“I don’t either,” Sally said.
“Hoo boy, we must’a run ’em off!” Jules said excitedly.
Sally shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I think they have something else…the cows!” she suddenly said.
“What?”
“They’re going after the herd!”
“What’ll we do?”
Before Sally could answer, they heard the report of several gunshots from the darkness.
Sally smiled. “We don’t have to do anything,” she said. “Smoke’s back!”
From their position in the chuck wagon, they couldn’t actually see what was going on, but they could see the muzzle flashes in the night, and they could hear the reports of the guns being fired.
“I wish I was out there,” Jules said. “I feel like I ain’t doin’ my part.”
“Don’t be silly,” Sally said. “If you hadn’t been here to hold them down for a while, they would already have the herd and be gone.”
Jules smiled. “Yeah, that’s right, ain’t it? We held them down here until Smoke could get back.”
The sound of the hoofbeats of the galloping horses spread its thunder over the valley. As Smoke led his men back to the herd, he saw the cattle rustlers moving into position to steal the herd. Pearlie saw it too.
“They’re takin’ the cows!” Pearlie shouted.
“Like hell they are,” Smoke replied, firing the first shot.
The rustlers, surprised by the fact that someone was in front of them, returned fire. Bullets whistled back and forth in the dark; then, one of Smoke’s men cried out.
“I’m hit!”
Looking around, Smoke saw that it was Andy. Andy weaved back and forth in the saddle, then grabbed hold of the saddle horn to keep from falling.
“Mike, see to him!” Smoke called.
“Hold on, Andy, I’m comin’!” Mike called, riding toward the stricken cowboy.
Even as Mike was moving toward Andy, Smoke shot at another one of the rustlers, a stocky, powerfully built man. As the man tumbled from his saddle he lost his hat, and Smoke could see that he was bald.
“Damn, they got Staley!” Cord called.
“We’re outnumbered now,” one of the other outlaws said. “I’m gettin’ out of here!”
“I’m leavin’ too,” another said.
Cord watched the two men leave, then saw that only he and one other man remained.
“Let’s go!” Cord shouted.
“What about Staley?”
“To hell with him!”
“Should we go after ’em, Smoke?” Pearlie called.
“No,” Smoke said. “We need to get the herd back together. And we need to see to Andy. Anyone else hit?”
A quick appraisal of their situation showed that only Andy had been shot. Smoke hurried over to the young cowboy, who was now lying on the ground beside his horse. Mike was squatting down beside him.
“How bad is it?” Smoke asked.
“He’s hurt bad,” Mike replied. “We need to get him in to a doctor.”
“Hrmmph,” Andy said in a disapproving growl. “We both know there ain’t nothin’ a doctor could do for me, even if you could get me there in time. Which you can’t.”
“We’ll get you back to the wagon,” Smoke said. “Sally is about as good on patching up gunshot wounds as any doctor. Lord knows, she’s patched me up a few times.”
“I ain’t goin’ to make it, Smoke,” Andy said. “There’s no sense in you tryin’ to fool me none.”
Smoke sighed, then nodded. “I won’t lie to you, Andy. You’re hit hard.”
Andy chuckled.
“What the hell you findin’ to laugh about, Andy?” Billy asked.
“I owed Dooley ten dollars,” Andy said. “I figured when he died I wouldn’t have to pay it. Don’t you know now that the first thing ole’ Dooley is goin’ to do when he sees me is hold out his hand for that money.”
Despite the seriousness of Andy’s wound, both Billy and Mike laughed. Smoke laughed as well.
“Boys, I’ll tell you somethin’ maybe you didn’t know,” Andy said. “This here dyin’ ain’t hurtin’ me none a’tall.”
Andy gasped a few more breaths, then stopped breathing.
“All right, boys, get him up on his horse. Mike, you take him back to the wagon. Pearlie, Cal, Billy, let’s take care of the cows.”
It was nearly dawn by the time all the cows that had been run off were back with the herd.
