“Doc might be able to save this one,” Coleman said. “Where are the others? I thought there were ten of those deputies.”
“Two of them are with the prison wagons down by the creek,” Sam explained. “I knocked them out and left them tied up there. I don’t know about the other two, but Matt might be able to tell us what happened to them. They’re either around here somewhere, dead or knocked out, or else they realized the jig was up and lit a shuck.”
“What a massacre,” Coleman said as he shook his head slowly. “There’s been more powder burned and more blood spilled in the past two days than Cottonwood usually sees in a month of Sundays.”
“I’m sorry Matt and I brought so much trouble to your town with us, Marshal.”
“Oh, hell, none of it was your fault, son. You just happened to be here.”
Sam wasn’t sure about that. Over the years he had come to believe sometimes that he and Matt traveled under a cloud. It wasn’t a storm cloud, though.
It was a cloud of gun smoke.
Chapter 31
The citizens of Cottonwood were coming out again all over town now that the shooting was over. The undertaker showed up with his wagon and a couple of helpers to load the bodies of the dead deputies, but before he could take charge of the corpses, Marshal Coleman commandeered him and his wagon to transport the wounded deputy down to Doc Berger’s.
“Then you can come back and deal with this bunch, Tully,” Coleman told him.
Sam and the marshal returned to the jail. They found Hannah sitting in a ladder-back chair across the room from Porter, holding the loaded shotgun on him. Porter had come to and was sitting up with his back propped against the wall. Blood from his broken, swollen nose was smeared across the lower half of his face. He lifted hate-filled eyes toward Sam and Coleman when they came in.
“I told him this scattergun has hair triggers,” Hannah said. “I believe for a minute he thought about trying to find out if I was telling the truth.”
Coleman grunted. “Better be glad you didn’t, Porter. I know that gal of mine. She’d have splattered you all over this office if you’d tried anything.” He trained his revolver on Porter. “On your feet. I’m gonna take particular pleasure in lockin’ you up.”
Sam had picked up his gun and Matt’s in the street outside. He placed Porter’s Colt on the desk and covered the crooked marshal with the other two as Porter climbed to his feet. Sam and Coleman marched Porter into the cell block and put him in the one vacant cell. The three Kane brothers watched wide-eyed from the other cells. The uproar in town tonight had finally succeeded in shutting them up. No more curses or complaints came from them.
One of them smiled, though, and said, “From the sound of things, you’ve had your hands full tonight, Marshal. It’d sure make life easier for you if you just let the three of us go.”
“I’ll tell you what I told that cousin of yours—it ain’t up to me. When the circuit judge comes through, he’ll decide what to do with you.”
Another of the brothers sneered. “Cimarron ain’t never gonna let it get that far.”
“He’s already tried twice to get you boys out of jail,” Coleman replied with a shake of his head. “You’re still here.”
“Your time’s comin’, old man! Your time’s comin’!”
Sam and Coleman left the cell block, slamming the heavy door behind them to muffle the sound of the shouted threats.
The marshal’s shoulders suddenly slumped, and he looked even older than his years. He sank down in the chair behind the desk and heaved a sigh.
“I’m gettin’ too old to be fightin’ two wars in one night,” he declared.
Sam holstered his gun and stuck Matt’s Colt behind his belt until he got a chance to return the weapon to his blood brother. “Sorry, Marshal,” he said as he perched a hip on a corner of the desk. “If I hadn’t had my hands full with Bickford and those other deputies down by the creek, I would have been here to help you fight off the Kane bunch.”
“You showed up before the ruckus was over.”
“And brought even more trouble raining down on you,” Sam pointed out.
Hannah had gone behind the desk to rest a hand on her father’s shoulder. She shook her head and said, “You did no such thing, Sam. Someone had to stop Porter and Bickford from doing those awful things. I’m glad you found out what terrible men they are.”
“Speaking of Bickford,” Sam said as he straightened, “I’d better get back down to those prison wagons and see if he’s still there. He may have regained consciousness and taken off for the tall and uncut by now.”
“Good riddance,” Coleman said. “Once we spread the word about what him and Porter were doin’, legitimate lawmen all over the state will be lookin’ for him. He won’t get away, and he’ll pay for what he’s done.”
“I hope you’re right,” Sam said. “If Matt comes by here, tell him where I’ve gone, would you?”
“Sure thing, son.”
Sam had just reached the boardwalk in front of the office when he heard Hannah say his name softly behind him. He stopped and turned to face her as she stepped outside and eased the door closed behind her.
“Sam, there’s no way I can thank you for what you and Matt have done,” she said. “You saved Dad and me tonight, not just once but twice.”
Sam shook his head. “I’m not sure Kane and his bunch would have ever gotten into the jail. It looked like the two of you were forted up pretty good.”
“But we were also badly outnumbered,” Hannah pointed out. “There’s no way we could have held them off for long, and you know it.”
Sam shrugged.
“Then that business with Porter,” Hannah went on. A little shudder passed through her. “He’s an evil man, Sam. I could feel the evil coming from him when he had hold of me.”
“I can’t argue with that. I’m glad he’s locked up where he belongs. With any luck, he’ll be behind bars until it’s time for his date with the hangman.” Sam frowned. “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said—”
“Don’t worry about offending my delicate sensibilities, Sam. I’m a lawman’s daughter, remember? I’ve seen hangings before. And from what I’ve heard tonight, Porter deserves a hang-rope as much or more than anyone I’ve run across.”
Sam smiled. “Your father was right. You are a little bloodthirsty.”
“Only in a good cause,” she said with a laugh. Then she stepped closer to him and whispered, “Sam…”
His arms went around her as she came up on her toes and lifted her mouth to his. She leaned against him as they kissed. He felt the tiny tremblings in her muscles and knew that some of it was in reaction to all the violence she had gone through tonight.
Some of it, but not all of it.
When they finally broke the kiss, he said, “I have to go see about Bickford.”
“And I’d better get back inside and make sure that Dad’s all right,” she said. “He’s not as young as he once was, you know.” She smiled up at him. “We’ll take this up again some other time, right?”
“I reckon you can count on that,” Sam told her.
After cleaning and examining Red Mike Loomis’s wound and checking the young man’s condition, Dr. Berger emerged from his examining room and told Matt, “I think young Loomis will recover. It appears that the bullet missed any vital organs and did only a limited amount of damage. The blood loss is the main problem. With rest and proper care, he should be all right.”
Matt nodded in relief. “Thanks, Doc. He seems like a fine hombre, so I’m glad to hear it.”
One of the townsmen who had carried Mike to the doctor’s house looked out the front window and announced, “Looks like you got more work comin’, Doc. The undertaker’s wagon just pulled up outside, and they’re unloadin’ somebody.”