“What the hell?” one of the riders yelled. He had to fight to stay on his horse, for the horse had been so startled that it reared. The other rider started for his gun.
“Don’t do it!” Matt said, raising his rifle to his shoulder.
“Johnny, keep your hand away from your gun!” the first rider said, just now regaining control of his horse. “There didn’t nobody say nothin’ ’bout shootin’ anybody.”
“How did you get here on Powder River Cattle Company land?” Johnny asked.
“You ought to know,” Matt replied. “You’ve been dogging my tail for the last two miles.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence, Johnny,” Matt said. “That makes me mad.”
“What do we do now, Ian?” Johnny asked.
“All right, Mister, we’ve been dogging you,” Ian admitted.
“Why?”
“Because you are on Powder River Cattle Company land, that’s why.”
“That’s good to know, seeing as I intend to be there,” Matt said.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m just here to pay the ranch a friendly visit, is all,” Matt said.
Ian shook his head. “Huh, uh,” he said. “We ain’t friendly and we don’t like visitors.”
“Shouldn’t you let Mr. Frewen decide that?”
“Our job is to keep people away from him, keep ’em for botherin’ him so he don’t have to decide whether or not to see saddle bums like you,” Johnny said.
“Saddle bum?” Matt held out his arm and examined his newly bought shirt. “Now you are hurting my feelings. And here I thought I had gone and gotten all dressed up to meet Mr. Frewen.”
“What do you want to meet him for? He ain’t hirin’ nobody,” Ian said.
“He’s already hired me,” Matt said.
“Hired you to do what?” Ian asked.
“Well, now, I’m afraid I can’t answer that question,” Matt said. “He sent me a letter, but he didn’t say what he wanted me to do.”
“Mr. Frewen sent you a letter?” Ian asked.
“He did.”
“You got that letter with you?”
“I do.”
“Let me see it,” Ian said.
“Now, Ian, that sounds like a demand,” Matt said. “And if you stop and think about it, seeing as how I am pointing a gun at you, you really aren’t in position to make any demands, are you?”
Ian and Johnny exchanged glances.
“No, sir,” Ian said, sheepishly. “Now that you mention it, I don’t reckon I am.”
“All right, since you’ve taken that attitude, I’ll let you see it,” Matt said. He took the letter from his shirt pocket and handed it to Ian.
“But I’m going to take it as a real unfriendly act if something happens to that letter while it’s in your hands,” Matt said.
“He didn’t say nothin’ to us about hirin’ someone,” Ian said, before he started to read the letter.
“Does he tell you all his business?” Matt asked.
“No. But since we’re supposed to keep strangers off the property, you would think we would have heard something, don’t you?”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Matt said.
“Holy shit!” Ian said looking up from the letter at Matt. “Are you Matt Jensen?”
“I am.”
“Let me see it,” Johnny said.
Ian handed the letter to Johnny, and Johnny took a moment to read it.
“Looks like the boss’s writin’,” Johnny said.
“It is real,” Matt said. He held his hand out. “Could I have my letter back, please?”
Johnny returned the letter. “What do you think we ought to do, Ian?” he asked.
“What do you mean, what should we do? Are you crazy? Didn’t you read the letter? This is Matt Jensen, for God’s sake.”
“I’ll tell you what to do. Take me to him,” Matt said. “I don’t want to get jumped by anyone else. They may not
