At that instant, Virgil Castle returned with two cowhands. They came in and stopped, looking startled at what they saw.
One of the cowhands said, “Mr. Castle, what in the hell is going on?”
They both glanced at Longarm holding the pistol on the father and the two sons. One of them moved his hand an inch or two toward his own revolver.
Longarm said, “Don’t do anything sudden or foolish, son. I am a deputy United States marshal. I am arresting these men. You are directed right now to get outside and hitch up a buckboard. I am taking them to town with me. Spread the word among the other people that work here on this ranch. If there is any interference with the United States marshal in the performance of his duty, the first man that gets shot is going to be Mr. Vernon Castle. Is that clear?”
They stared at him, open-mouthed. Then one of them turned back to Vernon Castle and said, “Boss, what are we supposed to do?”
Vernon Castle said through clenched teeth, “For the time being, do what he tells you. We’ll get this all straightened out with the sheriff in town.” He turned to look at Longarm. “And then we’ll get this hash settled once and for all.”
Longarm said, “Now for the last time, you two men get out of here and get a buggy hitched. Bring it around to the front. I’ve got a wounded man in here. You savvy?”
Vernon Castle said, “Yes, Tom. Hurry up and get that buggy around. We need to get Glenn into a doctor. Make it a buckboard so he can stretch out.”
The two cowhands nodded and then departed. Virgil Castle just stood there. Longarm said, “You.” He motioned at Virgil. “Get over there with the rest of your family.”
Virgil stared at him as if he didn’t understand what he meant. Vernon Castle erupted into anger. He said, “Oh, no. No, no. You can well see that my son couldn’t be guilty of anything. He is a child, Marshal. Surely you’re not taking him in.”
Longarm appeared to be adamant. He said, “Why shouldn’t I? He’s one of the bunch. Doesn’t he help run the family business?”
Vernon Castle said desperately, “My God, man. Look at him. Listen to him. Does he sound like he helps run the business? He’s a child.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do with him? Just leave him here?”
“For God’s sake, man. Just leave him alone. Leave him here. The people on the ranch will look after him. They understand him.” Longarm asked, “You gonna guarantee no trouble if I leave him here?”
“Yes, yes, yes. Yes, we’ll go along quietly. We’ll get this matter settled in town, but for heaven’s sakes, leave the boy alone.”
Longarm said with a grudging sound in his voice, “Well, all right, but if he is in any way involved in this cattle business, you’ll be the loser in it.”
Vernon Castle said, “Oh, damn, man. Would you stop this business about illegal cattle. Nobody’s involved in anything.”
“You heard the charges and you can bet that I intend to get to the bottom of it.” As he said it, he knew they were thinking only about the business of illegally imported cattle. They would have no way of knowing the whole operation was aimed at catching the murderers of the U.S. Cavalry soldiers.
Longarm said, “All right, I hear that buckboard coming. Ya’ll get that boy on his feet and ya’ll start toward the front door.” He motioned with his gun. “And if anybody gets cute, it will be the last time they get a chance to do anything. Do you understand me?”
For answer, they stared at him with hate in their eyes. He decided right then and there that the Castles were just a little bit spoiled.
With the grudging, almost rebellious cooperation of the sheriff, Longarm finally got his prisoners housed in the jail. He put the two brothers in one cell and their father in another directly across from them. A doctor had been called in to see to Glenn’s wound. As Longarm had guessed, it was very slight—just a furrow along the outside of his thigh. Not much deeper than you could have laid a finger in. The doctor didn’t speak much except about the wound, but he seemed extremely puzzled as to what such a powerful family was doing in jail. Longarm made it clear that he should finish his business as fast as possible and get out and that he was under federal orders to keep his mouth shut.
Almost as soon as the door had shut on his cell, Vernon Castle had begun clamoring for his lawyer. He now told the sheriff, “Get Botts. Get Clarence Botts over here immediately. We don’t want to stay in these cells any longer than we have to. Do you understand me, Sheriff? Get over there and get me Clarence Botts.”
Longarm said, “I don’t know if it’s in the rules that you can send a law officer to fetch your lawyer. I’m not at all certain about that.” But he was just saying it for effect. He knew the problem that the lawyer was going to run into better than Mr. Castle did. Mr. Castle didn’t know it, but he was going to be in the jail cell a lot longer than he could ever expect.
Sheriff Smith said belligerently to Longarm, “Listen, Marshal, you sonofabitch. You can’t order me around. If I want to go get this man his lawyer, then I’m going to go get this man his lawyer.”
Longarm fixed the sheriff with an icy look. “I have a feeling, Sheriff Smith, that you are going to be occupying one of these cells yourself before this is all over with.”
“You go to hell.”
The sheriff turned on his heel, marched down the line of cells, and went out into his outer office, slamming the lockup door behind him.
Longarm had shown the telegram warrant to Vernon Castle and his two sons. Mr. Castle had immediately questioned the legality of a warrant sent by telegram. Longarm had assured him that it was legal and that his lawyer would so advise him as soon as he arrived.
The lawyer was not long in coming. Perhaps ten minutes passed after the sheriff left before a short, balding man came bustling down the line of cells saying, “All right, what is this all about? I demand to know what this is all about right now.”
Longarm said, “My name is Custis Long. I am a deputy U.S. marshal out of Denver, Colorado. You must be the lawyer of these accused parties.”
The little man was almost stuttering he was so upset. “I am. I am Clarence Botts. What right do you have to place these prominent citizens of this town in this jail?”
Longarm answered, “By the power of the United States federal government.”
Botts said, “I don’t care if you’re a deputy sheriff to the President of the United States. You have no night arresting a man like Vernon Castle.”
From his cell, Vernon Castle said, “Clarence, get us out of here. The man has some sort of bogus telegram from a federal judge. Just get us the hell out of here.”
Mr. Botts said placatingly, “Mr. Castle, I will have you out of here within the hour. You can be assured of that.”
Longarm reached for his pocket and took out the warrant. He said, “I wouldn’t be quite so sure about all that, Mr. Botts. You better read this. It’s from a federal judge out of Omaha, Nebraska.”
While Botts was reading the telegram and reading it again and rereading it, Longarm stood serenely by. He figured that he was much more experienced in such matters than the small-town lawyer. What the lawyer was about to find out was that no local judge could vacate the warrant or set bail. That could only be done by a federal judge, and the nearest federal judge was 150 miles away.
Mr. Botts finished reading the telegram and cleared his throat several times. He looked at Mr. Castle and said, “Mr. Castle, I want you to be very understanding about something, sir.”
Chapter 9
Vernon Castle was so angry that he could hardly speak. He said, “What do you mean you’ve got to get to a federal judge to get us out of this damn jail. Get over to Judge Watkins. Get him to set bail or to release me immediately. My God, when I think of the money I’ve contributed to that man’s campaign.”