unfolded it and said, “One vote each for Mrs. Bonner, Colonel Macauley, Doc Weathers, Mr. Green, Mr. Bradfield, and Mr. Kane.”
The man at the board made a mark beside each candidate’s name.
Luke stuck out his hand. “Lemme see that.” He took the ballot, glared at it, then tossed it down disgustedly onto the table.
The bartender fished out another ballot and said, “One vote each for Mrs. Bonner, Colonel Macauley, Doc Weathers, Mr. Green, Mr. Bradfield, and Mr. Kane.”
Ten ballots had been counted before one came up that contained votes for the Devery faction. That was the way it continued. Luke’s face grew darker and darker with anger as it became obvious that most of the citizens of Mankiller had defied the Deverys and voted against them. Luke, his father, and the other members of his family who had run were losing in a landslide.
Luke remained there until the bitter end, though. Finally, all the ballots were counted, and Rushford announced, “The results are exactly the same in every race, gentlemen. The slate of candidates headed by Mrs. Lucinda Bonner has defeated the slate of candidates headed by Jackson Devery by a count of 364 votes to 89 votes. Effective immediately, Mrs. Bonner is the mayor of Mankiller, Colonel Horace Macauley is the judge, and the town council consists of Dr. Jason Weathers, Wallace Kane, Sam Bradfield, and Harlan Green.”
Luke couldn’t contain himself anymore. “This won’t stand!” he burst out. “By God, this won’t stand!”
He stalked to the door, jerked it open, and stomped out of the saloon. The people waiting in the street for the results of the election could tell by his expression and demeanor who had won. Cheers erupted.
Scratch looked over at Bo. “What do you reckon the Deverys will do now?”
“I don’t know,” Bo replied with a shake of his head, “but I’d bet a hat it won’t be anything good. We’d better get back over to the jail—”
The wild celebration going on in the street suddenly quieted, causing the Texan to look toward the saloon doors in alarm. Luke had left one of them open when he stalked out, and one of the townies appeared there, eyes wide. Bo recognized him as little Ernie Bond, who always seemed to be the bearer of bad news.
That wasn’t about to change now. Ernie gulped and said, “Deputies, come quick! There’s a bunch of strangers with guns ridin’ into town, and they look like they’re ready to start shootin’ the place up!”
CHAPTER 30
Trailed by Rushford and the other men, Bo and Scratch hurried outside, drawing their guns as they did so. Bo wondered if Jackson Devery had sent for the newcomers. They might be more Devery relatives, or even hired gunfighters.
He wasn’t prepared for what he saw when he and the others came out on the porch of the Colorado Palace, though.
A dozen riders were stopped in the middle of the street. They were well armed and looked plenty tough, but they didn’t possess the cold-eyed menace of professional gunmen. Bo recognized several of them, including the broad-shouldered, big-gutted, craggy-faced man in the lead.
“Big John Peeler,” Bo said in surprise. “What in blazes are you doing here?”
Peeler thumbed his hat back on his graying hair and grinned down from his horse. “Lookin’ for you and Morton,” he said.
“You trailed us all the way up here from New Mexico?” Scratch asked.
“I sure did. Left Joe in charge of the Circle JP and brought some of the boys from the crew with me. Figured I needed to track you down.”
From just behind the Texans, Rushford asked quietly, “An old enemy of yours, deputies?”
“You could say that,” Bo replied. He didn’t take his eyes off Peeler. “You must be pretty mad, Big John, to come all the way up here just to settle a score with us.”
Peeler frowned. “Settle a score? What are you talkin’ about, Creel?”
“That fight we had just before Scratch and I rode out.”
“You mean when you walloped me over that little trick I pulled on Case Ridley?”
“And on us,” Scratch said. “You could’ve got us killed, Peeler.”
The big cattleman sighed. “Yeah, I know. I get these ideas in my head sometimes, and they ain’t always good ones. Like usin’ you boys as bait for Ridley and tryin’ to grab off some of the Snake Track range. Yeah, I was mad for a few days after that tussle we got into, Creel, but then I realized you were right to jump me.”
“You did?” Bo asked.
“Sure. That’s when I knew I had to find the two of you…to apologize to you and ask you to come back to work for me.”
Bo and Scratch couldn’t have been more surprised if Peeler had sprouted wings and started flying around right in front of them. Peeler was obviously sincere, though.
“Well, what do you say?” he prodded. “Come on back to the Circle JP with us?”
Bo tapped the badge pinned to his coat. “In case you haven’t noticed, Big John, Scratch and I already have jobs. We’re deputies here in Mankiller.”
Peeler waved a hand. “That can’t be as good as workin’ for me.”
“You might be surprised,” Bo said dryly. “We sort of like it here, don’t we, Scratch?”
“Yeah,” the silver-haired Texan agreed. “And we’ve sort of got a full plate right now, too.”
