I stayed well clear of the trail up to the Butcher place. Approaching from the southwest, I was soon in deep timber. I cautiously wound higher until I judged I was due south of their cabin. Then I reined north.
I had a few landmarks to go by. A ridge, for instance, I had noticed from the clearing. It was half a mile from their place. When I spotted a lightning-scarred tree, I knew I was as close as I dared go on horseback.
I did not like leaving Brisco unattended. Horse thieves were two bits a dozen in that part of the country. Stray Indians could not be discounted, either. But if I was to sneak close to their cabin undetected, I had to do it on foot.
As a precaution I led Brisco into a thicket, trampled a circle wide enough for him to lie down if he was so inclined, then shucked my rifle and was ready to commence spilling blood. I left the scattergun in my bedroll. In the daylight the Winchester afforded greater range.
I had been thinking about Sissy on the ride up. I had not known her well. She had been friendly, though, and treated me nice. And now she was worm food. It bothered me. Not that she was dead, but that I was thinking about her being dead. Normally, I never gave a thought after the fact to the wicks I snuff out. I refuse to let myself think about them. Yet here I was, thinking about her.
I spied smoke curling into the sky. Casting Sissy from my mind, I concentrated on the job. I got down on my belly and snaked through the undergrowth like an Apache, stopping often to look and listen.
I was about a hundred yards from the cabin when a cough froze me in place. As slowly as a turtle, I swiveled my head. It took fifteen to twenty seconds to spot him, he was so well hid.
It was Jordy, armed with a rifle and a brace of pistols, perched in the crook of an oak.
I was amazed he had not spotted me. Then I saw that the heat of the afternoon was getting to him. He kept yawning. His chin would droop to his chest, and when it did, he would jerk his head up and shake himself to stay awake.
I could have picked him off. One shot, and he would drop like a sitting grouse. But he was not the only fish I was there to fry and the others must not be forewarned. So I lay still and waited.
The sun was well on its downward sweep when the crackle of brush and low whistling warned me someone was coming.
Kip Butcher strolled into view, carelessly holding his rifle by the barrel. He halted at the base of the oak and glanced up.
“You’re the ugliest squirrel I’ve ever seen.”
“Did you come to spew insults or do you have a purpose?” Jordy retorted.
“Ma says I’m to relieve you and stay out here until midnight. Then Carson will take my place.”
Jordy started climbing down, saying, “Are you sure you made enough noise? The Kiowas might not have heard you.”
“There ain’t no Kiowas within a hundred miles.”
“Maybe so. But you know better than to barge around like an elk in rut. You can bet those cowboys won’t make noise when they pay us a visit.”
“If they come,” Kip said. “I suspect they’ll think twice after what Ty and Clell and Carson did to those two in town.”
Jordy did not say anything until he reached the ground. Then, “Listen to me, little brother. There’s no if about it. The cowboys will come and they will come in force. We had damned well better be ready or we will damned well be dead.”
“I’m as ready as you are.”
“Like hell. Or you wouldn’t clomp through the woods like you did.” Jordy put a callused hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Your problem is that you are never serious enough about things. You take life too lightly.”
“I’ve taken Sissy’s death serious enough.”
Jordy gazed at the surrounding forest, his eyes passing right over me without seeing me. “Stay alert. Spot them before they spot you and get word to us pronto.”
“You don’t have to tell me what to do. I was there when Ma gave us our instructions, remember?”
“She’s smart, our ma. Like a fox,” Jordy said. “Killing those two cowpokes will make the rest come to us. We can fight them on our terms, as she puts it, and not on theirs.”
Kip nodded. “There are more of them, but we’ll have the edge. They don’t know these woods like we do.”
“It will be even better if they come at night. Most cowboys can’t hit the broad side of a barn unless they’re standing right next to it, and in the dark their aim will be worse.”
“The one who shot Sissy had good aim,” Kip remarked.
“He was using a shotgun,” Jordy said, “and shotguns are like cannons. They don’t need aiming. You just point and squeeze.”
Kip reached up to a low limb, then paused. “Say, what if all the cowboys bring shotguns?”
“There aren’t that many hand howitzers to be had in these parts,” Jordy said. “Besides, we’re ready for them this time.”
“I sure as hell hope so.” Kip went up limb by limb until he came to the fork. He hooked a leg over one limb and his other leg over another, but that did not suit him so he hooked both legs over the same limb.
Jordy was heading for the cabin and had his back to me.
I resumed crawling. I was almost to the edge of the trees when the front door opened and out ambled Daisy. I was pleased to see her and shouldn’t have been. I considered raising my rifle and shooting her through the head to prove I could do it, but that was plain stupid.
Hannah emerged. They came in my direction, apparently for no other reason than to stretch their legs. They were calm and at ease, remarkable in light of the circumstances.
“—you would reconsider.” Hannah’s words reached me. “I’ve already lost one daughter. I don’t care to lose you, too.”
“I’m a Butcher, ain’t I?” Daisy responded. “I refuse to run out on my kin when they need me most.”
“It’s not running, daughter. It’s playing safe,” Hannah said. “Calista said she would take you in. You could lie low until this is over.”
“No means no,” Daisy declared.
“I’d take it as a favor.”
“Don’t. Please, Ma. I could never live with myself if they bucked out all of you and I wasn’t here to help. Why, I would march right up to the LT and call out that shrew and shoot her dead unless they shot me first.”
“Consarn it, Daisy Mae. Don’t be so blamed pigheaded,” Hannah said, but she said it tenderly.
Daisy grinned. “I take after my ma.”
“Nothing I can say or do will change your mind?”
“Not short of conking me over the noggin so you can hog-tie me and cart me off to Whiskey Flats,” Daisy said.
Hannah was trying to appear madder than she was. “I should do just that to spite you. But I won’t. Because you’re right. You are part of this family and this family always sticks together through thick and thin.”
“Now that that’s settled,” Daisy said, “how about you let me take a turn at keeping watch?”
“I’ll think about it,” Hannah said in a way that hinted she would not give it any thought at all. “In the meantime, you’re not to wander off by your lonesome. You hear me?”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to wear a leash?”
Her comment reminded me of their dog. I had not seen it the night I shot Sissy; I did not see it now. Yet the logical place for it to be was outside where its sense of smell and hearing could be put to good use. Where had it gotten to?
“We only have one leash and Ty and Clell took it with them,” Hannah was saying. “I hope my plan works. I’m taking an awful chance.”
“None of us would have thought of it,” Daisy said by way of praise.
“When a pack of wolves is on your trail, you don’t sit and wait for them to surround you,” Hannah said. “You go after the wolves in their own den.”