“No, you’d only be another bone of contention. They’ll be out to get you now, and your presence might make all the difference. You better leave town—and watch your back trail.”
“That,” Kilkenny said wryly, “is something I always do.” When he was gone, Leal Macy looked after him, a faint frown between his eyes. He had not quite decided what to think about this man. Kilkenny talked right and sized up as all man, yet out there in the street he had been a man driven by the urge to kill, a man literally aching for the fight he expected. That could be a bad thing unless regulated by a stern will. Macy turned that last thought over in his mind, and shook his head. He was not sure. Kilkenny got his horse and started out of town. The streets were deserted now, but he rode west, his horse’s hoofs pounding briefly on the bridge. In front of Dolan’s he drew up and called. Dolan came to the door, his hands thrust in his coat pockets, a cigar clamped in his teeth. Kilkenny had an urge to shout “Attention!” but stifled it. He had not doubt Dolan would snap to, and might enjoy it. No matter which side of the law this man now stood upon, he would stand under fire, a cool disciplined mind and hand. “Leaving town,” Kilkenny commented. “Macy may need help. I told him he could count on you.”
Dolan was startled. He took the cigar from his teeth and spat, then stared at the end of it before he looked up. “What the devil inspired that?” “I know the breed, Dolan.” He turned his horse and rode off down the street. Dolan swore, threw his cigar into the street, then walked into the club and dropped into the chair behind his desk. Without being aware of it he lighted a fresh cigar and stared into the blue smoke of it. He picked up a week-old San Francisco paper and straightened it with a jerk that almost tore it. Then he looked up at a square-built man who sat against the wall. “Pete, round up Clyde and Shorty. Maybe two or three others who’ll stand hitched. We’re going to that inquest. We,” he added, “are going to side the sheriff.”
“The sheriff?” Pete blinked.
“Yes.” Dolan had never explained his actions before. “We’ve a choice. If they bust Macy we’ll have to fight the Forty alone. We want to keep Macy in action.” “That makes sense. The Forty stacks up to be mighty mean.” West of town Kilkenny took a trail into some scattered junipers. The background was desert and sandrock, dotted with greasewood. Against such a background his horse would merge into the landscape. From long practice he avoided metal on his clothing or horse. No man would wear glittering ornaments who was not a braggart or a fool. A chance reflection on a bright buckle or spangle had guided more than one bullet.
He worked to leave little trail, then emerged on a vast table land and, swinging at right angles, rode east. He bedded down for the night on high ground among some rocks where he could overlook miles of country. Just before dusk he saw two groups of men riding trails out of town, five in each group, at a rough guess. When it was completely dark he rolled in his blankets and was soon asleep.
At the camp of the Forty all was silent. Men ate quietly and slipped away to their bedrolls. All avoided the eyes of Jared Tetlow. Deeply shaken, the old man stared long into the fire.
The realization of failure lay heavy upon him but he had been too long in command not to know what he must do now. Anything less than prompt action would end his hold upon the men who followed him, and he knew that reprisal must be swift, sure, and bitter. They had always known he was not a gunman, but they also knew that whoever this man Trent was, he was gunslick. Now that Ben’s account of how he knew that Trent was the man who killed Bud was around camp, all knew that Trent was a gunfighter.
Under the circumstances they would not blame him, but if he held back now they would lose faith in his courage. Moreover, the inquest on this day had not gone well. He had planned to strike there, to carry it off with a high hand and deny the right of Macy or anyone to question his actions. Then the man Dolan had arrived with several hardcase riders, all armed. They had said nothing, but Dolan was obviously with the sheriff, which was surprising. Moreover, despite the number of businessmen who had remained away, Bob Early had been there, and Doc Blaine as well, and their position had left no doubt. Autocratic as he might be, there was that something deep within Tetlow that made him respect the authority of leading citizens. They were his kind of men, he felt, and their prestige counted for more than the threat of Dolan’s guns. Early himself had conducted the inquest. It had been sharp and direct. There were no witnesses except those for Havalik, but several witnesses were put on the stand who testified that Carson had never carried a gun. The possibility that he might have had one on that day remained and there was insufficient evidence to warrant holding Dee Havalik. Nevertheless, the weight of public opinion had made itself felt, and Tetlow was irritated by it. Viewing the matter from the distance, he regretted the shooting of Carson not one whit. He regretted only that they had hesitated to ride roughshod over Carpenter, Marable and the lot of them. There was little that public opinion or anyone could do against the accomplished fact.
The first thing had been to find Kilkenny and wipe him out, and realizing that at once, two groups of Forty riders had been sent out to track him down and kill him. Moreover, Tetlow had been shrewd enough to let it be known that Kilkenny, or Trent as he knew him, had killed his son at Clifton’s. So far the riders sent after him had not been heard from, but they were covering all trails and should find him without trouble. That they would kill on sight, or hang him if they caught him alive, had been their orders as well as their conviction. Bud had been the most popular of his sons with the rougher element. Ben walked up to the fire and seated himself close to his father. For awhile he smoked in silence. “Dad, let’s drive on west. Let’s leave this place.” When there was no answer, he steeled himself to go on. It took courage, for Ben Tetlow knew how his father hated weakness, and he also knew what must be going through his father’s mind tonight after the facing down he had taken in the streets of Horsehead.
“We’re buckin’ a stacked deck. There isn’t enough range here unless we take it all, and if we start fighting women and other settlers, we’re out of luck. They’ll band together against us.”
“If you ain’t got the guts for it, Ben,” Tetlow replied stiffly, “get out!”
“No,” Ben said quietly, “I’m staying. You’re my father and this is our outfit. I’m stickin’ even if I think you’re wrong, and I do think you are. That’s the trouble, Dad, you’re committing others to your policy. If you go down you take a lot of men down with you. Some of them mighty good men.” “Leave him alone,” Phin spoke from the darkness. “Like he says, if you don’t like it, get out while the gettin’s good.”
Ben was silent, despair mounting in him. He had always entertained doubts of this business of riding roughshod over others, of insisting that their larger herd held inherent rights over all smaller herds and less powerful outfits. Yet there was no give in Leal Macy. The man would stand his ground until death, and for one, Ben was sure that Macy held the right stand. Dolan was another. He knew how surprised he had been when Dolan showed, and how surprised his father had been. They had heard he was a leader or directing brain behind rustling and rustlers. They heard his place was a resort of the hardcase element, but the way the man stood and his looks belied that. Dolan was a fitting partner for Macy, and the two made a dangerous combination. Ben had not thought much about Kilkenny. The fact that the man had killed his brother remained in his mind and for that reason he felt he should hate him, yet he could not bring himself to do so. He had the story from one of the older hands who had seen it all, and Bud had deliberately picked the fight, forced it when the man was ready to let it pass. And there had been no quarrel to precede it. Moreover, he felt drawn to the tall, quiet man with the brown face and the easy smile. He was, he appeared, a friendly man. And then today in the street when he had called Ben’s father, he had seen a different personality. In a land where fighting men were the rule rather than the exception, where courage was admired and strength and agility to be looked up to, Kilkenny was a commanding figure. The man had stepped out into that street heedless of all the Forty riders and their threat of power. He had slashed his way through three of them with his bare hands and then faced down his father in such a way as Ben had never seen a man faced. Ben had the courage of his convictions and his convictions were strong enough, but he saw something indomitable in that single-handed stand against the whole Forty outfit. He had seen something else that none of the others seemed to see. It had not been superior strength that won that fight of one against three. Nor had it even been the violence, shocking in itself, of his onslaught. It had been superior skill and strategy. Kilkenny had never wasted a move. He had known exactly what to do and how to do it. Such skill was no accident. This man was a trained, experienced fighting man.