“No,” Dawson answered.
With his pistol pointed up toward the loft above him, Smoke moved quietly through the barn itself, looking up at the hayloft just overhead. Suddenly, he felt little pieces of hay falling on him and he stopped, because he realized that someone had to be right over him. Then he heard it, a quiet shuffling of feet. Smoke fired twice, straight up. Then he heard a groan and a loud thump.
“Dawson! Dawson, are you hit?” Quentin called.
Smoke realized then that he had expended every shot, so he opened the gate and started poking the empty shell casings from the cylinder chambers of his pistol.
“Well, now, look here,” a calm voice said. Smoke glanced over to his left to see Quentin standing in the open, on the edge of the loft. He was holding a pistol pointed at Smoke, and from this range, it would be very hard for him to miss.
“You’re out of bullets, aren’t you, you son of a bitch.” He voice was confident, almost triumphant.
Smoke heard the pistol shot, then saw the expression on Quentin’s face change from triumph, to shock, then to pain. Quentin dropped his pistol, grabbed the hole in his chest, then pitched forward, turning over once on the way down to land on his back.
Looking toward the open doors, Smoke saw Sally standing there, holding a smoking pistol.
“What took you so long?” Smoke asked.
Sally smiled. “You know how we women are, Smoke. I didn’t want to come outside until I knew my hair looked all right.”
Smoke chuckled. “Your hair is beautiful,” he said.
When Smoke and Sally went back out into the street, they saw Cal running toward them.
“Where’s Pearlie?” Smoke asked.
“He and Lenny are down there at the freight warehouse. They have Wilson and a couple of cowboys from the Tumbling Q holed up inside with Mary Lou.”
“Is Mary Lou all right?” Sally asked anxiously.
“Yes, ma’am, I think she is. It’s just that they say that if we try and come in after ’em, they’ll kill her.”
“Let’s go get her out,” Smoke said.
By now, nearly the entire town was out in the street, many of them gathered around Snake Cates’s body, others beginning to come into the livery to see the bodies there.
When Smoke, Sally, and Cal walked down to the other end of town to the warehouse, most of the town followed, until there was a crowd gathered just outside the warehouse.
“Wilson,” Smoke called into the warehouse.
“What do you want?” Wilson called back, his voice muffled.
“Do you have Mary Lou in there?”
“Yeah, we’ve got her.”
“Why?” Smoke asked.
“What? What do you mean, why?”
“I mean, what good is it going to do you?” Smoke asked. “Quentin is dead. Dawson is dead. Cates is dead. That leaves you boys all by yourselves. You’ve got two choices now. Let the girl go and live—or keep her and die.”
“I don’t believe they are dead,” Wilson said.
“Take a look out here. Do you see all these people? You think they would be standing out here in the street if Quentin or Dawson or Cates were still alive?”
“Kelly, Reeves, Jensen is telling the truth. Quentin is dead,” Cole Mathers shouted. He was standing out in the street with others from the town.
“Cole, what are you doing here?” Wilson asked.
“Trying to talk some sense into you,” Cole replied.
“Son of a bitch, Wilson, look out there!” another voice from inside called out. “What are we holdin’ this girl for now? Quentin’s dead. Who is it we are workin’ for? I’m goin’ out.”
“No, you ain’t, Reeves. You’re stayin’ right here with Kelly an’ me.”
“If you stay, you’ll be stayin’ by yourself,” Kelly said. “I don’t plan on gettin’ killed for Quentin, especially when Quentin is dead his ownself.”
“That leaves just you, Wilson,” Smoke said. “Make up your mind. You can die or you can live.”
There was a long moment of silence from inside the warehouse. Then, Mary Lou appeared in the door.
“Mary Lou!” Lenny shouted.
Mary Lou ran toward him and they kissed and embraced.
“We’re comin’ out now,” Wilson said.
A moment later all three came out, holding their hands in the air.
One year later
Sugarloaf Ranch
“All right, Juan, hold her, here she comes!” Smoke shouted to his old Mexican hand. Juan was helping a cow give birth.
The heifer bawled, and shuddered; then the calf popped out.
“Look there, it’s a male!” Cal said.
Sally came into the barn then and stood for a moment looking at Smoke, Pearlie, and Cal as they looked down at the new calf. Juan started cleaning it up.
“Un fino niño ternero, señor,” Juan said. “A fine boy calf.”
“What do you think, Miss Sally?” Pearlie asked excitedly. “This is number twenty-one from Prince Henry.”
“Look over there at Prince Henry,” Sally said. “He knows this is his calf and he is strutting around just as proud as a peacock.”
Cal laughed. “Miss Sally, do you remember when Smoke said that all we needed from Prince Henry was that he have an eye for the ladies?”
“I remember,” Sally said. “But it turns out, Prince Henry isn’t the only one with an eye for the ladies.”
“What do you mean?”
Smiling, Sally held up a letter. “When I went in to town today, I picked up our mail. We got a letter from Lenny. He and Mary Lou have just had a baby.”
“Oh, wow, that’s great!” Pearlie said.
“What did they name it?” Cal asked.
“Elmer Brandon York,” Sally said. “They named it after the newspaper editor.”
“They couldn’t have chosen a better name,” Smoke said.
“Just think of Lenny with a young’un of his own,” Cal said.
The calf, clean now, got up on wobbly feet, then walked over to nudge up against Cal.
“Look at the way that calf is taking to Cal,” Pearlie said. “Looks to me like Lenny isn’t the only one with a young’un of his own.”
The others laughed.
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MATT JENSEN, THE LAST MOUNTAIN MAN:
SNAKE RIVER SLAUGHTER
by William W. Johnstone
with J. A. Johnstone
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Chapter One
Sweetwater County, Wyoming
The Baker brothers, Harry and Arnold, were outside by the barn when they saw Jules Pratt and his wife come out of the house. Scott and Lucy McDonald walked out onto the porch to tell the Pratts good-bye.
“You have been most generous,” Jules said as he climbed up into the surrey. “Speaking on behalf of the laity of the church, I can tell you that every time we hear the beautiful music of the new organ, we will be thinking of and thanking you.”
“It was our pleasure,” Scott said. “The church means a great deal to us, more than we can say. And we are more than happy to do anything we can to help out.”
“We’ll see you Sunday,” Jules said, slapping the reins against the back of the team.
Lucy McDonald went back into the house, but before Scott went back inside, he looked over toward the barn at two brothers.
“How are you two boys comin’ on the wagon?” Scott called toward them.
“We’re workin’ on it,” Harry called back.
“I’m goin’ to be needin’ it pretty soon now, so you let me know if you run into any trouble with it,” McDonald replied, just as he went back inside.
Harry and Arnold Baker were not permanent employees of the MacDonalds. They had been hired the day before for the specific purpose of making repairs to the freight wagon.