“No, you aren’t,” Marshal Sparks said. He had just come into the saloon and was now standing by the front door.
“What do you mean, no we aren’t?”
“If you go after those horses again, you will be stealing them, not confiscating them,” Marshal Sparks said. He held up a piece of paper. “This is the herd management law you were talking about,” he said. “Without a specific order to the contrary, there is nothing to prevent Kitty Wellington from raising horses on her ranch. And if you actually took horses from her, you are guilty of rustling.”
Inexplicably, Sherman smiled, then he clapped his hands. “Very good, Marshal,” he said. “You found a law book. But my authority comes from the territorial capitol at Boise,” Sherman said. “Which means my authority is greater than yours. So I’m ordering you now, to get out of our way and let us do our duty.”
“And I’m ordering you out of my town,” Marshal Sparks said. “I want you and all your men, out of the hotel now. And that includes the four dead men that are in the lobby. If you leave them here, they’re going be buried in the Potter’s Corner.”
“I don’t take orders from a town marshal,” Sherman said, spewing the words in derision. “Get out of the way, Marshal,” Sherman said.
Marshal Sparks started toward his gun, but that was a fatal mistake. At least three of the Posse already had their guns drawn, and all three of them fired. Jenny and Suzie screamed as Sparks went down.
“Let’s go,” Sherman ordered.
“What are we going to do with the marshal?” Scraggs asked.
Sherman looked down at him.
“Leave him,” Sherman said. “Let the town bury him their Potter’s Corner.” He laughed, a brusque laughter from hell. “Soon there will be more people lyin’ in Potter’s Corner than in the regular cemetery. And I intend to see that there are a few more that wind up in there tonight.”
Crack and Matt were both on top of the bluff, waiting for Sherman and his posse to come try and reclaim the herd. It was dark, and looking back toward the north was a strain on the eyes, and made it difficult to stay alert. Matt and Crack were taking turns keeping watch. For the moment it was Crack’s time to be looking.
He had been staring, unceasingly, to the north for at least the last half hour. And when he did spot them, and made the announcement, he did so in a voice that was as calm as if he was pointing out a cloud formation.
“Here they come,” Crack said.
Matt had been sitting on a rock, sucking on the soft under part of a grass stem when Crack spoke.
“Are you sure?” Matt asked, standing up and moving to the edge of the bluff to look north. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s ’cause they just rode down into a little draw,” Crack said. “They’ll come out in a second, and you’ll be able to see ’em.”
“Yeah, I can hear them now,” Matt said. He stared in the same direction for a moment longer, then saw them emerge.
“Get your rocket ready, but don’t light it until I tell you,” Matt said.
“Matt, it looks like there’s at least a dozen of ’em. And we only have four men down there.”
“It will be all right,” Matt said. “Sherman doesn’t know we only have four men and, believe me, when they start shooting from the rifle pits, Sherman will think he’s facing an army.”
Crack chuckled. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I forgot about the rifle pits.”
“They are getting closer,” Matt said. He struck a match and, shielding the light from view, lit his cigar. Then, with his cigar lit, he swung into the saddle and rode out to the edge of the bluff and looked down. The posse had passed by now, but they were still a good mile away from Tyrone and the others.
“All right, send up the rocket,” Matt said.
Crack lit the fuse to the rocket. It sputtered for a moment, and then raced up into the sky, leaving a long, glowing golden trail streaming out behind it. Even as he heard the hiss of the rocket’s ascent, Matt slapped his legs against Spirit’s side and started down the trail to the valley floor below.
“Tyrone, there goes the rocket!” Prew said.
“All right, you and Clem get over there in the other pit. Jake, you stay here with me.”
“Come on, Clem,” Prew said as he started across the field.
“Prew!” Tyrone called.
Prew stopped and looked back.
“Remember, Matt is going to be out there, smoking a cigar. Don’t shoot at the glow.”
“I ain’t goin’ to shoot at the glow,” Prew said. “But I tell you the truth, you couldn’t get me out there for a thousand dollars. I mean, even if we don’t shoot at him, there’s goin’ to be bullets flyin’ around.”
“There’s goin’ to be bullets flyin’ around ever’ where,” Tyrone said. “So hurry on over there, and remember to keep your head down.”
“Halt!” Sherman said, holding his hand up. “Hold it up here for a moment!”
Sherman had twelve riders with him and they all stopped on his order. “Pull your pistols and be ready,” he said. “Spread out. We’ll go in abreast.”
“What if we see someone?” Scraggs asked.
“If you see anyone, kill them,” Sherman said.
