Posted by The Black Knight on January 12, 2001 at 21:03:31:
Chapter 5
Fred Robertson lit a cigar off of an oil lamp in his ranch house. He opened his gold watch and looked down.
"It's two o'clock and they're not here yet." Fred said.
"They'll be here, don't worry about that." Clarissa Chalmers said with a smile on her face.
She slid down onto a couch and leaned over to the side. Fred smiled as he sat down beside her and patted her cheek.
"If people in town knew your connection to me they might just have another lynching." Fred said.
Clarissa pulled his hand away.
"Before that happens I would personally shoot your black little heart out." Clarissa said.
"Nice to know you're so forgiving, Clarissa." Fred said as he stood up.
The door opened and a cow hand came in.
"What do you want, Webb?" Fred asked.
"It's that Brannigan woman, Mister Robertson. She won't shut up. She just keeps singing and praying. She's driving me crazy." Webb said.
"I can shut her up." Clarissa said.
"No. I don't like killing women." Fred said.
"That didn't stop you with Vanessa Cooper, Karen Sampson, or Tiffany Parker." Clarissa said.
"That was Paskel, he could kill anything that moved." Fred said.
"Gag her." Clarissa said as she stood up.
Webb nodded and left.
"I don't understand why you want all the land." Fred said.
"I didn't expect you to. Do you know why this town is called Red Gulch?" Clarissa asked.
"Because of the color of the hills on the North end of town." Fred said.
"Do you know why they're red?" Clarissa asked.
"I never really thought about it." Fred said.
"Iron. The whole town is sitting on it. We can't mine it unless we have all of it." Clarissa said.
"Those eyes are almost green with greed." Fred said.
Clarissa smiled.
"Remember this, Fred. No one, not even a United States Marshal is going to stand in my way. I want him dead. Then get those farmers out of the valley." Clarissa said.
"My men are stationed along the fence line, Clarissa. There is no way those two can get in here." Fred said.
Meanwhile on the side of the ranch Jess and Luke stood on a bluff overlooking the first fence line. Two cowboys stood on the inside of the fence below.
"Any ideas on how to get by them quietly?" Luke asked.
Jess walked back to his horse. He unfastened the saddle and took it off.
"What are you doin', this is no time for beddin' down your horse." Luke said.
Jess shrugged it off and took of the bridle.
"On the other side of those men there is a pond. In all my years with horses I know that a loose one always heads for water." Jess said as stepped away from the horse.
"I assume your horse is no different?" Luke asked.
"Not really." Jess said as the stallion ran off down the bluff.
"What's that there?" one of the cow hands said as he spotted the horse.
"That's a horse. Ain't ya never seen a horse before?" the other one answered.
"Get a rope on that thing." the first one said as the stallion came near the fence.
Both men ran toward their saddles as the stallion jumped the fence. They both picked up ropes and walked toward the pond where the stallion stood drinking. While they were preoccupied with capturing
the loose horse Jess and Luke slipped through the fence line. Jess pointed toward the men as he drew a knife from his right boot. Luke shook his head as crept toward them. The cowboys slipped a rope on
the stallion neck as he drank from the pool of water, still not noticing the two lawmen behind them. Jess grabbed the blade of his knife and brought the handle of the knife down on the first cowboy's head. He grunted as he fell face first into the mud. The second one spun toward Jess and Luke slapped the butt of his rifle into the back of his neck.
"You know we coulda left 'em." Luke said.
"And let me walk out of here?" Jess asked.
Luke pulled wire cutters out of his duster and began cutting the barbed wire.
"Always carry wire cutters, Sherrif?" Jess asked.
Luke shook his head as Jess went to retrieve his saddle. They rode uneventfully through the other two fence lines planting dynamite along the fence posts as they went. They came around the right side of the
bluff that stood behind Fred Robertson's ranch house.
"That light in the window up there is probably where Robertson is." Jess said.
"Why would he be up at this hour?" Luke asked.
"Guilty conscience maybe." Jess said.
"We should probably get Rebecca Brannigan first." Luke said.
"Any idea how we could find her?" Jess asked.
"We look." Jess said as he dismounted.
The shadows of a moon-less night made their approach to the ranch house undetectable. Just as they reached one of the doors, it opened and Webb walked out. He jerked as he heard a revolver cock beside his head.
"Would you care to take us to Miss Brannigan?" Jess asked.
Luke took Webb's gun and tucked it in his belt. Webb walked back into the door, which was a private guest bed room. Rebecca Brannigan sat with her hands tied behind her and a kerchief tied around her mouth.
"Didn't your Daddy ever warn you there would be days like this?" Clarissa said as she stepped behind them.
She held in her small hand a small double barreled Derringer.
"Before you think about heroics and going down in a blaze of glory. I will tell you that you won't." Fred Robertson said from the corner.
"Now this I didn't expect." Jess said throwing his Colts on the bed.
"It would seem that Red Gulch will need a new Sherrif. Webb would make an excellent choice." Clarissa said.
Webb took his gun back out of Luke's belt and threw Luke's gun on the bed.
"Now let's see how well you accept defeat." Clarissa said pointing her gun at Jess' head.
"Not yet, my dear. We may still need them, at least until morning." Fred said.
"Yes, when Brannigan and his followers come to see you. It will be very demoralizing to see their champions cut down like dogs." Clarissa said.
"Webb, bring them into the parlor. Miss Brannigan too." Fred said.