Range War Along the Pecos, by John Theron Crow

Range War Along the Pecos

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

 
Sheriff Malcolm Orr had arrived just as the fight had reached its zenith. He had intended to remain in his office as long as he possibly could. He was aware of course, that the Foggs were in town, and that Morgan Tanner and his gunmen had arrived, but he had no intention of getting caught in the middle, in a situation he was unable to control and where he was apt to accomplish nothing more than to get himself killed. His plan had originally been to wait until the gunfight had ended, and afterwards, make a pretense of gathering the facts and picking up the pieces. Should it have turned out that the Foggs had won, he'd either make peace, or, seek out assistance from Lieutenant McCormick in securing their arrest. Of course, should the Tanner faction have emerged victorious, any action on his part would have been entirely superfluous.
Unfortunately for the plans of Sheriff Orr, Reverend Phelps had burst into his office complaining of the fracas over at the Miner's Paradise. He had then insisted that Sheriff Orr do something about it. "You are after all, a `peace' officer, are you not? For crying out loud, get out there and do your job-- maintain the peace!" Reverend Phelps had demanded. Orr had little choice but to comply, and had with great reluctance, given Reverend Phelps his assurance that he would put an end to the disturbance. Fortunately for Sheriff Orr though, the fight had ended by the time he arrived. Unfortunately however, the Fogg and Tanner parties had not yet settled their dispute and if any gunplay were to occur now, he would have no alternative but to involve himself.
As these thoughts were racing through his mind, he noticed Captain Russell Fogg approaching Morgan Tanner.
Tanner's gunmen lined up on either side of him as did Fogg's men, and Fogg continued to stride purposefully in Tanner's direction. Reluctantly, his stomach knotting up with fear, Sheriff Orr moved to intercept the two factions and to attempt to prevent a seemingly certain gun battle.
By now, most of the cowboys and miners had migrated over to either the Miner's Rest or Boar's Head saloons to take advantage of Moose Murdoch's offer of free drinks. But as word rapidly spread of the two rival factions facing off against one another, many opted instead to return to the streets, albeit at a safe distance, and watch what would happen.
Captain Fogg looked directly at Morgan Tanner and smirking, loudly addressed him saying, "I presume sir, that you're the low-down scum who's at this very moment runnin' cattle on my land. I expect you ta order yer men to remove both themselves and yer cattle by the day after tomorrow sir, or I'll hang the men for trespassing and add yer cattle to my herd."
"Mr. Fogg, I am not in the least bit satisfied that the land belongs to you. For all that I know, those papers you have in your possession may well be forgeries, and even if they are not, your father had done nothing in the way of proving up on that land which was part of the terms by which he was to be allowed to occupy it."
"My Father, Mr. Bluebelly, was killed by Comanches before he was able to build a ranch on that land as he'd intended, and I was servin' in war at the time that occurred, attemptin' to rid the country of liars and cheats like yourself. He deeded me that ranch, and I was unaware of such fact until just recently, when an old friend of his sent me the papers to prove it. What I said goes, Tanner. Get yer men off or suffer the consequences!"
The tension was mounting by the second as the gunmen on both sides glowered at one another-- with the exception of Dain who was smiling and staring at Barlow, who returned the compliment by smiling back guilelessly, and appeared as usual, completely unconcerned.
"I'll remove my livestock and men when I've received a court order to do so, and no sooner. As I have previously stated, I fully intend to dispute your claim in court anyway. Until then, my men will remain, and I maintain that it is you, sir, that are trespassing upon MY land, and I will act accordingly."
"Alright, Bluebelly, but you've been warned. By the way, what did ya think of the fight? Notice how MEN settle their differences? Naw, you wouldn't know much about that, bein' a Yankee. I'd like ta give you a good whuppin' like that, but I can see that you are a coward, and would hide behind one of your gunmen to do your fightin' for ya. As you can see, I don't hide behind my men, I ride out in front and LEAD the charge, just like I did durin' the war. Not like you sir, who earned your reputation hiding behind the lines whil'st the real men did yer fightin' for ya."
Tanner's eyes narrowed as the rage began welling up inside of him. He knew he was being baited, nevertheless, he was being insulted personally, and the fact was, whatever sins Morgan Tanner was guilty of, cowardice was not one of them.
"Captain Fogg, I do not, as a rule, lower myself to participate in common street brawls, nor would I normally pay any mind to the rantings of a loathsome sewer rat such as yourself. Nevertheless, in your particular case, I shall make an exception. If you desire to engage me in a fist-fight, state your case plainly. Rest assured sir, I shall not disappoint you." Tanner said looking Fogg directly in the eye.
"In that case, Bluebelly, let's get to it right now. Show me you ain't yellow! My men will stay out of it no matter what."
"Tanner turned and said to his own men, "You stay out as well, unless one of his men makes a move for his gun."
Tanner and Fogg both began removing their gunbelts as the crowd gathered round once more, to observe yet another conflict. Sheriff Orr said with more conviction than he actually felt, "Hold on, there's been enough fighting in town tonight. I'm the peace officer here, and its my job to keep that peace. There will be no more fighting in town tonight."
Tanner turned and glared at him, much as a lion who had just been confronted by a jackrabbit. But before he could speak, Captain Fogg said, "No problem, Sheriff, we'll just walk down the street a couple hunnerd yards an we'll be out of the city limits. We won't be disturbin' the peace of yer precious little town there." Turning his attention to Tanner he asked, "That suit you Bluebelly?"
"Suits me fine." Tanner said through clenched teeth, inwardly resolving to have a serious talk with the sheriff later. The crowd proceeded down Main Street to just outside the city limits and near the window of the Boar's Head through which Ransom had fired on Logan. The crowd gathered round as the two men squared off.
Fogg moved in quickly, swinging wildly. Tanner, having boxed and wrestled extensively for sport back east, had assumed the classic boxer position, right hand in close, and left arm extended halfway out, easily dodged and sidestepped the blows. He then quickly moved in and slashed Fogg with three left jabs in rapid succession to the face. Fogg was slightly stunned, and his right cheek was split open clear to the bone. He threw a wild right roundhouse aimed at Tanner's face. Tanner blocked it with his left arm and threw a right hook directly to Fogg's breadbasket, knocking the wind out of him. Fogg was seriously stunned, and back pedaled, trying to regain his breath. Tanner refrained from moving in for the kill. He was truly enjoying himself now.
Fogg, far from having second thoughts though, was revising his strategy. The Yankee could box, and attacking him the way he'd been doing would be disastrous. So he moved in and threw a swift kick toward Tanner's groin. Tanner caught the leg however, and dumped Fogg upon his back. Fogg then came up and charged in, head low, in order to tackle Tanner bodily. Tanner again sidestepped, and jabbed downward, catching Fogg on the right side of his face sending him down. As Fogg was falling however, he managed to get his hand around Tanner's ankle. In a split second, he'd looped his right leg around behind Tanner's left just behind the knee, pulling Tanner to the ground.
Fogg felt as though the fight was now his, since he had taken the boxer off of his feet. Fogg rolled over on top of Tanner and began raining down blows to his face. But Tanner was also familiar with wrestling maneuvers as well, and as Fogg drew back his right fist in preparation for the finishing blow, Tanner grabbed Fogg's left, which had been pinning his right shoulder to the ground. Tanner pulled the hand off, twisted it and sat up under Fogg's armpit, rolling his body underneath Fogg and turning to where his own right hand was grasping Fogg's wrist and holding his arm out twisted, yet straight. Then, using his left elbow on Fogg's left shoulder, drove Fogg's face to the ground. Tanner quickly climbed up on top of Fogg's back and slammed his right fist into the back of Fogg's neck immediately below the base of the skull as Fogg was trying to push himself up. Fogg saw stars just before he lost consciousness.
Although normally the fight would have been over then and there, Tanner was still furious. When Fogg had managed to bring him to the ground, he had blackened Tanner's right eye and split the skin to the bone just above his left eye. Tanner was not about to quit. He rolled Fogg over on his back and began systematically pounding the senseless man about the face. Before anyone even had time to protest such conduct however, a huge hand reached out and grabbed Tanner by the back of the neck and another by the back of his belt. Nighthawk heaved him instantly off of the hapless Captain Fogg, hurling him backwards through the air. Tanner's flight was ended abruptly when his body slammed hard against the south wall of the Boar's Head saloon.
Nighthawk's maneuver had occurred so swiftly and unexpectedly that Tanner's gunmen had been taken completely by surprise. Gunmen from both sides had inadvertently intermingled with the crowd and were not all standing directly opposed to one another as they would have been had they been preparing for a gunfight. Some of them however, were.
Nighthawk, as he had thrown Tanner backwards, had deliberately gone to the ground backwards himself, rolling over twice, and then coming up behind the crowd where he was for the moment, temporarily shielded from any bullets that might otherwise have been forthcoming. In the next few seconds, the action picked up considerably.
Immediately after Nighthawk had rolled out of view, Mad Dog Morely and the Zale brothers had been standing in the circle of the crowd, directly across from Jack Duane and Colt Ballard. Morely and the Zale brothers went for their pistols. Both Duane and Ballard though, had been warily watching them and thus, were not taken by surprise. Morely was the only one that managed to clear leather before all four were cut down by the guns of Ballard and Duane; Morely going first, from a bullet through the head by Duane, then Matt and Pete Zale took bullets to the head and heart respectively from Ballard just as another bullet from Duane's 44 caught Jim Zale in the Adam's apple and blew out the back of his head.
The crowd panicked and began scurrying about in all directions. Nighthawk, who had by this time, come to his feet, emerged face to face with Jake Barlow who quickly drew and fired just as his own world became engulfed in blackness. Shane Murdoch had seen Nighthawk coming to his feet just as the little gunman was eying him, and threw a kick to the back of Barlow's head. Barlow had been knocked senseless a split second before his gun went off, causing his bullet to miss its mark. Nighthawk suffered only a minor injury as Barlow's bullet sliced off his right ear-lobe.
At the same instant as Barlow was preparing to draw on Nighthawk, and as the gunmen on both sides were searching for targets amongst the pandemonium of the panicked crowd, Bob Herman, Punk Watkins and Charles Shade came almost face to face with Tyler Dain. The four men went for their guns simultaneously. Dain, although slightly off balance, fanned his right handed pistol with his left hand. He hit Watkins in the heart, Herman between the eyes, and Shade in the stomach. Both Ballard and Duane had witnessed the gunfight and noted that none of their companions had yet managed to even level their pistols before Dain had decimated them.
As Dain started to turn away, thinking his opponents finished and no longer worthy of consideration, Shade, who had only been hit in the stomach, leveled his pistol at Dain's back. Nighthawk came up behind him and with his Bowie knife (which had a ten inch blade), slashed downward with all his strength at Shade's upraised head, decapitating him instantaneously. A woman in the crowd witnessed Nighthawk's action and screamed hysterically at the hideous sight of the huge half-breed hoisting the blood dripping head of Charles Shade aloft in his left hand. Nighthawk simply smiled at her and said, "Many pardons ma'am, my apologies." He then placed the head between his legs and again using the Bowie, immediately removed the scalp from the head and tucked the bleeding trophy into his belt.
Moose, who had been watching the fight, marveled at the incongruity that the man represented. He spoke like a civilized and educated man one moment yet the next, he acted like a savage.
Tyler Dain then came face to face with Ballard and Duane as Billy Fogg, who had been standing guard over his father's inert body earlier, stepped to his side to back up his mentor.
Just as the remaining gunmen on both sides were drawing beads upon one another or preparing to draw their guns, a group of riders charged in firing rifles intermittently in the air. The gunmen stopped in their tracks as Lieutenant McCormick (who had been summoned by Reverend Phelps), ordered them all to freeze and throw down their weapons. Surrounded by soldiers who were covering them all with rifles, there was little that the remaining gunmen could do but comply with the order.
From the time Nighthawk tossed Tanner against the wall of the Boar's Head to the time the soldiers reigned in and McCormick commanded the gunmen to drop their weapons, less than one minute had elapsed. Captain Fogg had regained consciousness, and Tanner, who had likewise lost consciousness, was only now coming awake.
As Dain, Duane, Billy Fogg, and Colt Ballard were dropping their guns, Ballard smiled and said, "Damn shame pardner, I was shore lookin' forward ta swappin' lead with ya. I saw ya work earlier and I gotta hand it to ya, yer purty damn good. Unless I miss my guess you'd be Tyler Dain."
"That's right pardner. I guess lady luck was smilin' on you this time. Next time you won't be so lucky."
"Damn right!" Billy Fogg interjected, "Next time you two'll be lickin' each other's asses in Hell!"
"Jack Duane just turned his back and said as he walked away, "I ain't got the patience to listen to that foul-mouthed pup brag."
"Hell, don't take it so personal boy. Ya act like someone stuck a hot poker up yer ass. It's just a job, no hard feelin's. Right Dain?" Ballard said.
"I reckon so. After all, we're professionals, ain't we--- Ballard is it?" 'Course your pardner there don't seem to share your sentiments." Dain said casually, referring to Jack Duane as he offered his cigarette makings to Ballard.
"Thanks, Dain. Don't mind if I do." Ballard said as he accepted Dain's makings and deftly rolled a cigarette. "Don't pay my pardner no never mind. He's just outa sorts an don't know it cause its been too long since he's been with a woman. Them goats he's been used to lately can make a man downright unsociable. Why I reckon you couldn't get him ta laugh if ya tickled his ass with a barrel full a feathers."
Dain broke out laughing and even Billy Fogg laughed at that in spite of himself. He found himself liking Ballard and wishing they were on the same side. Nevertheless, still on the prod, he couldn't resist a parting shot.
"Well I'll tickle it for 'em with a .36 slug, next time he gets crossways with me."
Duane was paying no attention to them though. He was watching the little conference taking place a few yards away between Captain Fogg, Lieutenant McCormick, and Morgan Tanner.
Suddenly, McCormick spoke up and addressed the gunmen saying, "Boys, your employers have agreed to a truce tonight, and Captain Fogg has agreed to leave town first thing tomorrow morning. You can retrieve your weapons, but if there is anymore gunplay, the offenders will answer to the United States Army. I'll let your employers explain the rest.
What had happened was that Tanner had explained to McCormick how he had no desire for gunplay in the first place but had brought along his gunmen just in case, not being personally familiar with the temperament of Captain Fogg.
Fogg, on the other hand, had pleaded that his only intention had been to fight Tanner hand to hand and hadn't planned on any gunplay either. Both agreed to put off their differences for the evening and Fogg consented to leave town the next day. Neither would make any guarantees after that. McCormick decided against pushing the issue since he was well aware of his commanding officer's close relationship with Tanner. However, he was not about to side with Tanner completely, since it was his opinion that Tanner was as much to blame as Fogg in precipitating the gunplay that had taken place. No arrests were made however and no charges pressed on either side.
By that time, the Murdoch crowd had already repaired back to the Boar's head.
Sheriff Orr, emboldened by the presence of Captain McCormick and giving renewed thought to reelection, sauntered over to Lance Nighthawk and promptly ordered him out of town.
"On what grounds, Sheriff?" The huge half-breed inquired disgustedly.
Sheriff Orr motioned toward the woman who had earlier observed Nighthawk decapitating Charles Shade and removing the scalp from the severed head. She was still sobbing hysterically and was being consoled by Reverend Phelps who was obviously waiting to see what the sheriff would do.
"Killin' a man in a fair gunfight is one thing, but cuttin' a man's head off an' taking his scalp's a whole nother smoke. The town's gunna be in an uproar purty soon on account of it, an there's been enough trouble already. So I'm tellin' ya now, as sheriff, I'm orderin' you out of town now." Orr said.
"You sure grew mighty tall all of a sudden, Sheriff. You looked a mite shorter before the army boys arrived. Matter of fact, one would have had to look mighty hard ta see you at all. Fact is, I ain't in your town right now, I'm outside of it. In fact, I'm outside of your jurisdiction altogether since you happen to be the sheriff of Jeff Davis and Pecos Counties, and I happen to be standing in Brewster County. But I'll leave the vicinity of your town now. I warn you though, if you get crossways with me much further outside your jurisdiction, you may end up worse off than Shade." Nighthawk warned menacingly.
He walked over past Reverend Phelps then stopped and glared at him. Phelps' never lowered his gaze but thought to himself, that he was surely standing in the Valley of the Shadow of Death at that very moment. Nighthawk spat between the Reverend's feet and walked on. He retrieved his huge bay from a hitching rail outside the Boar's Head, and rode out of town emitting a loud, defiant Shawnee war whoop as he departed.
Morgan Tanner had listened to that exchange with great interest, and noted that not a few townsfolk overheard it as well. Some of them had shuddered. Nighthawk was widely known for his depredations throughout the west, and his methods of extracting information from prisoners or meting out revenge to his enemies had caused many a brave man to lose sleep now and again. Even Tanner had heard of him during the war. Nighthawk was known and feared by white and red man alike in that regard. He wondered if the giant half-breed would make good his threat, and various plans as to how he might benefit from it began flowing through Tanner's calculating mind. An icy smile began forming upon his face at the thought of how beneficial it would be if indeed Nighthawk DID murder the sheriff. Public sentiment would all swing in Tanner's favor since Nighthawk was a member of the Fogg outfit.
Tanner summoned his remaining gunhands together and quietly spoke to them. He informed all of them (with the exception of Chico Portalis) that they could have a night on the town, on him, but to keep their eyes and ears open, and to avoid trouble with the reaming Fogg men if at all possible. In the meantime, Tanner had a personal mission for Portalis regarding Bolton and the Esperanza gang.
At that moment, the remainder of the Fogg gang in Olsen's Falls consisted of Captain Fogg, his son Billy, Dancing Jack Haylock, and Tyler Dain. The four men decided to return to their hotels, get cleaned up, and meet again at the Mecca Saloon for a few drinks and then head out of town. Most of Tanner's gunmen retired to the Silver Palace, which was owned by Tanner himself. Peaceful Jones and Bart Jason however, opted to go to the Boar's Head in hopes of conducting some rather intimate business transactions with the ravishing Conchita Mireles.
Chico Portalis remained behind and after the army had departed, Tanner spoke to Portalis in low tones. Portalis nodded in affirmation, then returned to town, went to Johnson's livery and recovered his horse. He then left town at a gallop, traveling north. He was heading for a spot located just a few miles out of town--a canyon where the Esperanza gang was currently holed up awaiting instructions on how to proceed regarding Joe Bolton and the BAR-O.
Tanner went to his office which also had a room where he often slept while in town. He ordered a tub and hot water to be brought over from one of the Olsen's Falls hotels. He planned to clean himself up and then go to Ma Cunningham's for supper. He hoped to see Charlene Lancer there, unaware that she had left town hours ago.

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