A Wolf in the Fold

“He’s laid up for a week. Doctor’s orders,” Gertrude said. “When I saw him lying on the floor in a pool of blood, I thought I would die. He’s always meant the world to me, my boy.”

“What about your husband?”

“What about him?” she retorted. “Lloyd was a fool. But then, so was I, for marrying him. I loathe weak men, and he was as weak as pond water. How curious that I chose to hitch myself to someone like him.”

I had no interest in her personal life. “About the Butchers—”

“It’s strange how thing works out, isn’t it? Never as we expect. I had resigned myself to being shackled to Lloyd for the rest of my days, and now look. I am free to do as I want without his constant carping. You have no idea what I had to put up with.”

“I don’t give a damn,” I said.

“Now, now. Don’t be mad. I’m only doing what I intended to do all along. I never really needed you. But Lloyd insisted we hire an outsider so the finger of blame would not point at us.”

“Lloyd insisted? I thought you hired me on your own?”

“Did I give that impression?”

I didn’t like where this was leading. “Take your men and go.”

“Haven’t I made myself clear? I no longer require your services as a Regulator. I will do my own regulating from here on out.”

“We have a deal,” I stressed yet again.

Gertrude snickered. She was enjoying herself. “Deals, like laws, are made to be broken.”

“I won’t take it kindly if you back out.”

“What was it you said to me a few moments ago? Oh, yes. I don’t give a damn. In my estimation your reputation is greatly overblown.”

I could feel myself growing mad. I never let anyone talk to me like she was doing. “Be careful.”

“Or what? You’ll shoot me? I wouldn’t try, were I you. One wrong move, or a gesture from me, and my punchers will turn you into a sieve.”

The rifle muzzles pointed at me left no doubt her threat was genuine. It only made me hotter. “I’m not leaving until I get the rest of my money.”

Gertrude actually had the gall to laugh in my face. “Your money? In order for it to be yours, you had to earn it. Which you did not. No, the five hundred I have already paid is all I am paying, and even that was too much.”

“You don’t want me for an enemy.”

Smirking, Gertrude put her hands on her hips. “You still don’t get it, do you? Must I spell it out as I would to my late husband? How you have lasted so long is beyond me.”

One more insult and I would punch her, female or no. “Maybe it’s best if I just go.” I glanced at where I had left Brisco and felt my gut tighten; Brisco was gone. “What did you do with my horse?”

“We drove him off, along with their horses. After all, I wouldn’t want anyone to escape, now would I?” Gertrude regarded me intently. “Tell you what. I’ve thought of a way for you to redeem yourself. Do as I ask and I will pay you the other five hundred. Does that sound fair?”

“I’m listening.”

“Go back inside. Tell Hannah and her brats I will spare them if they throw down their guns and come out with their hands over their heads.”

“They’re not stupid,” I said.

“Assure them I am sincere. Convince them I intend to turn them over to the Texas Rangers.”

“As if you would.”

“It’s worth a try, isn’t it?” Gertrude pressed. “And it’s the only way you will get what is coming to you.”

I hesitated. I might be able to talk the Butchers into agreeing. They trusted me, after all. I would assure them that as God was my witness, I would not let them come to harm.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

“It may take me a while to convince them,” I said. I glanced at the cabin. We were far enough from it, and had talked quietly enough, that there was little chance we had been overheard.

“Take as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

I still hesitated. Gertrude reminded me of a cat about to eat a canary. I didn’t trust her. But so what if she did not keep her word? So what if she had the Butchers gunned down? I was fixing to kill them, anyway. What difference did it make who turned them into maggot bait so long as I was paid? Shrugging, I turned. I was almost to the door when Gertrude called my name. Not Reverend Storm, but my real name.

“Oh, Mr. Stark?”

Mad as hell, I looked over my shoulder. She had drawn her Colt and was pointing it at my back. It stopped me in my tracks. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving myself five hundred dollars.”

Gertrude shot me. There was a sharp sensation between my shoulder blades and the slug tore through my chest and burst out the front of my shirt. The impact jolted me. The world darkened and spun. Close to passing out, I lurched toward the front door and groped for the latch. I heard Gertrude laugh, and it was like having a bucket of cold water splashed in my face. My vision cleared and I stumbled to the door just as it was yanked open from within. Hannah enfolded me in her arms and pulled me in after her. None too soon. A volley from the woods blistered the door.

Jordy slammed the door after us.

Everyone else was down low. Hannah and Daisy half dragged, half carried me to a far corner and gently eased me down so I had my back to the wall. A strange weakness had come over me, and it was all I could do to hold my head up.

“She shot him!” Daisy exclaimed. “She shot the parson!”

“I wouldn’t put anything past that monster,” Hannah said while plucking at my shirt. “Let’s see how bad off he is.” She flicked my jacket aside. I tried to reach up to stop her but couldn’t. Suddenly she recoiled as if I had slapped her. “What in the world is this?”

“It’s a pistol!”

“I can see that, daughter.” Hannah slid the short-barreled Remington from my shoulder holster. “But what in the world is the preacher doing with a hideout? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“He has a rifle, too. I saw it in his saddle scabbard.”

“Even preachers shoot game for the dinner table,” Hannah said. “But this”—she hefted the Remington—“this is something a gambler or an assassin would carry.”

I had to say something. She was close to guessing the truth. But I was so weak that all I could croak was, “Pro—tect—you.”

“What did he say?” Hannah asked.

“I think he said he brought the gun to protect us,” Daisy said, and tenderly clasped my hand.

Disbelief was written plain on Hannah’s face.

Just then another volley peppered the cabin to the accompaniment of whoops and yips from the cowboys. The window shattered in a spray of shards. Slugs cored the door, narrowly missing Kip.

“Douse the lamp!”

Sam leaped to obey. As he rose to extinguish the wick, a rifle cracked. He had exposed himself through the window to a shooter in the woods. The slug caught him high in the shoulder and spun him around. He braced himself against the wall to keep from falling, but would have collapsed if not for Jordy, who caught him and lowered him into a chair. It was Ty who blew out the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

Hannah crabbed toward her youngest. “Keep low!” she cautioned. “Jordy, bolt the door. Carson and Ty, scoot over by the window.”

I attempted to sit up, but my legs would not cooperate. Seldom had I felt so defenseless. Hannah had taken my Remington, leaving me with nothing but the boot knife. The shooting, though, had stopped.

The way I saw it, Gertrude had four choices. She could wait us out until we were so low on food and water, her cowboys could overrun us. But that would take days, and by then the Texas Rangers would arrive. Her second choice was to rush us, but she was bound to lose a lot of punchers. Her third option was the one I would pick: sit out there and pepper us with lead for ten to twelve hours, whittling us down so when she did give the order for her