Bullet for a Bad Man

Deadly Tally

The butte was a red bull’s-eye at the center of a circle of green. It thrust at the blue vault of sky like an accusing finger. The two men searching for cattle were never out of sight of it.

They had been at the tally two days when Dan Morgan came trotting toward them. Ned Scott drew rein, his brow furrowed. ‘‘I wonder what Dan is doing out here. He is supposed to be on his way to Tucson to hire new hands.’’

Epp Scott leaned on his saddle horn and said he was sure he did not know. He stared at their old foreman like a snake would stare at a bird it wanted to eat, then caught himself and plastered a smile on his face.

Dan Morgan started talking before he came to a stop. ‘‘So they were right. Chester and Billy said they saw you making a count. I didn’t believe them, but here you are with the tally book in your hand.’’ His back became ramrod straight with indignation. ‘‘I will quit now and save you the bother of firing me.’’

‘‘What on earth?’’ Ned said. ‘‘Why would I do that?’’

Dan pointed at the tally book. ‘‘Because you think I miscounted at the last roundup.’’

‘‘That is the silliest thing I have ever heard. You are as honest as Daniel Boone.’’

‘‘Then I am confused.’’

Ned tapped the tally book with the pencil. ‘‘Yes, I am doing a count. But only to be sure our stock is not being rustled.’’

‘‘The hell you say!’’ Dan declared. ‘‘Why didn’t you tell me?’’

‘‘You have enough to keep you busy. I intended to let you know when the count was done and I have proof.’’ Ned told him about Cramden, the buyer for the army, and the cow-pen herd that turned out to have blotted brands.

‘‘Hanks, you say?’’ Dan Morgan pursed his lips. ‘‘I seem to recollect a drifter who passed through about a year ago by that name.’’

‘‘He stopped at the ranch?’’

Dan nodded. ‘‘I took him for a grub-line rider. He ate at the cook shack and was gone the next morning.’’

‘‘Anything else you remember about him?’’

‘‘I thought maybe he was looking for work, but he told one of our hands that he was on his way to Ranson.’’

‘‘And that was a year ago, you say?’’

‘‘Thereabouts.’’

Epp pretended to be interested in the news. ‘‘Do you reckon this Hanks was passing through our range with an eye to helping himself?’’

‘‘Could be,’’ Dan Morgan said. ‘‘I will tell our hands to keep their eyes peeled. Strangers are to be confronted, and if they find this Hanks, they are to bring him to me.’’

‘‘And you are to bring him to me,’’ Ned said. ‘‘I do not want you to string him up before I have a chance to question him.’’

‘‘A hemp social is too good for the bastard. Rustlers are the scum of creation. The only thing worse is a horse thief.’’

‘‘There are the Apaches,’’ Epp said.

‘‘They have an excuse. I would be fit to kill too if someone was trying to take my land and stick me on a reservation.’’ Dan paused. ‘‘No-accounts like Hanks have no excuse. They are money-hungry but too lazy to work for it, so they steal.’’

‘‘We don’t have proof that this Hanks stole any of our cows,’’ Epp noted. ‘‘For that matter, he might have bought them from the real rustlers.’’

‘‘And then resold them to the army?’’

‘‘If the rustlers sold them cheap enough to him, he would make a nice profit,’’ Epp said.

That prompted Ned to say, ‘‘I hadn’t thought of that, son. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. If the new tally is short we will ride to Ranson and talk to this Hanks.’’

‘‘Talk, hell,’’ Dan Morgan said.

Ned smiled. ‘‘Now that you have solved the mystery, shouldn’t you be on your way to Tucson?’’

‘‘I will wait for you to get done with the count and then go.’’

‘‘It is not like you to be contrary. Unless you have a better reason, I must insist. We are two hands short.’’

‘‘It is on account of your wife,’’ Dan Morgan said.

‘‘What now?’’

‘‘She has been crying again. Loud bouts that go on and on. She doesn’t bother to shut the windows and we can hear her, especially late at night. The men don’t complain, but it gets to them.’’

‘‘I thought she was over the worst of it or I would not have stayed away the past two nights,’’ Ned said sadly. ‘‘You did right in not leaving. Ride back and keep an eye on her.’’

‘‘What if—’’ Dan Morgan swallowed. ‘‘What if she goes into hysterics like that one time right after we heard that Boone had shot those men and disappeared?’’

‘‘Leave her be. The fit will pass, and after I get back I will take her to visit Doc Baker.’’

They sat in silence and watched their foreman ride off. Epp was the first to break it, saying, ‘‘I will never forgive Boone for what he has done to Ma and you. It was wrong of him to run off like he did.’’

‘‘I don’t care to talk about it.’’

‘‘I can’t help it, Pa. He is my brother. He is your son.’’

‘‘He is and he isn’t,’’ Ned said. ‘‘Your ma gave birth to him, the same as she did you, but we did not raise either of you to be killers. To shoot all those people. And then that girl.’’ His voice trailed off.

‘‘I would never have thought it of him,’’ Epp said, adding salt to the emotional wound.

Ned coughed. ‘‘Me either. I don’t know what got into him. He rode into Ranson and went bad, just like that.’’ He snapped his fingers. ‘‘And then he rode out of our lives without a word.’’ He looked at Epp. ‘‘Are you sure he didn’t say anything to you?’’

‘‘My ears work fine, Pa.’’

‘‘Could he have said something that gave some clue but you didn’t realize it at the time?’’

Epp shammed thinking as hard as he could. ‘‘No. Sorry. I have thought about it and thought about it and he did not give so much as a hint.’’

‘‘All right,’’ Ned said softly. Rousing, he clucked to his sorrel. ‘‘Let’s get on with the count. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can comfort your ma.’’

So far they had counted the cattle on the north side of the butte and the cattle to the west. Now they were south of it, drifting east. Up ahead, the butte’s long shadow slashed across the valley. Scattered longhorns, accustomed as they were to cowhands, ignored them.

Epp fell behind his father so he could study the butte without his father noticing. On three sides the butte was sheer cliff. But on the south side, part of the rock wall had buckled ages ago and giant stone slabs crashed onto the valley floor. Many shattered when they hit, but others did not.

Epp nodded to himself, then gigged his mount to catch up. ‘‘We should search around the bottom of the butte.’’

‘‘That can wait.’’ Ned was making for a cluster of twenty to thirty head farther out.

‘‘But we are close to it,’’ Epp said. ‘‘Why not search there first and then do the rest?’’

Ned considered the suggestion. ‘‘I suppose you are right. There might be a few among all that rock.’’ He reined toward the butte. ‘‘I want to thank you again for lending a hand.’’

‘‘I am happy to, Pa.’’

‘‘I shouldn’t tell you this. But your brother has made me so mad, I am considering changing my will.’’

Another lie tripped glibly off Epp’s tongue. ‘‘I didn’t know you had one. I just figured that if you and Ma died, everything would go to Boone and me.’’

‘‘That is what the will says. Your mother had me make it out about five years ago. Now that your brother has turned bad, I am thinking about dropping him and leaving the Circle V to you.’’

‘‘That wouldn’t be fair to Boone, Pa.’’

‘‘He gave up any claim he had when he turned his back on us.’’

‘‘I still don’t think it is right.’’ Epp paused. ‘‘But tell me. If Ma and you were to die, and Boone never comes back, would the ranch fall to me anyway? Without you having to change the will, I mean?’’

‘‘I want it in writing so that if he does come back, he can’t claim so much as an acre. As soon as this rustling business is settled, we will take your ma to Tucson and while we are there we will visit Shepherd, my law wrangler.’’

‘‘Maybe we should stop counting and go get the will changed right away,’’ Epp suggested.

‘‘Where would the sense be in that? We are here. We will keep on with the tally.’’

‘‘Whatever you say, Pa.’’

They neared the base of the butte. Shattered rock was strewn everywhere. The giant slabs were like so many brown dominoes, lying in a jumble.

‘‘We will split up,’’ Ned proposed. ‘‘You go left and I will go right. I will meet you back here when you are done.’’

Epp reined to the left and rode off. He only went a short way. Then he stopped and shifted in the saddle. The moment his father disappeared around a massive slab, Epp wheeled his mount and trailed him. He kept to a walk and repeatedly rose in the stirrups.

Ned never looked back. He scoured the ground for tracks and checked behind monoliths.

Epp came to where a column of rock twenty feet high and fifty feet long lay on its side. It had buckled in the center when it fell, leaving a gap wide enough for a rider. Ned had gone through the gap. But Epp didn’t. Drawing rein, he swung down and led his horse into shadow.

Epp stepped to the gap. On the left the stone had broken cleanly; there wasn’t so much as a fingerhold. But on the right were cracks wide enough for his hands and boots. He searched the ground and a chunk of rock about the size of a small melon, with a jagged edge, caught his eye.

It was awkward to climb with the rock in one hand, but Epp managed. He climbed until he was ten feet up. Carefully turning, he jammed his boots into suitable cracks.

Now all Epp could do was wait. The breeze had died and the air was a furnace. He felt slick with sweat. He listened but did not hear the sound he wanted to hear.

A small ant came scuttling across the slab toward him. Epp paid it no mind until a second, larger ant came hurrying after the first. The larger ant quickly overtook the smaller. They merged, antennae waving. The mandibles of the larger ant opened and closed and the smaller ant no longer had a head.

Epp grinned in amusement. ‘‘You are me,’’ he said to the large ant. Then he reached over and crushed it with the rock.

The minutes dragged.

Epp licked his lips and swallowed, but he did not have much spit. He spied a Gila monster moving from under one slab to another. In the distance several buzzards flew in circles seeking carrion to feast on.

Drained by the heat, Epp closed his eyes and sagged. No sooner did he do so than the clatter of shod hooves on rock snapped him alert. He craned his neck toward the gap. The clack-clack-clack grew louder. The head and neck of his father’s horse poked out of the gap and then his father came through, so close that Epp could have kicked him if he wanted. Instead, Epp launched himself into the air. He timed his blow just right and brought the jagged rock smashing down on top of his father’s head.

Ned cried out and flung his arms skyward. His horse, startled, bolted, and Ned tumbled to the earth and was still.

Epp came down hard on his hands and knees. Pain speared his left leg, but he gritted his teeth and moved to his father’s side. Bending, Epp rolled him over. He started to smile, but the smile died a stillbirth as his father’s Colt blossomed before his eyes.

‘‘What are you doing, Pa?’’

‘‘Son?’’ Ned said weakly. A scarlet halo was spreading from under his head.

‘‘What happened? It felt like something fell on me.’’ Ned groaned and trembled and started to lower the revolver.

‘‘It was a rock, Pa.’’ Epp snatched the Colt from his father’s grasp.

‘‘What are you doing?’’ Ned could not seem to stop shaking.

‘‘I wouldn’t want you to shoot me. Not after all the trouble I just went to.’’

‘‘What was that?’’ Ned blinked, then shook his head as if to try and clear it. Drops of blood flew every which way. Gasping for breath, he stared up at Epp. ‘‘What is that in your hand?’’

‘‘Your six-shooter.’’

‘‘In your other hand.’’

‘‘The rock I smashed your skull with.’’

‘‘Oh God.’’ Ned moaned and got his hands under him, but the highest he could rise was to his elbows, and that cost him so dearly, he sank down, spent. ‘‘This can’t be happening.’’

‘‘Just lie there and die. It shouldn’t take too long. I can see your brain through the bone.’’

Tears welled in Ned’s eyes. He tried twice to speak but could only gurgle. Finally he managed, ‘‘Why, Epp? In God’s name, why?’’

‘‘For the same reason I advised Boone that if he came back it would break your hearts. I want the Circle V. I was content to wait a few more months to make my move, but then you went and had to do a tally. You forced my hand. I couldn’t let you find out that I had a hand in the missing cattle.’’

‘‘No, no, no.’’

‘‘I’ll tell everyone a rattler spooked your horse and your horse threw you.’’ In mock sorrow Epp added, ‘‘I did all I could but you were too far gone.’’

Ned used the last of his fading strength to croak, ‘‘Your mother! What about her?’’

‘‘Don’t you worry, Pa,’’ Epp said. ‘‘She will join you directly.’’