Cowboy Caveat by Vanessa Brooks Page B

asked, “Can’t I stay here
with the boys?”
    “ I suppose...but I really
want you with me, Lucy. There’s bad things happening around here,
and I may need you to look after Amy and Millie if things get
worse. Our boys are best off here safe with Peggy. They love her,
and she’ll make sure they’re jus’ fine.”
    “ What about Tyler, Ed?”
she asked
    “ He can stay at Peggy’s,
too, keep the boys amused.”
    Lucy wasn’t too happy
about going to Ed’s grandmother’s in Dallas, but arguing with her
new spanking husband meant that Lucy was becoming more careful about choosing her
battles. “Alright,” she sighed, “I’ll go pack their things right
now. So when are we leaving for Dallas?”
    “ Eight o’clock in the
morning. We’ll drop the boys off on our way into town.”
     

CHAPTER 9
    Finally, Rick Cook led the unhappy little
band into the wooden building of the single-story staging post. It
wasn’t up to much, but it was shelter and the couple that ran it
seemed friendly enough -- Mr. Elmer Carter and his Mexican wife,
Carmella. Carmella had Amy sit the children down at a dusty wooden
table with plates of hot chili beans placed in front of them almost
as soon as they walked through the door.
    Rick nodded to Ethan and Elmer to follow him
outside and the men walked the horses into the barn before
divesting them of their gruesome burdens. Elmer gasped and jumped
back as the second body dropped to the floor and landed on its
back. Rick caught the man’s arm in a vice-like grip. “You know
him?”
    Elmer stared mesmerized at the dead man as
he said, “Sure do, he’s my brother-in-law, Carmella’s brother.” He
looked at Rick, shaking his greasy head, and added, “A mean
sonofabitch that one, been plaguing us for years now, terrified the
life out of Carmella, the evil bastard!” He hawked and spat on the
dead man’s face.
    Now that Ethan looked closely, he could see
that the dead bandit was a Mexican. “What was his name?” He nodded
toward the body.
    “ Pedro Gonzales, but he
was known as ‘Tex-Mex.’ He was a nasty piece of work. What’d he do
this time?”
    Rick answered, “Robbed trains, murdered folk
and attacked the stage today. I’m a Ranger by the way an’ there’s a
bounty on this man’s head. Did he visit here much?”
    “ He had a locked room
here. He used to come an’ go as he pleased, took money from us an’
never paid us back. Sold his own kid once his wife had died.” Elmer
shook his head.
    “ I want to see his room
right now,” Rick told him.
    “ Can’t get in, mister, he
had the only key.”
    “ Search him then – he must
have the key on him.”
    Elmer spat again, to the side this time and
said, “You shot him, you search him!”
    “ I’ll do it,” Ethan said.
He bent down and emptied out the man’s pockets, and when he stood
back up, he held a large metal key.
    “ Right then, I’ll go tell
my wife that her brother is dead – not that she should shed a tear
for that evil bastard.” Elmer hitched up his threadbare trousers
and strolled away.
    After their meal, Carmella showed Amy where
they could all sleep in the one large room, which contained a
double bed and a set of what looked like jail-made bunk beds
covered with colorful but grubby Mexican blankets. There was a
rickety table with an oil lamp standing on top and that was it. Amy
thanked her and settled Millie and Luca into the bunks for the
night, before softly closing the door and going off to find
Ethan.
    She found all the men and a wailing Carmella
inside a small room on the other side of the large central room
where they had just eaten. The men were systematically tearing the
room apart, obviously looking for something. Rick pulled a valise
out from under the bed and swung the heavy bag up onto the
mattress. When he opened it, they all gasped, because it was full
of pocket watches and jewelry of all descriptions. Ethan let out a
low whistle as the Ranger tipped the whole glittering hoard