Snake River Slaughter. William W. Johnstone

I left to go into town.”

      “The wound was in his shoulder and the doctor got the bullet out. He said Prew will be all right if the wound doesn’t fester,” Kitty said.

      “We lost another seventy-five horses,” Tyrone said with an expression of frustration in his voice. “Prew saw them this time, and he said he was sure that the leader of the bunch was Poke Terrell. I told that to the sheriff but he won’t do anything about it.”

      “Who is Poke Terrell? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of him,” Kitty said.

      “No, he is not the kind of person you would likely meet,” Tyrone said. “He is a scoundrel who hangs out in the Sand Spur Saloon. They say he used to belong to the Idaho Auxiliary Peace Officers’ Posse. If so, that doesn’t speak very well for him or the posse.”

      “Does Marshal Sparks know that Terrell is the one who has been stealing my horses?”

      “I told him that Prew said he saw him.”

      “Is the marshal going to arrest Terrell?”

      Tyrone shook his head. “No ma’am. For one thing, he says that an identification, made in the dark, wouldn’t hold up. To tell the truth, Mrs. Wellington, I think the marshal would like to do something about it, but it is just too overwhelming for him.”

      “If you ask me, the whole thing is just too overwhelming, not just for Marshal Sparks, but for all concerned,” another man said, coming into the room then. “I have told Kitty that the best thing she can do is sell all the horses off, now. In fact, I think she should sell the land too.”

      “Hello, Mr. Kincaid,” Tyrone said.

      “Tyrone,” Marcus Kincaid replied with a nod.

      “Sell the land to who, Marcus?” Kitty asked. “To you?”

      “If you would like to sell it to me, I would be happy to buy it,” Kincaid replied. “After all, it was my land long before it was ever yours.”

      “It was never your land,” Kitty said with the long suffering sigh of someone who had been through this argument many times before. “It was Tommy’s land, to do with as he saw fit, and he saw fit to leave it to me.”

      “He left the land to you after only one year of marriage,” Kincaid replied. “He was you husband for one year, he was my stepfather for twelve years.”

      “He was never your stepfather.”

      “He was my stepfather in all but name.”

      “I will admit that after he married your mother, he treated you as his own son, but he never adopted you. Anyway, why are you complaining? It isn’t as if he abandoned you. Even before he died, he divided all of his holdings in two, and gave you half.”

      “Yes, including all his money in England which he gave half to me, and half to you,” Kincaid said. “That would have been over half a million dollars for each of us. But the family back in England has prevented either one of us from collecting our rightful inheritance.”

      “Then your anger should be with those in England, not with me.”

      Kincaid held up his hand. “Kitty, Kitty, I don’t want to fight. We’re on the same side here. I just heard that you had another episode of rustling, and I came out to see how you are doing. And to be honest, I am also suggesting that you may have taken a bigger bite than you can swallow.”

      “So you are willing to come to my rescue, right, Marcus?”

      “In a matter of speaking. Just think about it, Kitty. If you sold everything to me, just the land mind you, I’m not interested in the house, you can keep the house, why, you would have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life.” Kincaid chuckled. “That would show the Wellingtons back in England that neither one of us need them.”

      “And you would do what? Get rid of the horses and raise cattle?”

      “You have to admit, that raising cattle is a lot more practical,” Kincaid said.

      “I appreciate the offer, Marcus, I really do,” Kitty said. “But raising horses was a dream that Tommy and I had together. If I don’t follow through with it, I would feel as if I had let him down.”

      “I’ve only got one more thing to say,” Kincaid said. “I happen to know that you have a considerable loan against this place. I am sure that you know that if you can’t pay off the loan, you are going to be faced with losing everything. And I’ll tell you the truth, Kitty, I don’t see any way on earth you are going to be able to pay that loan.”

      “I have no intention of defaulting on the loan. I will pay it.”

      “How?”

      “I’ll pay it,” Kitty said.

      “By July fourth? That is when your loan is due, isn’t it? July fourth?”

      “Yes.”

      “That’s just over a month from now.”

      “What if I am a few days late with my payment? It isn’t going to make that much difference,” Kitty said.

      “What makes you think that?”

      “Think about it, Marcus. The bank wants the money I owe them. They don’t want the ranch. Anyway there’s no problem. I have a contract to sell some horses in Chicago. Once I deliver those horses I will have more than enough money to pay off the loan, and I’ll have the property, and the horses, free and clear.”

      “You have a contract to sell horses in Chicago?”

      “Yes.”

      “But even so, how many horses can you sell in Chicago?”

      “My contract calls for five hundred.”

      “Five hundred? That’s a lot of horses. Who would buy five hundred horses?”

      “The U.S. Army,” Kitty replied with a satisfied smile. “So you see, Marcus, there is no problem. I will get the bank paid off.”

      “In time?”

      “Yes, in time. That is, assuming I have no problems in getting the horses to Chicago.”

      “Ahh, well, therein is the rub. Kitty, I don’t want to be the naysayer here, but just what makes you think you are going to be able to get your horses to Chicago? You haven’t even been able to protect them when they are on your own property.”

      Kitty walked over to a table and picked up a copy of The Boise Statesman. “Did you read this article?” she asked, showing the paper to Kincaid, and pointing to the article in question.

      “About the shootout over in Wyoming? Yes, I read it. What about it?”

      “Read the last sentence,” Kitty said. “The one that says Matt Jensen is a friend of what is right, and a foe of those who would visit their evil deeds upon innocent people.”

      Kincaid read the sentence, then he laughed out loud.

      “What is so funny?” Kitty asked.

      “Do you really think Matt Jensen, this—hero—will come to your rescue, wearing shining armor and riding on a white horse?” Kincaid asked.

      “Well, not the shining armor, and maybe not even the white horse. But yes, I really think he will come to help me.”

      “What makes you think that he save the day?”

      “Because he is Matt Jensen,” Kitty replied.

      Marcus Kincaid left the house then, laughing out loud at Kitty’s innocent naïveté about someone she had only read about in the newspaper.

      Chapter Six

      Coventry Manor

      George Gilmore was a small man, five