morning, then had left to bring in a half dozen more. Matlee was supposed to bring more in the morning, but they still needed to find more that could make the long trip. Dag wanted at least sixty-five horses, and they all had to be sound, freshly shod, with good bottoms and none lame or otherwise afflicted. The men were close, but needed a few more, which Matlee had promised to bring the next day. Jimmy was putting on hobbles with the help of the two men Dag had in mind to go with Flagg.
“Jimmy,” Dag called, “can you spare those two new wranglers helping you?”
“Them two ain’t horse wranglers by any stretch of the imagination. You can have ’em both, Dag. One of ’em’s classy as a pig on ice and t’other is a pure fumble-fingered fool. Neither one of ’em understands two words of English.” Jimmy turned to face the two boys, who were down on their knees trying to set hobbles on the same horse. “Pancho, you and Cholo go on over yonder with Mr. Dagstaff.
The two boys muttered something in Spanish, but Dag couldn’t hear it. They walked over as if they had all the time in the world. Their pants and shirts were covered with sweat, and the sweat had caked the dirt that clung to their clothing.
“Dag, are these two wetbacks cowboys?” Flagg asked.
“Sure, Jubal. They’re young, but they’re good with cows. They’re just not too good with horses yet.”
“Can they ride without being tied on with rope?”
Dag laughed. “Yeah, they can ride. Jimmy’s just right particular, that’s all.”
“Boys, come here,” Flagg said. “You speak English?”
Both young men nodded.
“What’s your name, feller?” Flagg asked the taller of the two.
“Paco Noriega.”
“And, you, what’s your name?”
“Ricardo Mendoza.”
“How come Jimmy called you Pancho and Cholo.”
“He don’t like us much,” Paco said. “He knows our names. He makes fun of us.”
“You know cows?” Flagg asked.
“Yes, the cows, we know them,” Paco said.
“Fine, you boys will ride with me tonight. We’re going to steal some cows. I’m going to teach you boys how to rustle cattle.”
“Oh, no, we do not steal,” Ricardo said. “We are honest men.”
“They’ll do,” Flagg said to Dag. To the two Mexicans, he said, “Don’t worry. We’re going to rustle cattle the legal way.”
“Okay, Ricardo, Paco, you saddle two horses to ride,” Dag said. “Bring some rope. We’ll light out right after the sun goes down.”
“Yes, sir,” both boys chorused. They ran off to catch their horses.
“You could have picked me a better pair than those two, Dag.”
“You wanted two of the dumbest. They’ve had schooling and they do speak English. But they can’t count and sometimes you have to tell them twice to do something that’s a mite complicated.”
“That’s real good, Dag. I’d rather work with boys who want to learn than with men who think they know it all.”
“I still don’t know what you have in mind, Jubal, but I like the legal part. Just keep in mind that I can’t afford to buy the cattle I need for this drive.”
“That’s exactly what I’m keeping in mind, Dag. Don’t you worry about a thing, hear?”
Flagg left to look over the herd. Dag walked over to Jimmy, who had just finished hobbling the last horse.
“You’re going to have to take those hobbles off right after sunset, Jimmy.”
“Huh?”
“Flagg wants us to move the herd ten miles north tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah. What do you think?”
“Well, we’ve got us a full moon, or near-bouts. We can do it, I reckon. Matlee will wonder where in hell we went.”
“By the time he gets here tomorrow, he’ll know.”
“Who’s taking the lead?” Jimmy asked.
“I am. Flagg’s going off to round up more cattle.”
Jimmy snorted.
“You don’t like Jubal much, do you, Jimmy?”
“I don’t know many who do.”
“Why?”
Jimmy looked down at his feet, kicked a clod of dirt. “I don’t know a man like Jubal Flagg,” Gough said. “He’s hard. Not just outside, but inside. He don’t give no leeway. You know he hanged one man.”
“I heard that,” Dagstaff said. “A rustler, wasn’t it?”
“Horse thief, yeah. When he was working at the Z Bar.”
“So?”
“He horsewhipped a man for mistreating a cow when he worked at the Circle S. Near killed him.”
“I don’t hold with mistreating animals either, Jimmy.”
“They say he shot a man over to Corpus one time. Over a woman.”
“Rumors, Jimmy.”
“Well, he sets hisself up as judge, jury, and executioner a mite too much to suit me, Dag.”
“I asked him about that, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know. What did he say?”
“He said he did what he did because, at the time, he was the only law around. He said we can’t have any kind of society without laws. And if there’s no law around and you see a man commit a crime, you’re both the law and society.”
“That sounds like prime bullshit to me, Dag.”
“Maybe so. But he’s the best there is at driving cattle, handling men.”
“He handles men because they’re scared of him.”
“Are you scared of him, Jimmy?”
“Hah. He don’t scare me none.”
“Good. Because Flagg’s the boss of this outfit and I don’t want any trouble about his authority.”
“If Flagg speaks for you, I foller him. But if he tells me to do something that’s wrong for the horses, I’ll buck him.”
“You’re the head wrangler, Jimmy. That won’t change.”
“That’s good enough for me.”
After supper, Dag got the herd moving. The longhorns bellowed and groaned as they set out in the darkness, with the moon just clearing the horizon. He had a good lead cow, and once the entire herd was moving, they formed a river under the rising moon, a steady flow over the pewtered land, with the outriders flanking them like ghost men on dark horses.
Flagg, along with the men he had picked for the night’s work, rode off to the west and disappeared in the darkness. The chuck wagon rumbled along well behind the herd, its pots and pans clanging softly like a chorus of distant cowbells. The wagon was invented by Charlie Goodnight, the most famous trail-breaker of them all. And the horses pulling the wagon were stepping out like circus performers on parade, their hides limned by the moonlight so that they seemed bathed in a soft silver fire.
Chapter 8
Flagg led his men deep into desolate country, following a path only he knew. A couple of the horses were
