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it took a few hours and bill finally cooled off. the innspecter had picked up the peices of the pistol the shooter was trying to use. it was old and so worn that it was a wonder it had held together for the one shot. he had taken. the inspectors horse lay dead at the front of the barn. bill caught up a couple of his saddle horses and they drug the carcass out away from the corrals and buildings. bill agred to let clay use the horse to take the body back to willcox . clay made him promise to stay close to home and not go after the kearnys. he would bring slaughter back to deal with them. after loading the body of the shooter clay left leading the shooters horse with the body aboard. dill stood and watced them as they went out of sight. then turned and got a rake and started rakeing dirt over the blood puddle left by the dead horse. he wasnt half thru when a voice from in the barn spoke; " who shot the horse?" bill froze mid rake" who s there?" he called. old man kearny walked out of the barn his hands open and in front of him." i saw that guy leading a horse with a body away so i came to see if it was you." bill was starting to fume again"well your little hand bill you put out on me drew on shooter. how many more are out there floating around?" " what hand bill? i havent put out no hand bill, what are you talking about?" josh was incredulous. " dont tell me that! who else would have done that. you been mad ever since i came here you said i was stealing your grass. !" bill shifted his hand on the rake . he wanted it free if he needed his pistol. " i may think that but its nothin to kill a man over. or hire it done. as a matter of fact i had made my mind up to work with you. it looks like your here to stay and theres enough grass for both of us.i mean it i didnt hire nobody hand bill or not!"josh was trying hard to convince bill . " ok, but that brand inspecter is going to bring slaughter back out here. we found bryce in a prospect hole a while back he had been shot in the back. his horse was in your corral it is adding up pretty fast." bill shifted the rake so it wasnt in line with his hip and the pistol there in its holster. " that horse strayed into our yard , we put him in the corral until a owner showed up. we didnt know about bryce being dead. lord and you all think WE did it?"josh asked. " it sure looks that way dont it?" bill leaned a bit forward. " well we didnt! and ime going home if the law wants to talk to me ill be waitting. but believe me we didnt put a price on you." with that josh turned his back to bill and walked to his horse, mounted and waved then rode away. bill watched him ride away. " now what the hell?" was all he could say as he went back to rakeing.

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it wasnt fear but caution that caused bill to stay around the ranch houses. out on the range it would be easy for a shooter to back shoot him from ambusch. he stayed busy around the ranch buildings makeing repairs and up grades to the barn, corrals and house. but in all things he stayed aware of where he was and what he was doing. and he wore the pistol. his rifle he left where he could get to it easily. this went on for two days. and still there was no contact from anyone in any manner. bill became impatient. he was almost to the point and going out hunting a kearney. being cooped up wasnt a good thing. late in the afternoon of the third day he could see a lone rider approaching the ranch. he waklked to the end of the barn, and stood his rifle just inside the door. anyone out side of the barn couldnt see it. the rider came into the yard with a brazen appearence. he rode right up to bill and stopped his horse and sat there. bill saw a smal round badge pinned on his shirt. he was another brand inspecter. " ime clay judson livestock investigater" the man introduced himself. \" its my understanding you might have been the last person to see bryce alive, is that right?" " as far as anyone knows yes. what can i do for you?" bill didnt relax. " ime trying to retrace his steps while he was in the area before he was murdered. do you mind answering a few questions? i wont take to much of your time" judson asked. " ask away, get down ans we can make ourselves comfortable bill had relaxed a little and dropped his guard. as he turned to go back in the barn he caught sight of a man at the other end of the barn with a gun pointed at him. he dived into a stall just as that gun went off. a horse screamed behind him and bill looked back under his arm. judsons horse was down judson wasnt moveing next to him. bill returned his attention to the shooter at the back of the barn he needed his rifle. it was still across the barn at the door. bill stole a peek around the end post of the stall he was in. he saw nothing. he waited a count of ten and started to break for the door where the rifle stood. but before he could start judson spoke " dont do it. make him make the first move. i got my rifle pulled free. let him think we are dead." judson hadnt moved a muscle but only his lips worked just above a whisper.soon they heard a horse walking slow toward them. bill cocked his pistol and crouched in the stall. still judson hadnt moved. the hore rounded the corner of the barn and walked over to the water trough and started drinking. he had no rider and was dragging the long split bridle reins. still no one moved. a good hour passed. the loose horse stood at the water trough his reins tangled in a bush . bill spoke "ime going to look around we cant sit here all day can you cover me?" " keep low, i got you covered." judson was still stretched out. bill worked his way around the barn s interior. stall to stall and finally the saddle room. as he approached the door to the saddle room he could see a booted foot laying across the threshhold. as drew near he could see the man was dead. his face a mass of drying blood. bill called to judson the coast was clear. a few moment later judson walked up he had a slight limp but other wise was inscathed. he kelt next to the dead man and looked closely. " we didnt kill him, i think his gun blew up in his face. its laying here in peices. " clay pointed the battered gun out. they covered the body up where it lay he had no identification so they walked out to his horse. he was a good quality anumal but carried no brand a unusaual thing for that day and time. they were going through the saddle pockets when they found the letter, offering a cash sum if bill was eliminated. the ranger looked at bill" i wonder how many of these they sent out? yhey didnt even sighn them." bill was starting to boil. he came here wanting a quiet life and these people were going to keep that from happening. he was ready to ride to the kearneys and clean house. he told the ranger so.