Caleb: A Western tale, circa 1880's

Chapter Fourteen

For a day and a half, the two sides traded lead and an occasional black arrow. A few of the men from the ridge took lead but none of them were seriously hurt. Some of the women from the ridge arrived and took over the kitchen, cooking, reloading and doing whatever necessary to support their men.

Caleb was impressed by how well-defended Infinity was. It was as if every man had been trained to defend the ranch, as if they'd all taken military training. Built like a fort, the ranch house stood unmoved despite the hail of lead thrown at it. Wooden shutters, hastily shut and latched, protected the glass windows.

Caleb listened intently from the mow, trying to hear whatever was said by the posse below. Seeing that the posse could never take the ranch by force, Caleb began to worry that they might try to burn Miss Kitty out. He knew he needed to end the standoff once and for all.

"Danny," he said when the younger man came to relieve him that evening. "I have to go with those men. It's the only way to make them leave."

"They'll hang you!" Danny protested. "I can't let that happen. You're my brother!"

"I promised to keep your secrets and protect Miss Kitty," Caleb argued. "Can't do that if I stay. If I make it through Texas alive, I'll be back. If not, take care of Half-Moon. He's a good horse. Do me a favor though? I got some jeans and a shirt in my saddle bags. Dress 'white' and ride for Galveston, Texas, to Comanche Jack at the Flying P ranch. You can give him half of this and tell him that as my brothers, you two are my nearest kin. Jack'll be needing kin without me, I expect."

Caleb dug the wad of bills out of his pocket and handed it to Danny. Without waiting for a reply, Caleb made his way down to the trench and raised his handkerchief up on the end of his pistol barrel. "Hey, Sheriff, I'm the man you're looking for!" Caleb yelled. When the sheriff replied, Caleb yelled, "if you want to end this, you take up a collection. Two hundred dollars to Miss Slocum and I'll come peaceable." He waited for the sheriff's reaction.

"Waite? What the . . . Is this your doing?" It was the marshal who answered. "If you harmed one hair on . . ."

Remembering a conversation between Miss Kitty and her Aunt Sue, Caleb interrupted him. "I was hurt; the doc patched me up but I got no way to pay her. You pay her and I'll go."

"Two hundred dollars? That's a powerful lot of money for a bullet burn."

"You'll get three off'n my head if you don't lynch me first!" Caleb reminded the waiting men. "You'll still make out. Besides, you owe her for her wagon, jars and horses."

"Caleb, don't do this!" Kitty begged. "Please! They'll hang you sure as not!"

"Not if they want the bounty, they won't," he told her grimly. "Kitty, do you trust me?"

"Yes," she retorted, "but it's them I worry about!"

"Trust me now," he pleaded with her quietly. She nodded despite the fears that played about her face. "This is the only way to keep your secrets, Sweetheart. Besides that, I don't want them blaming you for my troubles."

She sighed. "I think they will anyway. People think how they like and they seem to like thinking bad of me."

"Not if I can help it," Caleb growled. "You're a good woman, Caitlin. Keep these for me? I likely won't get them back if I'm wearing them when they come for me." He unbuckled his gun-belt and handed it to her, then removed the arrows from his quiver.

He handed all but one to Ghost-Who-Rides. "You keep these," he told the older man. "I'll take the bow and quiver in order to explain away the arrows." Caleb touched the bowstring at his chest and sighed. "Seems a mighty sad waste of a new bow, knowing they'll most likely break it when they take me."