COCHISE COWBOYS 12

OUT SIDE THE CANYON THE TWO COWBOYS TURNED THE LITTLE HERD SOUTH. DENTON HAD LOOKED THEM OVER AND FOUND THEY ALL WORE A UNFAMILIAR BRAND. A FEW MILES ALONG IN THE DISTANCE THEY COULD SEE A CLOUD OF DUST RAISING OVER A KNOT OF HORSEMEN. UN FRONT OF THAT BUNCH A WHITE HORSE COULD BE SEEN WITH A TALL RIDER. " UH OH I HOPE YOUR NOT WANTED IN MEXICO." DENTON SAID. " not that i know of. only been down there once before. why?" "thats kosterlinsky. he the head man for the black rope ruales down there." denton was glum. as the riders drew near the ruales circled the cattle and stopped them. kosterlinsky rode up on the two cowboys flanked by two hard looking mexicans with black rope hat bands on their hats. "hello colonel, are you looking for these cattle?" denton asked. wes was shakeing but trying not to show it. "we saw you from the ridge there" kosterlinsky pointed to a long ridge." you have the sanchez family cattle. where do you think your going with them?" " we didnt know who theyy belonged to, they were left at my rancho last night. i figgured them to belong south of the border so we were returning them there."denton stod firm. "if you come back to mexico i will deal with you accordingly. "the old prussian spoke through gritted teeth. "we wernt there to start with, we want to be good neighbors. we didnt steal these cows. we were returning them."denton leaned a bit forward to make sure kosterlinsky heard him, but it also freed up access to his side arm. "if you didnt steal them then who did?" the prussian sneered. " i never saw them before, but they left the country rather suddenly." denton rested his hand on his pistol butt. wes cut a look at denton and turned white. "left the country? are you one of slaughters men?"kosterlinsky asked a bit softer in the tone of his question. " i was, but no longer. i have my own ranch to tend. but i try to follow his directions as much as possible."denton moved his hand to the saddle horn at kosterlinskys change of attitude. "BUENO!"kosterlinsky waved at his men. he spun the white horse and started herding the cattle south with his men. as they rode away denton heard wes let out a breath he had been holding." you ok?" he asked. " i am now. i thought we were dead for sure." wes was still shakeing. " that old bluffer has a attitude every time we run into each other. he acts like he dont know me but he does. ill lay money on the fact the sanchez family never sees those cows. he knew being on this side of the line was wrong. but he probably needed to sell something to pay that bunch of killers who ride with him.so we solved our problem and his bringing those cattle back here. "denton explained as they watched the cattle and riders disapear up ahead. denton dug in his shirt pocket and came out with 20 dollers in silver coin" here, this will get you fed until you find work. thanks for your help." " any idea where i might find some work?"wes was looking at the coins in his hand. "san bernadino is right up there ten miles or so. john hires a few men. tell him i sent you. youll get a meal and a bed for one night for sure."denton pointed to the south east. he shook wes s hand then turnned his horse back toward the canyon. wes waved and watched him ride back. denton rode back toward his home wary. myles maybe showing up at anytime looking for the two hired men and the cattle. he didnt want any run in with myles compton but at the same time he didnt want to be involved in his schemes. besides he had to do something about inez. she was good to have around but he didnt want her to think she was being held there. he now had extra horses and gear. he could get her rigged out and she could go on her way. when he rode back into his yard the smell of cooking food hit his nose. a hot lunch was going to be good. he turned his horse loose when he unsaddled and stepped into the house. the view he was greeted with stopped him in his tracks. inez long black hair was pulled to the back of her head and tied into a ponys tail with a peice cloth. she wore the gingham dress he had bought her. it , if anything was a bit snug but showed off her figgure. the only thing remaining of her apache get up was the tiguas on her feet. "i look ok?"she asked. "better than ok. no one will mistake you for a indian now." denton answered. inez started putting food into a tin plate from the skillet on the stove." sit down and eat, lets make a plan." she said matter of factly.

COCHISE COWBOYS 11

late that afternoon denton reached the entrence to his canyon. from the west a stream of cattle tracks went into the canyon. he cursed. pulling his rifle from the scabbord under his leg he staarted into the narrow defile.the shadows were getting long and dark as he emerged into the main part of the canyon. before him he could see 30 or 40 head of cattle bedded down. off to one side stood two saddled horses. as quietly as possible he circled around to where the horses stood, dragging their reins. as he neared the strange horses one raised its head and nickered. "aw hell, the fats in the fire now!" denton muttered to him self. but still nothing moved. he rode on in closer. and found the bodys of two men laying close to the horses. as he rode up to them he noticed their weapons were missing.. both men had been shot. blood stained the ground under each body. he rode to the horses and picked up the reins on them and tied them to the pack saddle and continued on to the cabin. when he rode into his yard a single light showen through the open door. he rode to the front of the house and called out to inez. she didnt answer. he called a second time but still all was silent. denton slid to the ground and slowley approached the door. from inside a whispered voice called; " ime here, i need some help." inside he found inez stretched out on the bunk. pale and shakeing. " what happened?" denton asked as he leaned the rifle against the wall and stepped up to her. she had a red crease at the hair line above her ear." they were here before i saw them. one shot and i got this" they thought i was dead. i followed them to where the cattle were. i shot them. you didnt need to ride into them comming home. i picked up their weapons and came home. this is as far as i got."inez was holding her hand over the groove. denton went to the water bucket and takeing a rag from a hook above it soaked it in the bucket. giveing it to inez he told her to lie back while he tended to the horses.. after unsaddling the horses and carrying the supplys in the house he went to inez. she was asleep. he fixed some supper and ate while watching her. he didnt think the wound to be to bad but she could have a skull fracture. he pulled a blanket up over her and then went back to putting the supplys away. as he worked he kept a eye on inez who seemed to be struggling with the sleep. finally she seemed to relax so he turned the lamp out and went to his own bed roll. tomorrow was another day. next morning denton had the coffee going before sunrise. he sliced some bacon into a skillett and dug out 3 carefully hoarded eggs. he had packed them by haveing fed them into a sock with a knot tied between each egg. they were to be a treat for inez. while cooking breakfast he heard her stir across the room. he looked toward her and saw her sitting up on the edge of the bunk. "is this what a bad hang over feels like? she asked.. " probably, you want coffee?"denton asked. inez slowley raised her head and said " yes" takeing acup full to her denton told her" rest easy, ill have something to eat soon." after eating inez seemed somewhat better." you rest here, ime going to bury your handy work and check those cows out.if they are what i think they are we may get some reward for returning them. i put your new clothes over there by the end of the bed. while ime gone try to get into them. we dont need no more shots taken at a apache!" denton was grinning. inez forced a smile in return. back at the canyon entrence he found the cows up and grazeing. one of his bulls had found his way into them dureing the night. hee had brought a shovel with him so he went to the two corpses. he dug as deep as he could along the side of each one. he went through their pockets and found no identificaation but he find 40 dollers in cash and coin. he then rolled them into their graaves. he started shoveling the dirt over them. " thats mighty tidey little chore you got there puncher, who are they?"the man sitting the horse watching him said. " denton looked up slowley, he hadnt heaard the man ride up. dentons rifle was still on his saddle and the side arm hung to the saddle horn. he looked at them figuring his chances to reach them. "they were warned about comming here. they shot first. so i hope that is the end of this nonsense." " i didnt care for them either. i was to meet them here to rebrand the cattle. but no one told me about you. my name is wes bryce. ime thinking this may not be the peice of cake i was told it would be." " i warned myles not to do this, i couldnt find no identification on them so when ime done i was going to drive the cows over this fresh dirt. as far as anyone knows they left the country." denton leaned on his shovel handle. " sounds reasonable. what can i do to help you? ime not much with that idiot stick but i aint a bad hand horse back"wes leaned on his saddle horn. " we can gather these cows and drive them over the graves then take them back out of here. then you can have them,"denton said gravely. " ill help you, but i dont want the damned ole cows. i figgured they was high graded but i was broke and hungry. myles gave some eating money yesterday. thats why ime late to the party."wes explained. " lets get around them then. try to leave the bull, he s mine."denton stepped up on his horse. leaveing the shovel in a mesquite tree to be picked up later.