CHAPTER 7
BARN OF BLOOD
During the journey into town the men discussed very little. The moon cast long shadows of the tents into the night. The lamplight shining from the doorways of tents added to the illumination. Hoots and hollers marked the location of the bar, one of the few woodened structures in town. The three men headed toward it.
Outside the door two men fought. Covered in mud and blood, one of the men Elliot recognized. “It’s Clubfoot George Lane,” he said. “They say he’s one tough customer.”
Tyler smiled. “I told you, I’d beat the devil hisself. Still, we need to bide our time and watch where he goes when he leaves. He’s not going back to Lewiston tonight, and hopefully he won’t find a girl from the dance hall and stay here.”
“How do you know it’s George?” Terry asked. Elliot simply pointed at the man’s strangely-designed boot that compensated for his deformed foot. “Oh, I see now. I thought he surrendered himself in Fort Lapwai after the Berry thing and they locked him in the guardhouse?”
Tyler shrugged. “Or, he lent one of those boots to a man he threatened. That guy turned hisself in claiming to be Clubfoot. When it gets worked out they’ll know they got the wrong man. Just a guess. Let’s go and wait for him to leave.”
Clubfoot George punched the man into the mud. The man stayed in the mud. George turned and walked in the bar. The defeated man followed him a moment later.
The vigilantes rode their horses into the darkness between a pair of tents and waited at a spot they could watch the bar. The noise grew louder as the night went on. Elliot grew tired of waiting. “Why don’t we wait in the saloon? We can watch ‘em better and have a drink at the same time.”
Terry shook his head and spit on the ground. “If Tyler’s a marked man, it’ll spook ‘em at best. They’ll cause trouble for us at worst and we might be fightin’ 60 men at once. Best to wait ‘em out.”
Elliot shrugged. “It was a thought anyway.”
“Spending time herding cattle will give you some patience, Elliot,” Tyler said.
“Yep,” Elliot said. “That’s why I’m not a cowboy or a miner. I don’t have the patience. That’s why I’m a blacksmith. It takes patience, but not as much.”
About midnight Clubfoot George stumbled out of the bar with a woman. “Dang,” Terry said. “He’ll be here all night.”
“Yep,” Tyler pointed, “but look!” Out of the saloon walked the man Clubfoot George had beaten in the fight. Stumbling, he climbed onto his horse and spurred it to a trot. “Let’s follow.”
“Do you think he’s a rough?” Terry asked.
Tyler stared at the man, trying to see his face in the dark. “Dunno. I bet Clubfoot woulda shot him if not. Must be somebody that Clubfoot George wants around as a sparring partner.”
Terry shrugged. “Honor among thieves?”
All three of them laughed.
They tailed the rider out of town at a reasonable distance. They moved to the side of the road and took what cover they could while keeping pace enough for the occasional visual confirmation. As predicted, the rider headed toward Florence.
Elliot watched the rider ahead of them. “He’s not going all the way to Florence tonight is he?”
Tyler shook his head. “No. It’s too far for a drunk man. He must be going some nearby.”
“Mebbe Alder Gulch,” Terry put in.
They followed the man down the road until they came to the small town of Alder. “Looks like you were right Terry,” Tyler said.
Elliot nodded. “Nobody knows this area better than Terry.”
They followed their quarry to viewing distance of a barn some distance from the road. Looking about, the rider moved his horse into the structure.
Terry looked at Tyler. “You suppose they’ve got ‘em in there?”
Tyler pulled his pistol. “Just one way to find out.”
“Whoa Tyler! Don’t let your anger go to your head! We can’t go in there blazin’ away!”
“We can’t?” Terry asked.
“NO!” Elliot insisted. “They’ll be on guard for something. We’ve got to plan this out, and we don’t need to kill nobody if we don’t need.”
Tyler nodded. “Guess you’re right, brother. Let’s see the lay of the land first.”
The three conferred on the best plan of attack and examined the barn from a distance. The moonlight offered them a view to the front, where a single guard walked with a shotgun.
Quietly, the trio crawled through the field to a berm of dirt fifty feet from the guard.
“Okay,” Terry said. “We gotta take that guard out, and quiet like.”
“How are we gonna do that?” Elliot wanted to know.
“We’ve got to take him prisoner,” Terry said. “I’ve got an idea how.” Terry picked up a rock and threw it, striking the guard in the head. The blow knocked the man unconscious.
“How’d you know that would work?” Tyler asked.
Terry shrugged. “I used to hunt muskrats that way back home.” He smiled. “Still a pretty good throw, ain’t I?”
Elliot approved. “It was a dumb risk you took, but that was a great shot.”
“Yep,” Tyler said. “We didn’t have to kill him, and he’s out stone-cold. You boys remember your time in the war?”
They nodded. “Good. Let’s sneak up on ‘em. Take ‘em out one by one, if there’s not too many. If there is too many…” he cocked his shiny revolver. “We fight our way through. Let’s hope it don’t come to that. I’ve had a belly full of killin’ lately.”
Terry went first as he ran across the field. Unnoticed, he tied the unconscious guard up and gagged him. He waved to Tyler and Elliot that all was okay. The pair ran quietly to meet Terry. Terry peeked through the slightly-ajar barn door. “Looks like the feller we followed and one other’s all we got to contend with. There’s only three horses in there. That accounts for ‘em all.”
Tyler sighed lowly. “Good. That’s nowhere near as hard as I thought.” He shook his head and nodded toward the unconscious guard. “It’s too bad we don’t know that cusses name. We could call in an’ talk to ‘em.”
“Leave it to me,” Terry whispered. “Those guys don’t look none too bright.”
“Hey fellas,” he said through the barn door. “Can one of you come out here a sec?”
One of them shouted back, “Whatcha need, Lou?”
“Just get your stupid hide out here!” Terry replied.
“Geez, he’s gettin’ testy an all! You go Mike.”
“Why me? He gets aggressive with me, but he likes you Dylan.”
“Just get your hide out there, like the man said!”
“Okay, okay! I’m a goin’.”
Mike walked out of the barn, bruised and battered being the one who fought with Clubfoot George earlier in the night. He saw Terry and his face seemed confused. He turned to shout, but Tyler raised his gun and struck Mike from behind. Tyler pulled the man outside and they tied him up. They dragged him and the guard over the ground and tossed them in a ditch.
“Two down, one to go,” Elliot whispered.
They walked back to the barn door. Tyler peeked in. “Do you see your friends in there, Tyler?” Terry asked.
Tyler shook his head. “They’re probably in the loft. Get that last one out here, Terry.”
Terry shook his head “I said they didn’t look too bright, but I don’t think that feller’s gonna fall for the same trick. We’ll need to do this the hard way.”
Tyler held his gun in the air. “The hard way it is, then.”
He walked quietly into the barn, watching the man’s movements.
Tyler didn’t expect the blow he received from behind. “Watch out, Dylan!” a fourth rough said. Tyler tried to stay conscious. “This one’s tryin’ to sneak up on you!”
A shotgun pressed into Terry’s lower back and another one into Elliot’s. “Okay you Union boys-you know the drill. Start marchin’! An’ I ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie, so you two Yanks better watch yerself!”
Terry gritted his teeth. “I try mah best to forget the battlefield. Yah all call me a Yank again, an’ I’ll split yer face!”
Both of the men wore bandanas over their faces. The one with his gun pointed at Terry spoke. “Jes’ hush it! We tied our horses up out back just waitin’ for Tyler there to show up. Guess what? He came just like we thought. Didn’t expect you pair, but it don’t mean nothin’. Kill one or kill three, it’s all the same. We still gotta get rid of John an’ his wife…” The man smiled viciously. “Gettin’ rid of her will take us a might longer.”
The other rough spoke up. “Yeah. We’ll be rid of ya’ll in the next five minutes!” The man who struck a blow to Tyler’s temple and dragged the semi-conscious man out of the barn. “Let’s take ‘em out back. The dirt’s softer out there fer diggin’ graves.”
The first rough shouted into the barn, “You stay and guard ‘em, Dylan. We’re gonna fertilize the dirt with these cowpies.”
In a few moments they had Terry and Elliot tied to sturdy trees. They tied Tyler to one between his friends. “Now Tyler,” the rough said, “I suppose you want to know who I am before ya all die?”
Tyler spat on the ground. “I know who you are already. You ain’t nuthin’.”
“Well, since yer askin’ so polite…” the man pulled his bandana under his chin and revealed his face.
Tyler’s face distorted in anger. “YOU! If I ever get my hands on you…”
The man laughed and raised his shotgun to point at Tyler. “You won’t.”
The man aimed and pulled at the trigger. A tomahawk appeared from nowhere and struck the finger clean off. The man howled and fell back, his shotgun discharging harmlessly into the tree branches as it struck the ground. The other two rushed for cover.
An arrow sliced the ropes holding Tyler. In a few, quick seconds he was on the rough with the missing finger. The rough tried to pull his gun but Tyler punched him square in the face. He continued hitting the man, shouting with rage. The rough fell unconscious.
Two more arrows released Terry and Elliot, the later grabbing the bloodied shotgun from the ground as Terry grabbed the rough’s pistol from the dirt and collared Tyler with the other hand. He pulled his maddened friend to safety as gunshots kicked up the dirt around them. Elliot and Terry took up defensive positions. “What the heck got into you, Tyler?”
Tyler recovered his senses. “I’ll tell you after you give me that pistol!”
Terry looked at the unconscious man lying in the dirt. “I’m not gonna let you kill an unarmed and defenseless man, Tyler. You couldn’t live with that.”
“Yes,” Tyler said through gritted teeth. “Yes I could.”
Groggily, the man stood up and ran stumbling behind the barn. “I guess that settles the matter for now. You’re gonna tell me everything when this is done, son. I won’t forget neither.”
Tyler shrugged. “I don’t mind tellin’ you. Let’s finish this here first.”
Luke ran up from the trees behind them. “I’m here Tyler!”
Tyler turned and looked at the boy. “I thought I told you to stay at my spread!”
Luke nodded as he threw himself on the ground next to them as gunshots chewed up the dirt mound they hid behind. “I know,” the youth replied.
“It’s not good to break a promise!” Tyler said.
“I never promised. You said ya’ll would worry about me, and I said I understood. I stayed out of sight so you fellers wouldn’t worry about me, but I ain’t gonna stand by when my mom and dad are in danger!”
Tyler patted the boy on the shoulder. “Well, you shouldn’t be here, but thanks for savin’ my hide with that tomahawk. Just watch yourself, okay? This ain’t play time. I need you to act like a man. We can’t keep you out of trouble all the time.”
Luke’s face beamed with pride. “Looks to me like I’m keepin’ you out of trouble.”
Tyler struck the boy lightly on the back of his head. “Don’t get smart Luke. We gotta get out of this and get your parents. There ain’t time for horseplay.”
Luke nodded. “Sorry, Tyler. I keep outta your hair.”
“Good.” Tyler looked at the gun Terry had taken from the rough. “I wish I had my gun.”
“Is this it?” Luke asked, holding up the shiny revolver.
Tyler took the pistol. “Where’d you find it?”
“They left it in the dirt where you dropped it in the barn. Weren’t nothin’ to grab it real quick without Dylan noticin’.”
Tyler closed his eyes. “Thanks again, Luke. You really came through by not listenin’ to what I told you. Let’s just hope we can get out of this again.”
Terry watched one of the Innocents try to sneak behind a tree. He pulled the trigger on his pistol. The man fell to the ground holding his leg. Another shot blew the gun apart in the rough’s hand. “We just keep an eye on that one, He’s out of our hair for a while. We still got two more out there. That ain’t countin’ Dylan in the barn or any others we missed.”
Tyler shook his head. “I think they pulled out all their cards. We’re dealing with just those four until others show up or they take the time to untie the guard and Mike. I’m surprised they ain’t thought of it yet.”
Elliot checked his bullets. “We’d better make a move before they figure it out and even the odds.”
Terry pulled at his mustache. “I say one of us stays here and watches for the kid. I’ll stick around if you two run for the right side of the barn. That other owlhoot ran to the left side and that’s where the feller with the game leg will stick as long as we hold him down. They can’t do nothin’, and mebbe the kid can send out a couple of arrows to keep ‘em occupied.”
Tyler checked his gun and looked at Terry. “That sounds real dumb Terry.” He turned to Elliot. “You ready?” Elliot nodded. Terry shot toward the left side of the barn. Both men leapt to their feet and ran for the other side.
The man who’d lost his finger had retrieved a pistol and poked his head out to fire. Terry shot at him and the rough ducked back behind the barn.
Luke shot an arrow toward the man with the injured leg as he tried to crawl away. “I’d stay right there if’n I were you, mister.” The rough nodded.
Tyler and Elliot made it to the side of the barn and leaned against it to catch their breath. “I just ain’t as young as I was when I was boy.”
Tyler let out a low laugh. “That’s a mouthful you said there, pard.”
“Watch it!” Elliot shouted as he spun and fired his pistol as one of the roughs appeared at the corner with a shotgun. The rough fell against the barn, his weapon discharging into the ground as he toppled over. “Huh. Guess I still got my reflexes.”
Tyler bent over the dead Innocent. He pulled the bandana up with the nozzle of his gun to look at the face. “Nobody I know.”
Elliot shook his head. “I don’t want to know cusses that try an’ shoot us.”
Tyler nodded. “Yep.”
“What’s with you an’ that other feller?”
“I told you I’d tell you later. We got work to do now.”
The pair snuck toward the front of the barn as a horse and rider rushed down the road. “That no good snake in the grass!” Tyler exclaimed as the man he beat earlier escaped. He shot a bullet after him, but the horse moved behind the trees.
Elliot put his hand on his shoulder. “Leave it. We’ve only got a couple left, and only Dylan’s standing. Let’s get your friends back, if they’re even still here.”
“Or if they ever were.” Tyler grabbed the shotgun out of the dead rough’s hands. “Let’s go find out.”
They looked around the corner of the barn to see Dylan guarding the door cautiously. “Go around to the other side,” Tyler said. “We’ll catch him in between.”
“What about the lame rough?” Elliot asked.
“I’m sure Terry’s got him trussed up like a deer by now. They must have heard the horse take off and the gunshot. I’m sure they figured the others would be busy at least, and out of action at worst. Just hurry!”
Elliot ran around the barn, seeing the lame rough tied to a tree. Terry and Luke guarded him while they watched the barn for signs. Elliot gave a wave as he rushed by and they waved back. He came around the other side. Tyler stepped out holding the shotgun in one arm and his pistol in the other. “Give it up, Dylan.”
Dylan spun to aim his gun at Tyler, but Elliot’s voice spoke from behind him. “You can leave here alive or dead, rough. It’s your choice. If you don’t drop the gun, we’ll make the choice for you.”
Dylan dropped the gun and put his hands up and shrugged. “I ain’t dying tonight. Plummer or the gallows might catch me, but I’m hoping ta die in the cold prison. Quite a promising life, doncha think?”
Tyler had to chuckle. “Sorry you made some bad choices friend. You could have been an entertainer. Where are the woman and the man?”
Dylan nodded toward the barn. “They’re up in the loft.”
Tyler rushed in as Elliot began tying Dylan with some rope. He climbed the ladder to the loft. Rose and John were tied against a post in the hay-strewn center. Tyler pulled his knife out and cut their ropes. When they were free, they untied the blindfolds the roughs put over their eyes and removed their gags. Crying, Rose rushed over to Tyler and put her arms around his neck. “Thank you!”
John smiled. “Hey, hey!” he said. He looked a bit worn from the ordeal. “Lay off Tyler, will you? Yah all aimin’ tah make me jealous?”
Tyler laughed. Rose joined him. “Don’t worry about it, John. Rose loves you too much to go runnin’ off.”
John nodded. “I know that. She’s a good woman.”
Rose stole a glance at Tyler before giving John a smile. “I love you John.” She threw her arms around his neck to kiss him.
Tyler allowed time for them to embrace. The others walked into the barn. “We better get going,” he said. “The rough that rode away will come back with help. We want to be gone long before they make it back.”
Luke climbed the ladder and rushed to his parents. “Mom! Dad! You’re okay!” They both hugged him.
“We better get goin’ son,” John said. “The night’s not over yet, and the roughs will be back.”
They got downstairs and prepared to ride. “What about the roughs we tied up?” Elliot asked.
“Throw ‘em in the buckboard,” Tyler said. “Rose can ride my horse, and John can ride in the back with the prisoners.”
Terry nodded. “We can take ‘em to the hideaway where we hold onto the innocents until we get ‘em to the judge. Just follow me and Elliot.” They blindfolded the roughs so they couldn’t see where they were going before riding into the night.