The Cancellarri looked at his notes as he waited for the elevator to finish its decent. When the elevator doors opened, he exited the building onto the street, taking one step closer towards killing the Chokka for good.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Cotton had a decent sized ranch – about a thousand acres – but he lacked the men to work it properly. That lack of manpower left the work to just a few.
He had fifteen men under his employment. Where most ranches were able to spread out their men in pairs to toil many areas of the land at once, Cotton didn’t have that luxury. Constant threat from banditos forced him to keep his men in larger groups of five or six.
Juan and Adahy rose early on Cotton’s ranch. They had been on the run for several days where rising under the cover dark was necessary and not an easy habit to break, even under the protection of Cotton and his men. Cotton had taken them in when Adahy needed medical attention and thanks to that attention, Adahy had all but healed.
Juan looked over at Morgan, their third companion who still sleeping. To emphasize the fact, the man let out a loud snore. It was a wonder they weren’t caught in the open when the nights were a quiet as the stars, with the exception of Morgan. Juan and Adahy exchanged glances and stifled their laughter so as not to wake their sleeping Shaman companion. Morgan had led them safely away from captivity in a slaving town run by banditos and had earned his rest.
The ranch had a strange appeal in the early morning moonlight. Juan inhaled the crisp air fragranced with dirt, crops, and animals. They went to the small wood stove in the front room of the stables and shoved in a few logs. When the stove was heated, they put on coffee and then sat out under the open morning sipping the chicory as the sky lightened.
With the sun in the new morning firmament, they were called to the house for breakfast. Morgan woke with the call and joined his two companions. “I’m glad you two don’t snore. I don’t know that I would get a wink of sleep if you did.” he said as he fell in step with Juan. They joined Cotton at the large kitchen table and it was there that they learned a new man had joined them.
“Good morning.” Juan said, offering his hand to the new man. “I’m Juan.”
“Nice to meet you, Juan. I’m Jacques.”
Juan had never met the man but knew he was. He also knew from where he came.
Over breakfast, the hired hands filled in Jacques on the day to day operations before moving on to the raids by the banditos. The vigilantes that came from the south knew that Cotton couldn’t watch all thousand acres at once. Cotton employed hard men and they were handy with a firearm but they couldn’t be everywhere. The banditos slaughtered Cotton’s cattle at will to feed their army.
With the meal behind them, Jacques approached Cotton. “I’d like to offer you my service, outside of being a cattle hand.”
“What did you have in mind?” Cotton asked, interested.
“I’ll need a pistol and a rifle. I can take care of your problem with your neighbors to the south and keep them off your land. Would that be worth the cost of a six-shooter and Spencer rifle?”
Cotton smiled. “So you noticed the rifle?” Jacques nodded. He had seen the rifle that Cotton kept over one of the doorways.
“I’ll track their camp and kill them. If I get killed, you’ve lost nothing.”
“Except a pistol and good rifle.” Cotton replied.
“Except those. Is it worth it to you?” Jacques asked.
“If you kill two or three of ‘em, that’ll be worth it to me. I’m guessing you’ll need a horse as well?” Jacques nodded. Cotton looked at him closely. He had known the man for less than twenty four hours. He wasn’t sure what his motives were or why he was willing to take such a risk. But as his strange new hand had mentioned, he had nothing to lose. “Alright, you got a deal. But if you steal my horse and my rifle, I’ll hunt you down and string you up myself.” Cotton stuck out his right hand and Jacques grabbed it, shaking.
Afterwards, Jacques prepared his horse for the trip and felt someone enter the barn behind him. He turned to find Juan. “You are leaving so soon?” Juan asked.
“I’m just here to help.”
Juan nodded. “Are you helping these men because you could not help your own people?”
Jacques turned and faced Juan fully. “What do you know of that?”
“I know that the world can be a lonely place. For men such as us, who have seen things the one never expected to see, it can be even lonelier.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t? Very well. My mistake. At any rate, Godspeed.” And with that, Juan left the barn, leaving Jacques to his thoughts.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
On the back of a medium sized Paint, Jacques let the horse gallop in the open field. As he rode, he admired the beauty – stark contrast to the world from which he came.
He rode hard for about twenty minutes, living in the moment. Then, he slowed the horse and began studying the land. The land around him was occupied with deep brown grass: a good place to attract steer. He located the cattle trail and following, it was not long until he found the stripped carcass of a longhorn. The bull had been killed and then stripped of the meat and hide.
