Chapter Fourteen
This meadow is good for the herd. Lots of grass to graze on. Land don’t belong to nobody. Don’t have to worry about trouble.
Ace sat down on a rock away from the herd a ways. He needed to be alone. Two days had passed since the storm. No trouble had rode up—not yet, at least.
Made good time these last two days, he thought to himself, taking a good look around.
The meadow felt clean and fresh. Perfect for the herd. The evening wind felt cool rather than hot. That happened after a good rain. Ace didn’t mind the rain. He was glad for it, actually. Rain had wet the land all morning. Not a storm. Just fresh rain.
The only problem was Roscoe Carver and his gang of no-goods.
He’s behind us, sure enough. Won’t be long now. Surprised he ain’t caught up to us already.
Ace locked his eyes on the herd. His thoughts went to the railroad. The land was changing—and not for the better. Somehow, Ace felt that in a hundred years or so, the land would be so bad, a buzzard wouldn’t fly over it.
It’s the way folks are. All the Indians are being pushed onto reservations.
Their way of living is being shot down. Cities are being built up.
Railroad is expanding. Ain’t no turning back.
Sometimes, I think this is how it has to be.
Land was taken with blood, and it’ll end with blood. Don’t see any way around it.
Clyde walked up. “Mind if I have a sit-down?”
Ace tensed up some. He wanted to be alone. Usually Clyde stayed within earshot of Finn. “Grab a rock.”
Clyde sat down on a rock close to Ace. “Mind if I chew your ear about Bonnie?”
Ace saw trouble in Clyde’s eyes. “Go on and do it.”
“Well, it’s like this,” Clyde said in his simple way, “I’ve been thinking a lot about her, and it seems to me she’s got trouble more ways than a cow not wanting to be branded.”
Ace listened.
“You see, Ace, even if she escapes that Carver fella, what in the world is she gonna do when we reach Wichita?”
“Not sure,” Ace said honestly.
“Same here.” Clyde removed his hat and wiped his arm across his forehead. “Rain made the air cool, but it’s still a tad bit hot. Anyway,” he went on, putting his hat back on, “Bonnie is in a real bad way.”
“Any idea what to do?”
Clyde looked at Ace in a strange way. “You don’t think I’m dumb, do you?” he asked.
“No, why should I?”
“Most fellas do.” Clyde shrugged his shoulders. “I ain’t all that smart. Never gonna be. Reckon that’s just the Lord’s way for me.”
“Clyde,” Ace said, leaning forward and putting his hands together, “you’re just as smart as any other fella. Now, if you got an idea about Bonnie, I’d appreciate it if you tell me.”
“Bonnie is pretty, Ace,” Clyde began. “Real pretty. Now, I ain’t got my eyes on her or nothing. There’s a gal I like—she might have something to do with me soon enough. Finn has a gal, too. Plans on marrying her.”
“Okay…” Ace said hesitantly, wondering where this was going.
“Well, the way we see it,” Clyde told Ace, lowering his voice, “is that Bonnie needs a good husband. And well, seeing how you ain’t got no wife?—?”
“Now hold it right there!”
“Aw, Ace, you don’t need to go get ornery. Bonnie is awful pretty,” Clyde insisted.
Clyde don’t mean no harm—he never does—but he’s putting his horse where it don’t belong. Or is he? Maybe he’s just trying to be a friend.
Ace lowered his head. “I ain’t fit to be a husband, Clyde. Been riding the trail for too long.”
“You’re lonely. I can tell.”
Ace felt his shoulders drop. Yeah, he was lonely. “Don’t matter none, Clyde.”
“Sure does matter,” Clyde insisted. “Me and Finn were chewing the fat. We think you and Bonnie need to get hitched. You got a ranch and all. Besides, what’s Bonnie gonna do after we get the herd to Wichita? Run off with a few dollars in her pocket?”
“Not sure, Clyde.”
“Well, I said my peace.” Clyde slapped his legs and stood up. “Just think maybe the Good Lord put Bonnie on this trail for you, is all. At night, when I say my prayers, I say one for you, Ace.”
Ace raised his head. “You pray… for me?”
“Sure do,” Clyde promised. “For Bonnie, too. Well, I best get back to my chores. Supper ain’t gonna cook itself.”
Dumbfounded, Ace watched Clyde make his way to the spot he’d cleared for the cookfire.
Well, I’ll be. How about that—
The sound of a running horse cut Ace’s thoughts off. He shot his head to the left just in time to see Bonnie’s horse top a rise and begin thundering down toward the herd. A minute later, a second horse rode over the rise, this one carrying a man—holding a raised rifle.
Ace didn’t waste a second. He ran to his horse like someone had set his britches on fire and mounted up. Finn and Dallas were already racing toward Bonnie on horseback.
Ace whipped out his rifle and took off like lightning. I knew I shouldn’t have let her ride off alone, but there ain’t any trees nearby, and she had to do her business.
The rider was about a hundred yards behind Bonnie. Ace took a quick aim and fired off a shot. His bullet definitely wouldn’t reach past Bonnie, but hopefully, the warning shot would slow the rider down.
Sure enough, the rider jerked his horse to the left and then started back up the rise. Ace saw Finn and Dallas take shots at him, but the distance was too great. Bonnie didn’t slow down, though.
She’s running that horse like the world is coming to an end.
Ace made his way to her as fast as his horse could run. Finn and Dallas reached her first. Both men checked around and then started toward the rise.
“That was… Jack,” Bonnie told Ace, breathing hard. “He rode up on me out of nowhere!”
Clyde was on his horse now.
“Stay with her!” Ace yelled, then took off after Finn and Dallas.
Both men had stopped on the rise. Neither seemed anxious to go any further.
“One rider,” Finn told Ace, pointing his rifle at the ground. “Headed southwest into those trees out yonder.”
“Rider was Jack Yelters,” Dallas told Ace.
“Yeah, that’s what Bonnie said.” Ace’s gaze landed on a sea of trees standing about five hundred yards away. The rise was modest, but it offered enough advantage to make sure no more riders were preparing to attack.
“Won’t be smart to keep the herd still,” Dallas warned.
Ace knew his friend was right, but the horses were tired, and so was the herd. Not good to run the cattle so hard. Horses need a good rest, too. And to be honest, I doubt Dallas is up to riding stag all night. He looks pretty beat down.
“We’ll keep a tight guard, Dallas. We’ve been running the horses and herd pretty hard these last two days.”
“Ace is right,” Finn agreed, eyeing the trees. “We’ll just have to pray and ask the Good Lord to keep us going.”
Ace surveyed the land and then rode back to Bonnie. Clyde seemed to be doing a good job calming her down. “You okay?”
“No.” Bonnie shook her head. “I… I’ve always known Jack wanted me for himself. He came out of nowhere. I think he watched me do my business.”
The thought of some deranged trail snake spying on Bonnie made anger flare in Ace’s chest. There were certain things a man just didn’t do.
A woman was to be respected, especially when she was in an improper state.
The sad truth, though, was that many women ended up defiled—and dead.
Ace had run a rope and hanged two men he found trying to take a woman against her will.
“Please, mister, we were just having some fun,” one of the scoundrels had begged as Ace put a rope around his neck.
He saw a bloodied-up woman with terrified eyes pushed up against a tree, wearing a ripped dress. Her dead husband was lying a few yards from her feet.
“Just some fun,” the second snake insisted.
Ace had tied both men up and sat them on their horses. He was on his horse with his gun drawn. One wrong move, and he would draw blood. “Shut up, the both of you!”
He rode his horse over to the woman and checked the scene. The condemned men’s throats were connected to ropes attached to two strong tree limbs.
“Ma’am,” Ace told the woman without looking down at her, “this ain’t gonna bring back your husband, but it’s the best I can do.”
Ace raised his gun up into the air.
“Mister, we were just?—?” one of the scoundrels yelled. Three bullets cut him off.
The sound of Ace firing his gun scared the horses. He watched the horses run forward. Both men were pulled backward off their saddles and began kicking their legs like mad.
The woman didn’t turn away. She watched two evil creatures hang to death. Ace heard her whisper, “Hang, and go into the fire.”
Any scoundrel that touches a woman will hang for it. That’s the law out here.
Ace came back to Bonnie. “From now on, one of us goes with you. We’ll just turn the other way.”
Bonnie didn’t object. She also didn’t seem to care. “Don’t matter, Ace. Roscoe knows I’m riding with you now. Ain’t no sense in me trying to dress like a man no more. I best ride off before I get us all killed.”
“You best not talk like that,” Clyde scolded Bonnie. “You ride off, and you’ll just get caught and dragged back to a bad place.”
“Clyde is right,” Ace told Bonnie. “What would’ve happened to you if we hadn’t been here?”
“Jack would’ve run me down.”
Ace heard misery in Bonnie’s voice—a misery she must be well-acquainted with.
She fears the worst. I can’t blame her. She knows Carver has more guns than we do. There’s not much I can do. I can’t drop the herd and ride off. When I take on a job, I intend to finish it.
“Clyde, scrap the fire. We’re sitting in the dark tonight. Sleep next to your horse. Tell Finn I don’t want a horse line run. We need to be ready to ride quicker than a puddle of water dries up in the sun.”
“Sure thing,” Clyde agreed.
“Ace, you can’t beat Roscoe. He’s too bloody,” Bonnie insisted. “Let me ride off when it gets dark. Please.”
“If you ride off, Bonnie, do you think you’ll live to see tomorrow?” Ace asked. When Bonnie didn’t answer, he continued. “Exactly my point. Now, that’s enough talk about riding off. Just stay close to the herd. Clyde, go tell Finn and Dallas to do the same.”
“Got it.”
Ace checked the herd and then focused on Bonnie. “Remember what I said about all of us being under the same sky?”
“Yeah,” Bonnie replied, sounding downright miserable.
“What we do matters, Bonnie. A man who goes to his grave yellow? Well, that fellow might as well have never been born.”
“And what if you die trying to protect me, Ace?” Bonnie demanded.
“Then I die fighting for you—and you’re worth dying for,” Ace answered and then rode off to check the herd without saying another word.