Chapter 41
The Circle L Ranch
“Enrico, that’s your horse next to mine. His name is Takoda which means Brave Heart. Like you. He’s a mustang and they are easy keepers. Their hooves are hard as rock so you never have to shoe them and I have never seen one of them get sick. Take good care of him and he is yours.”
“Gracias, Senor Major”, Enrico replied happily, with a huge grin on his face. I will take good care of him.”
He walked over to Takoda and began to softly stroke his face with his hands. He laid his head on Takodah’s neck and spoke to him softly in Spanish.
Tom Corlett rode up and smiled, shaking his head. “I think they are going to get along mighty fine, what do you think Major?”
Frank nodded his head in agreement and said; “Appears so. Okay, let’s go. We have a long ride ahead of us.”
Dusk had fallen by the time they approached the Circle L ranch. Tom noticed it was unusually quiet and figured everyone was in town celebrating the end of the cattle drive to Bozeman. He would go to town tomorrow but tonight he was worn out and all he wanted to do was grab a quick bite to eat and then hit the sack. They had spent the better part of the day in the saddle and he could tell Enrico was not only weary, but also sporting some pretty bad saddle sores.
“Tom, why don’t you go to the house and see if Rosita can rustle us up some grub right quick while I take Enrico and show him where he will be putting up Takodah and where he will be bunking?”
“Will do Frank.” Tom replied and he turned his horse and headed toward the big house.
As Frank and Enrico approached the barn, a shadow appeared from the side of the tool shed. By the time Frank turned to see who it was a shot rang out causing Takodah to rear on his hind legs, throwing Enrico to the ground.
Frank felt a searing pain from the bullet that ripped through his left side. Grabbing where he was shot, he pulled his hand away and saw the blood. He quickly turned to see the Texas Kid running around the back of the barn.
Frank pulled out his gun and kicked Bandit into a lope in the direction the Kid ran. The Kid was in the North corral hiding behind the water trough. Frank aimed and fired. Wood chips from the trough flew as his aim was too low. He pulled back the hammer of his pistol as he drew back on his reins and let fire another round. That too was off its mark.
The Texas Kid stood with a pistol in each hand and rapidly fired six more shots at the Major, three from each gun. Two bullets found their mark. One hit the Major in the left cheek and the other struck him in the hand, blowing off two fingers. Bandit turned and ran off as Major Frank Walcott slid from his back hitting the ground like a sack of grain. He lay motionless as the Texas Kid approached him and kicked his body with his foot.
Sneering, he said, “Nobody treats the Texas Kid the way you treated me and lives to talk about it, you bastard.”
He turned and looked at Enrico’s motionless body by the front of the barn.
“Well, what have we here? If it ain’t that little Beaner I knocked the shit outta at Red Angus’ place. I guess I’ll just have to finish what I should have finished there.”
Tom Corlett came running out of the ranch house after hearing all the gunshots. Seeing the Texas Kid and the bodies of Major Frank Walcott and Enrico lying on the ground, he pulled his gun and shot at the Texas Kid.
His shot was high and hit the barn wall with a soft thud. The Texas Kid turned and fanned off six quick shots, one which struck Tom in the chest, dropping him to his knees.
Tom looked down at the hole in his chest and then looked up at the Texas Kid, before falling forward on his face.
The Texas Kid walked over and grabbed Bandit’s reins and swung up on his back and rode to where Tom Corlett’s body lay prone on the ground. He pulled back the hammer of his pistol and shot Tom in the back of the head.
“Now I know you are dead, you son of a bitch,” he spat.
The Texas Kid looked up and saw Rosita in the doorway. A smile spread across his face. “Well, well, Rosita, you and me is gonna have us some fun before I go back to Texas,” as he dismounted and stepped over Tom Corlett’s dead body and walked into the ranch house.