“I thought you wanted me to kill Knox.”
“I do, but not until the time comes.”
Trail Back Ranch
Leo Hartzog, foreman of Trail Back, made another circle around the cattle that had been pushed into the east range. Without even counting, he could tell that there were considerably fewer cows here now than there had been yesterday.
“Parker,” he called to one of the riders. “Did you move some beeves out of here without tellin’ me?”
“No,” Parker said. “Why do you ask?”
“Take a good close look, then tell me if you still have to ask that question.”
Parker stood in his stirrups and looked out over the milling cattle.
“Damn, some of ’em is gone, ain’t they?”
“How many did we put in here?”
“We put five hunnert head in here.”
“Get a count.”
An hour later, Hartzog went up to the Big House to report to David Lewis. Hazel Prouty answered the door.
“Yes, Mr. Hartzog?”
“Ma’am, I need to talk to Mr. Prouty.”
“He’s just finished breakfast. Come on in, have a cup of coffee with him.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Good morning, Leo,” Prouty greeted when Mrs.Prouty escorted Hartzog into the dining room.
“We got a problem, boss.”
Proutyshook his head. “That’s not something a rancher likes to hear, first thing in the morning. What sort of problem?”
“Well, sir, we moved five hundred head into the east pasture a few days ago.”
“Yes, I remember. Has the creek dried?”
“No, sir, it ain’t that. What it is, is that there ain’t five hundred cows there now. There’s only three hundred ’n eighty-seven of ’em. We counted them.”
“Are you sure that you moved five hundred cows to begin with?”
“Yes, sir, we counted ’em out as we moved ’em. And anyway, even if we hadn’t counted ’em, you can tell the cows is gone, just by lookin’ at the herd. That’s how come I had Parker ’n the boys count ’em this mornin’ in the first place.”
“Rustlers,” Prouty said.
“Yes, sir, that’s sure what it looks like.”
* * *
Two days after the conversation between Prouty and his foreman, a letter that Brad Houser had written appeared in the “Letters to the Editor” section of the Chugwater Defender.
To the EDITOR,
I address this letter not to you, but to the cattle thieves who are currently plying their iniquitous trade.
To you rustlers, I say that you have been stealing cattle without fear of reprisal, for the law in Laramie County has been unable, or unwilling, to hunt you down. I am, by means of this letter, giving you fair warning. Cease and desist your evil activity, for honest men will rise, and you will pay for your crimes.
BRAD HOUSER, honest cattleman
Twin Peaks Ranch,
Laramie County
Not long after Houser’s letter appeared in the newspaper, Duff received an invitation to a meeting to be held by the Laramie County Cattlemen’s Association.
“Well, now, this is rather odd,” Duff said as he looked at the invitation.
“What’s odd?” Elmer asked.
“The meeting is to be held in the boardroom of the Bank of Chugwater.”
“Well, don’t you s’pose most of the cattlemen here ’bout does their business with the Bank of Chugwater?” Elmer asked.
“Aye, but that’s the point. I’ve seen the boardroom, ’n ’tis much too wee of a space to hold a meeting of all the cattlemen who belong to the Laramie County Association.”
“Well, more ’n likely some of the folks up north will decide it’s too far to come,” Elmer suggested.
“Aye, that could be,” Duff agreed.
When Duff and Elmer rode into town on the afternoon of the meeting, Duff expected to see a score or more surreys, buckboards, wagons, and horses. Instead, there were less than a dozen.
“Duff, do you think we’ve got time for a . . . ?” Elmer started to ask, but Duff interrupted him.
“Wee drop o’ the dew? Aye, ’n ’tis a good idea. You go on down, I’m going to see if Miss Meagan would care to join us.”
When Duff pushed open the door, Meagan was giving directions to Mary Ellen.
“Move the new bolts of cloth onto the front table so our customers can see what they have to choose from.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mary Ellen said.
“Duff!” Meagan said happily. “What brings you to town in the middle of the day? Oh, wait, I heard there was a cattlemen’s meeting.”
“Aye,” Duff replied. “But I’ve time to wet my whistle at Fiddler’s and ’twas hoping, I was, that ye would be for joining me.”
“I’d love to join you,” Meagan said. “Mary Ellen, you can mind the store for a short time, can’t you?”
“Oh yes, ma’am, no problem,” the young lady replied.
“Now, let’s step next door and have that drink,” Meagan said.
“Oh, I don’t mean join me just for a drink. As you are a partner in ownership of Sky Meadow, I want you to come to the cattlemen’s meeting with me.”
“Cattlemen’s meeting?” Meagan replied, smiling as she emphasized the word men.
“Aye, ye have a point. ’Twould rightly be cattlemen’s and cattle women’s meeting.”
“No, cattlemen and cattle woman’s meeting, as, no doubt, I shall be the only woman there,” Meagan corrected.
“As ye wish, but you’ll come?”
“I’ll be there bright eyed, and by your side,” Meagan said.
As Meagan’s dress shop was right next door to Fiddler’s Green, it took but a few steps for them to get there.
“Duff !” Biff greeted when the two stepped into the saloon. Biff was at his private table with Elmer. “Thank goodness you brought someone pretty to join us to offset all the ugly from this miscreant.” He nodded toward Elmer, who was already sitting at Biff’s personal table.
“You
