back around the corner of the house.

More of the bodyguards showed up and started shooting. There was so much lead flying that one of the lawmen was bound to be hit pretty soon, so they turned their horses and raced for the west end of the house. They turned the corner and came to a halt. Caleb said, "We're so badly outnumbered that we better hole up somewhere."

Sam said, "Look over there. It's the blacksmith's shop. We kin git the hosses inside, an' it's got windows fer firing ports." They all agreed and raced for the small building. Once there, Caleb wrenched the door open, and they hurried their horses inside. They pulled out their rifles and hurried to various windows. There was still the problem of the fourth window, but they would have to make do with what resources they had.

The lawmen were still badly outnumbered, so Caleb tried a desperate gamble. His was the window facing the house. He flung open the shutter and, when some men appeared, he shouted, "WE'RE FEDERAL MARSHALS! KILLIN' US IS A HANGIN' OFFENSE! ANY OF Y'ALL WHAT LEAVES NOW WON'T BE CHARGED!"

Sam said, "Hey, I didn't know that."

Caleb said, "I didn't either. It's just a bluff, but it might do some good. The fewer we have ta fight, the happier I'll be!"

Sam and Jake said, almost together, "Amen ta that!"

It did look like some on the other side did leave, but not many. Probably, they were the lower level bodyguards who were just regular cowboys pressed into service solely for this trip. The three lawmen were still outnumbered 3 to 1. The question, now, was how to break the impasse. The lawmen couldn't escape from their small fort without being shot or chased by the other gang, but the gang couldn't reach the lawmen inside the little building.

This siege raised another question, namely, what could the gang of ex-bodyguards gain by killing the lawmen? There was very little profit in revenge, so the gang should be easily discouraged, unless they were being egged on by the remaining members of the original cabal. The ramifications were interesting, but somebody could get himself killed while they were considering the issue.

After a few minutes of no action on either side, Caleb called out, "LET'S TALK! I DON'T SEE NO POINT IN GITTIN' KILLED FER NOTHIN'! WHAT Y'ALL SAY TA THAT?"

A shout came back, "OK, WE'LL TALK! WHAT DO YA WANT TA TALK ABOUT?"

"I WANT TA KNOW WHY Y'ALL ARE SO ALL-FIRED ANXIOUS TA KILL US? WE AIN'T GONNA ARREST ANYBODY IFEN Y'ALL JUS' LEAVE, SO WHY DON'T Y'ALL JUS' DO THAT?"

"SOUNDS GOOD TA ME! I'LL ASK THE OTHER BOYS AN' BE BACK! GIVE ME A FEW MINUTES!"

He was back in about 5 minutes. "LOOKS LIKE IT'S NO DEAL! THE BOSS SAYS HE'LL PAY $500 FER YA, AN' $250 FER EACH OF YER DEPUTIES! SORRY! HERE IT COMES!" With that, there was a mighty fusillade from the bodyguards, and the lawmen ducked until it was over.

Jake said, "Man, I didn't know my hide could be so valuable. It makes me proud!"

The other two laughed and Sam said, "I'd jus' as soon not be so prideful an' git out of this fight with a whole skin!"

All of the shooting was still coming from the northwest corner of the house, so they were able to return fire from two of the windows. One of the bad guys got impatient or careless, it didn't matter which, but he showed a bit too much body when he leaned out to shoot. Sam had his rifle in position at the time and fired as soon as he could draw a bead on the other guy. Sam's shot couldn't have been immediately fatal, but it raised a loud scream of pain when the bullet hit, so Sam was pretty sure that the recipient of his bullet was going to die, he just didn't know how long it would take.

Caleb said, "Boys, this ain't gittin' us anywhere. When it gits dark, let's skedaddle. We kin pro'bly git away in the dark."

There was some more sporadic shooting, but neither side could score any more hits. When darkness came, the Three Musketeers mounted their horses and made a dash out the door and into the trees. They made a clean getaway and returned to the Rocking H the next day. They told Jim Lucy what had happened, and Jake and Sam quit on the spot to return home. Caleb decided to hang around a little longer to see what would happen to the Negro serfs.

Jim Lucy decided to stay at the Rocking H as caretaker and supervisor until the new owner showed up. Higgins had accumulated plenty of cash, so there was no problem paying the wages and bills. Since Higgins had not appeared to have left a will and had no known relatives, there were a lot of questions about how to dispose of the ranch. It would probably fall to the courts to decide.

Lucy took the opportunity to correct the treatment of the Negroes. He ordered that the amounts they owed to the store be recalculated to reflect fair prices. This didn't remove any debts, completely, but it did give the Negroes a chance to get out from under the thumb of the store by the end of the next year. They were happy and all planned to stay, since they now had the prospect of fair treatment.

Caleb felt that he had fulfilled the orders from Judge Hughes, so he went back to his ranch to prepare for the wedding coming up in a few days. Meanwhile, he wrote his report to Judge Hughes and asked for some time off to settle in with his new wife and to get the Circle J operating to his satisfaction.

The wedding went off as scheduled and was a joyous affair attended by most of the people in the county. Susan made a clean break with Jethro Peevy and took up her duties as the wife of Caleb Jackson as if the Peevy nightmare had never happened. The ranch house at the Circle J had sustained considerable damage from the gunfight which took place inside, so it was completely rebuilt in there. As a result, Susan had no reminders of her life there with Peevy and was quite happy with the house.

Caleb had nearly seven weeks of married bliss before he got another letter from Judge Hughes with a new assignment. There was a problem near El Paso. Two federal marshals had been assassinated, and nobody knew why. Judge Hughes wanted Caleb to investigate, somewhat undercover. Caleb was not known in that area, so he would not be recognized as a federal marshal; this should give him the anonymity he would need to track down the murderers and the cause for the trouble.

Caleb reluctantly left for Hobbs City two days after he read the letter; he liked being married to Susan, but duty called. Before leaving, he told Jake and Sam where he was going and why, so that they could ride to his aid if he needed them. Susan was left as chatelaine of the Circle J and Hank Smith was now the permanent foreman, so Caleb knew that he left his home in good hands.

He rode into Hobbs City and registered at the only hotel in town. He figured that he needed to be filled in on the local gossip, and there was no better place to glean that information than from a bartender in a saloon. Caleb ate supper in the hotel restaurant and went into the saloon attached to the hotel. As soon as he walked through the swinging doors he knew that there was trouble in the air. Usually, a large saloon was filled with the noise of laughter and loud talk. Often there was music from a piano player banging away at the keyboard of an ill-tuned instrument which might even have a few keys missing as the result of fights on the premises. Gambling equipment was often scattered about the room, ready and able to extract the last penny from unlucky, but mostly uncaring, cowboys. None of this was going on, not even a poker game! This was the peak business hour for a saloon, but the place was practically deserted. The only patrons were the few men staying at the hotel that night.