Show baittle Ca ittle j uy MAE alev d M SYNOPSIS billy wheeler wealthy young cattle man inan arrives at the ot 94 ranch summoned by hs hl friend imorga dunn its elderly itu and quick tempered owner bec because so of 0 a mysterious murder billy Is in love with dunns dunna iniece aleca marian whom he has not teen seen for or two years she had rejected his luit suit ard and Is still till aloof dunns ranch la Is surrounded surround edby by enemies including link bender pinto halliday and sam cald well whom he has defeated de in his efforts to build a cattle kingdom dunn directs his cow h hands a ads val douglas tulare callahan la h an and others to search for the killets killers horse lie ile explains to billy that the morn ing before he had come upon bloodstained ground at short creek and found tho the trail of a shod and unshod horse horae the shod horto a ilder had been killed the tha body biad disappeared link bender had arrived at the scene and read the signs the way he had dunn reveals that because of a financial crisis the ranch may be in jeopardy his enemies may make tro trouble uble since sheriff walt wait amos Is friendly with them ile he says he has asked old man coffee the count rys best trailer to join them thein dunn and billy meet amos link bender his son the kid and cayuse cayetano an indian trailer at short creek bender has found the slain mans horse hone but the saddle Is missing almost supernaturally cattle attracted to the scene by the bloodstained blood stained ground stamp out 11 the traces dunn Is angered when amos tells him not to leave th the county ile following an argument bender bende r draws his gun but dunn wounds him in the arm back at the tha ranch old man conee arrives with a pack of hounds coffee goes in search of the dead mans saddle aatu dunn tells billy that marian Is incensed Ine ennd at him for trying to settle battle disputes b by bloodshed lie reveals that the tha ranch L Is really hers CHAPTER R II 11 continued 4 4 wheeler was silent ho he could not altogether agree with horse dunn ile he had seen range quarrels settled by gunfire gundre but never to the advantage of either winner or loser however he going to argue with the theold old mon man what if she ties my hands dunn demanded ive got to fight this thing my own way for myself I 1 so much mind but aint the outfit hers to begin with hera wheeler repeated sure its tiers you know that rhad not known it but look herel youve run this brands brand ever since I 1 can remember you must at least have some part in I 1 t terest rest here not a penny or a head of stock dunn told him but I 1 happen to know wheeler declared that youve always had an outfit another outfit down in arizona yet your arizona outfit seon seen you four times in a dozen years ive had my hands full here fiere dunn said you menn mean billy wheeler said you spent the last twelve years neglecting your own outfit to build up a brand that dont belong to you dunn shrugged somebody had to take holt my brother died sudden ile he leave the 94 in id very good shape for two years it was run by different boss bosses esl I 1 hired but this same link Bende rhe had a big outfit then he was stealing the 01 04 blind pretty soon there have been any 01 94 and it was all the kid ancher and her mother had billy wheeler stared at horse dunn dun once he had heard it rumored that horse dunn lied had loved marians mother long ago marians mother always hated and feared this country she brought up marian to feet feel some similar why the kid cant stand guns inoke or anything done by force you seo see my brother died with a gun in his hand wheeler unable to endorse the old mans leaning toward violence expressed a belief that there ought to bo be some way to avoid smoking up the range if we can hold the 04 steady on the finance side he said what can link benders Ben dera crowd do god knows I 1 iye ve took all the steps I 1 know to steady the finance side horse dunn said A minute ago you spoke of my having an outfit in arizona well I 1 had an outfit in arizona six weeks ago I 1 sent word to bob flags flagg my partner there to sell her out ashes sold for the last ten days ive been looking for bob flagg hes supposed to show here with as good as in cash another in different dil lerent obligations and notes everything ive got goes to the bracing of the W 94 11 horse stared out the open doorway toward the corrals and now billy wheeler saw horse dunns rocky face slowly relax and soften out at the tax fac corral marian maran had caught the quiet old pony that horse had given her and was preparing to saddle horse dunn watched her lis his eyes gentle there was always a shy by humility about that strapping big old man when he looked at this girl this ibis daughter of his dead brother it was almost as it if he might have been looking at his own daughter who had grown up away from him after all she might have been his daughter it if things had broken differently once you go ride with her dunn said with a certain awkwardness you talk to her try to make her see that that this is aa different country kind ot of 1 she take tak e any stock in me horse ilyn yani go anyway dunn insist ed 1 I dont like to have her riding this big range alone with a curious reluctance wheeler picked up his hat and walked out to the stable where his saddle was wai CHAPTER m A rise of dust was going up on the inspiration road as wheeler saddled he knew the approaching far car must be driven by steve steva hurley for a moment ho hesitated for he be would have liked to io hear bear the latest word from the camp of horse dunns dunna enemies marian dunn however was loping eastward along an old trail not far oft off the inspiration road steve hurley would be able to signal to him from road to trail if any new word concerned him he let his puny pony lope out and caught up with marian within the mile do you mind if I 1 ride your way maybe marian said show me where short creek Is wheeler was startled short creek sometimes the girl said its easier to look at a tiling thing than to imag imagine lne it 11 1 I was thinking some of riding over that way he conceded only 1 I 1 wish let somebody know when you set off eft to ride a distance like that so co somebody could go with you she looked at him sidelong for a minute sometimes it seems to me you people do everything you can to make this into an unfriendly country ri 11 dont know what you mean mean these red ked hills with the sun on them are the background of the V W 10 t aggy cl walt here wheeler said 0 to o the girl very earliest memories I 1 have when I 1 came here again it was as it if I 1 were conning coming home I 1 felt free and natural here at first and horse dunn Is almost exactly like mcfather my father what little I 1 can remember of him so nearly like my father that I 1 cant remember my fathers taco face any more because my uncles face ace comes in between 11 ile ho worships the ground you walk on wheeler said 1 T I know A little shiver ran across her shoulders anomalous in the blaze of the sun then he turns and does some wild awful thing like yesterday and it gives me the strangest feeling of being completely lost in a country I 1 don dont understand yesterday what awful thing hehe he he shot link bender it was kind of unfortunate sure but I 1 dont know what else he could do link drew on him and all your uncle did was to nick him in the arm so that ho he dropped the gun marians tone was curiously detached unforgiving ie he admitted he set out to goad link bender into fighting that was not exactly what horse dunn had said but essentially the girl was right it was like horse dunn too that ho he could in no part lie ile to this girl but would put him self sel conscientiously into the worst possible light he said more marlan marian added he said that if it be been e n tor for me he would have killed link bender there at chuck box wash billy wheeler started to say oh I 1 dont think P it was no use it was futile tuille to try to hide bide from this girl certain things which she was in no way equipped to understand yet was sure to see clearly this is a different country than youre used to marian dry country men learned long ago to depend on themselves lived that way tor for a long time the car that had been an approaching pro aching tunnel of dust upon the inspiration road now came careening around a rutty bend yards below them steve hurley leaned from behind his dusty windshield to w wave ave at them then brought his car to a long rolling stop ile he signaled wheeler to ride to him walt wait here wheeler said to the girl he wheeled his horse t then hen hesitated to say over hla his shoulder I 1 dont warry worry well work everything ang out all right he put ahls his horse down to ao tho the road jumping it through the red rocks from behind the wheel steve hurley thrust a big square hand at him and steves big beefy face hashed flashed a quick grin glad to see you billy the old man said he figured sit in As soon boon as I 1 see who it was I 1 pulled up wheeler glanced at the boiling radiator broke in inspiration steve the old man may be wanting to call his riders in thought id stop and tell you what it t was sos you could signal in any of the boys you might see while youre out im listening ening 11 its all over inspiration that sheriff walt amos will make an arrest within three days saying the sheriff phe sheriff rIff knows chos dead that tha t its a man dunn swore to kill if ever he found him on 94 04 range 91 steve Hur hurley leys sun squinted eyes rested steadily and keenly on B billy illy wheeler steve said wheeler will horse bunn submit to arrest steve hurley looked away a moment before he answered 1 I dont know ho said at last but I 1 guess maybe am I 1 right hell want his riders in id sure sura think so this thing I 1 Is Is coming faster than I 1 figured it would steve the girls eyes were questioning as billy wheeler returned to her side dont worry he said its all going to work out they turned off no longer paralleling g the inspiration road and tor for a long while as the miles slowly unrolled under the fox trotting hoofs of the ponies neither had anything to say they were near short creek when the girl spoke unexpectedly im glad you came you make things seem straighter and smoother just the way you pace your horse along without any worry or fret arm there r e I 1 s nt anything to worry rie about out i tines i e ivo two years year ano BRO the girl told him somehow youre nicer to ride with quieter more restful he glanced at her but answer you used to be a a stampeded stam sort of person she explained always rushing your horse at things whatever lyou went at you always went ment aali at it by the same way thunder of hoofs taking all obstacles by s storm orm I 1 think I 1 used to be afraid of you au for a moment he wondered it if things would have gone differently between them if he had been less eager less turbulent when you wanted athing a thing too much you overplayed your hand and lost out altogether maybe you could love a girl too much too soon and defeat yourself the same way perr per haps if A quarter of a mile away within the tha sharp cut bed of short creek something moved held steady a moment then disappeared it was a rider there who was watching them but it was not a rider who meant 40 to rise la in his stirrups and hill hail well he said briskly this Is short crick you see he said pulling up his horse florse lat t the spot the cattle had chad trampled this Is nothing but a place where it just ha happened bened that somebody tooka took a shot af at somebody what Is there to see nothing I 1 want you to think of this place as just a crick where horses come to drink marian dunn sat very quiet siar staring at i the shallow water he wondered what things terrible to her ah she might be picturing tm glad I 1 came marian said but especially im glad you come came you osten listen he said A horse as yet unseen was corn COMI ing last fast down the cut its unshod hoofs padded quietly in the sand at the margin of the water so that its thudding lope was sensed less by sound than by shock the faint distant tremor of the ground what Is it the girl asked dont you hear bear A horse Is coming up to 1 I dont she sha started to say that she hear anything but just then the unseen rider cut through the shallows with a sudden sharp sound of thrown water ind and tho the ring of hoofs on stone s who Is it quien sabe turn and ride back the way weve come he told her without emphasis ill be along in a minute without a word marian turned her horse she was as at the two hundred yards as a hird hard run horse surged up u p over the a lip of the cut the rider was kid bender the kid half wheeled his pony drove drova close to billy wheelers elera horse his lean figure swayed backwards as he brought his pony to a sliding stop very close across the tha back of his right hand showed the heavy purple wet that wheelers elera quirt had laid there and in his face was the joyous anger of a man who takes payment tor for a past humiliation milia tion what you doing here wheeler ignored the question youre a little oft off your range kid he said this range comes under the hid head of the 94 maybe mayba ill be ordering you off it pretty quick I 1 decided yet no sald said kid bender 1 I dont think you will youre dealing with a pence peace 0 officer patrolling pat roling the scene of a crime peace officer kid bender flipped over the tall tail end of his bis neckerchief to reveal a nickel plated shield it was cheap and it was new but as it flashed in the sun wheeler felt I 1 his scalp stir oddly as if he had glimpsed fire behind smoke horse dunns view of the situation was shaping up fast er brihan ihan horse r himself had bad imagined yesterday said the kid you knocked a gun out of my hand billy wheeler r said distinctly Y with a quirt I 1 whipped it out of your hand with a 9 quirt uirt kid benders face darkened for an instant but the hard gleam of a joyous anticipation immediately returned to his eye 1 I have orders he said to see that the hired men of the 94 dont trample over the scene ol 01 this crime any more m 0 re im starting wit hyou ill give you fellers something to remember orders by im taking your horse and your gunk gun maybe your girl there win will give you a lift after youre afoot or maybe ill send her on home I 1 decided that yet no said sald wheeler youre not taking either e horse or gun youre against an officer of f the e law you know what that means I 1 1 I know billy wheeler said what I 1 hope it means for ora a moment kid bender hesitated they sat sai watching each other two men in a situation from which neither could withdraw one ona of them had bad sought this meeting the other welco welcomed thed it Both knew that something peculiarly personal had to be settled here now between the two of them alone 1 I see sec your girl has stopped a little way up here the kid said seems seem like she sets watching from the hill wheeler suppressed in time an impulse to glance over his shoulder instead his eyes never left kid bender ashe as he jerked his chin sharply toward his shoulder as it he glanced away TO BE CONTINUED |