shooting grew steadily louder, and finally Longarm emerged on a long ridge that was more sparsely wooded than the slopes behind him. The ground fell away in front of him to the valley where the headquarters of the Diamond K were located.
Down below, the loggers from the Mcentire camp were advancing on the ranch, using trees and brush and rocks for cover as they fired Winchesters toward the cluster of buildings. There weren't enough rifles to go around, so the men who didn't have guns were armed with the double-bitted axes they used in their work. Those deadly tools could fell a tree in a matter of minutes in the skillful hands of their owners. In close fighting, they could chop down a human being even faster.
A heavy return fire came from the ranch buildings. Longarm scanned the slope below him, expecting to see that some of the lumberjacks had already fallen. They had been lucky, though; all of them were still on their feet.
That situation wouldn't stay the same. Sooner or later, some of the bullets flying around down there would find their targets in soft flesh.
And those in the ranch buildings were in danger too. Longarm could just imagine Molly Kinsman crouched near one of the windows in the house, reloading for her father and Joe Traywick. Either that, or she might even be wielding a rifle herself. A stray slug could find her just as easily as anyone else.
Longarm pulled his Colt and aimed into the air. He squeezed off three shots, then bellowed, 'Hold your fire, damn it! Mcentire men, hold your fire!'
As he expected, they pretty much ignored him, except for quick glances that several of them threw over their shoulders before they went back to fighting. They didn't ignore Aurora, though. She burst past Longarm, gigging her horse into a breakneck run that carried her down the ridge toward her employees. Longarm yelled, 'Wait-' but he was too late. As Aurora dashed downward into danger, Longarm said bitterly, fervently, 'Hell!'
'Stop it! Stop shooting!' Aurora's voice rang out clear and strong, and even over the clamor of battle. Some of the men heard it. The ones who did turned and looked in amazement at her, galloping down the slope at such a pace that it seemed her horse was in imminent danger of falling and pitching her off. Somehow she stayed upright as she shouted for the loggers to put an end to the fight. Longarm and Flint were right behind her, struggling to keep up. Longarm hoped none of the ranch's defenders saw them and thought they were reinforcements for the attacking lumberjacks. Aurora's dark hair had come loose from its usual bun, and Longarm was glad of that. Streaming out behind her I as she rode, Aurora's hair immediately marked her as a woman. Longarm kept one hand on the reins and began waving the other over his head, hoping that those in the buildings below would see him and realize he was trying to get them to hold their fire. The loggers' rifles gradually fell silent, and so too did those of the Diamond K. Longarm spotted several men scurrying around the ranch buildings, no doubt spreading the word that a momentary cease-fire had been called. What he had to do now was insure that the cessation of hostilities was permanent, not temporary. He rode up next to Aurora and said in a low voice, 'That was a damn fool stunt.'
'it got them to stop shooting, didn't it?' she replied with a defiant toss of her head.
Longarm had to admit she was right about that. He looked along the line of men who had been attacking the ranch. Now that he was closer, he could see that they had not gone completely unscathed so far. One man's left arm hung limp from a bullet that had bored through it, while several others sported bloodstains on their clothes from creases much like the one on Longarm's back. Such wounds were messy but seldom fatal. Didn't stop them from hurting like blazes, though.
Longarm noticed as well that even though the guns had fallen silent, the loggers weren't emerging from their cover. The battle could start again in a matter of seconds if things didn't go well.
Jared Flint rode up beside Longarm and Aurora and said ominously, 'I don't trust those cowboys down there, Miz Mcentire. If they start shooting again, you're right out in the open.'
'Maybe that will be reason enough to keep them from firing,' said Aurora. She looked over at Longarm. 'I'm going down there, Marshal.'
'Well, then, I'm going with you,' said Longarm.
'I figured you would. Your little masquerade as a cowboy may be over.'
Longarm shrugged. 'I never expected it to last very long anyway, and it wasn't paying any dividends.'
Aurora glanced at her foreman. 'Mr. Flint, I expect you to keep the men in line. There'll be no trouble, no shooting.'
Flint glowered a little, but after a moment he nodded and said, 'Yes, ma'am. No trouble--as long as you're down there.'
Longarm and Aurora rode slowly, side by side, down the hill toward the ranch. All movement had ceased around the buildings, Longarm noticed. Kinsman and his men were hunkering down and waiting to see what was going to happen too, just like the lumberjacks.
Matt Kinsman and Joe Traywick emerged onto the porch of the big house as Longarm and Aurora drew rein in front of it. Longarm tried to look past them for any sign of Molly, but he didn't see her. All he could do was hope that she was somewhere in the house, unharmed by the bullets that had been flying a few minutes earlier.
'Custis!' exclaimed Kinsman as he realized who was accompanying Aurora. 'What are you doing with that... that Jezebel?'
'Well, now, we're going to have to talk about that, Mr. Kinsman,' said Longarm. 'Is it all right if Mrs. Mcentire and I light and set for a spell?'
'I'm a hospitable man,' Kinsman said with a glower, 'but I'll be damned if I let that woman in my house!' Aurora said coolly, 'I feel the same way, Mr. Kinsman, so I'll say what I have to say out here. Can I count on your men to honor the truce?'
'I don't see no white flag, Boss,' Traywick put in. Like Kinsman, he held a Winchester in his hands and seemed ready to use it.
'That don't make no difference, Joe,' Kinsman said. Then he turned to Aurora. 'As long as those men of yours don't start shootin', neither will we. Now, if you've got somethin' to say, woman, spit it out.'
Longarm glanced over at Aurora, hoping she could keep a tight rein on her temper. With a visible effort, she did so. 'What I want to know, Mr. Kinsman, is why your cowboys raided my camp earlier this afternoon and killed some of my men.'
