Rebellion in the Valley (23 page)

Doc Amerley glanced out the window, making
certain none of the townsfolk were in the process of making their
way toward his office before asking, “Are we still on board with
the same plan?”

“I don't see any reason to change what we've
already discussed, do either of you?”

“No, Sheriff, I believe we all know what to
do and when,” Richard shook his head.

Chapter 28

“I
wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

A startled Duffy almost dropped the rags when
he turned around to the sound of Tobias' voice; he couldn't help
but notice the remains of the gunpowder keg Tobias held in his
hands.

“First off, kid, I ain’t you. And second, if
I was, I’d kill myself.”

“You do realize that's not a comical choice
of words.”

“You don't see me laughing, do you?”

An uneasy rift filled the barn; it didn't
take the mind of a genius to figure out why Duffy would be filling
rags with gunpowder and tying the tops off in knots.

“You cannot possibly believe you would ever
get away with something this sinister.” More words edged their way
to the tip of the man's tongue, but he remained silent and kept
both eyes firmly planted on the man in front of him. “When did you
change, Duffy? What could have possibly happened that brought you
to this point in your life?”

“Boy, you stepped in here at the wrong time.
Now I'm left with the task of having to decide just what I'm gonna
do about that,” he spat to the side. “You ain't got no idea who
you're messing with, do you? There's lots of ways to make things
look like an accident, especially when men get busy with their
chores on a big ranch such as this one here,” he waved a hand to
emphasize his statement. “and I've been feeling rather creative
lately-if ya get my drift.”

Tobias clenched his jaw.

“Yeah. I get your drift, Duffy. Loud and
clear. But in spite of all your scheming, it appears to me you've
neglected to think this last act all the way through.”

He scoffed.

“Act? What act?”

“Duffy,” he nearly laughed, “Really? You
stand before me with a bucket of little rags all tied up in
gunpowder, not fifteen feet from that kerosene lantern. Wouldn't it
be grand to send this place to blazes tonight while everyone else
is fast asleep? Of course, you probably hadn't even given a second
thought to the fact that if you happened to be the one to save
Epoenah, no matter how much Hailee hates you right now - she would
always feel indebted to you. How am I doing so far, Duffy?”

He finished tying the knot in the bundle,
placed it in the bucket with the others and wiped his hands
casually down the length of his dungarees.

“You have quite the imagination there,
Tobias. You know, you should learn to keep your mouth shut.
'Specially when you don't know what you're talking about.”

“So enlighten me, then. Back to my original
question: When did you change into this bitter man nobody even
recognizes anymore? What happened?”

“See, the thing is, I don't report to you,
Tobias. Fact is, not only do I not report to you, in no time
a'tall, you're fixin' to report to me. What do you say about those
apples?”

Tobias shook his head.

“Nah. Somehow I doubt that.”

Duffy, about tuckered out with the arguing
back and forth, clenched one fist and moved toward his most hated
enemy. But just as he lifted a leg to move toward Tobias, the man
had already given the signal to to the ranch's youngest hand.

Without taking his eyes off Duffy, he
shouted, “Now, Joe!”

From the barn's overhead loft, the heel of
Joe's boot rammed smack into the barrel of lime, sailing the blur
of dark brown over the edge along with a scattered mess of loose
hay and chicken feed.

At the sound of the the boot heel cracking
against the barrel, Duffy's confused head whipped around almost in
time to see where it came from, but gravity yanked that barrel down
before he could do anything about it. Catching Duffy squarely
between the shoulders and peeling his work shirt, along with a
considerable amount of flesh, the heavy object brought the man to
his knees as the breath of life winded him to the point of passing
out. He hit the dirt floor of the barn in a thud, alerting his
assailant it was time to finish the job.

Within seconds, Joe hurled himself down from
the loft, where he and Tobias tied the man with rope as though he
were another calf and this was the rodeo; sweat dripped from their
brows while adrenaline pushed them into completing the task at
hand.

“What are we doing with him now?”

Tobias scanned the barn and held up a
finger.

“Keep an eye on him. I'll be right back.”

The look on the younger ranch hand's face
begged him to be quick about that as he nodded and glanced back
down at the man he didn't want to be alone with.

“Alright,” Tobias instructed as he returned
with a wheelbarrow. “To begin with, let's load him in here,” he
grinned.

The men tilted the wheelbarrow nose-forward
into the dirt and edged it as close to the man as they could,
lifting and shifting the awkward mass a couple times before Joe
mentioned, “I don't know about you, but I don't want him waking up
with me standing this close to him. 1, 2, 3 and let's pick him up
already!”

“Good plan,” Tobias agreed, and within
another minute Duffy plunked in the center of the wheelbarrow,
heavy and hanging out over the sides, but in there.

“Now what?”

“Give me a minute to catch my own breath
here,” Tobias wheezed.

Both men turned their heads at the sound of
several horses rounding the bend just before the ranch
entrance.

“Great timing! Richard's back from town -
hey, do me a favor,” Tobias reached out to his friend's shoulder.
“They have Hailee in tow. Go out to the wagon and make sure she
doesn't see what's going on out here. Tell her I want her to go
straight into the house and up to her room and not to come out
until one of us fetches her. She doesn't need to see any of
this.”

“No problem,” Joe trotted on out to meet the
wagon.

What he did not expect to find on the road
was the sheriff and Doc Amerley riding ahead of the wagon.

Raising one hand at the large number of
people, Joe made his way straight to the Hood's wagon and related
the message to Hailee.

“Richard, sheriff, there's a bit of,” he
glanced toward Hailee, “a situation we've encountered since you've
been gone. Out in the barn,” he shrugged a thumb in that direction.
“Tobias could use some help right about now.”

“What's going on? Can't I -”

Joe raised both hands toward the wagon,
receiving the girls few packages from town to allow her to climb
down from the wagon.

Tom began to wind the leather straps in his
hands. “Is there anything I can do to help here?”

The sheriff shook his head.

“No, Tom. You best head on home. I think
we've got this handled; one of us will stop by your place on the
way back into town and fill you in on all the details. You go on
home and rest now, I bet Susan has a hot meal waiting for you right
about now,” the sheriff assured him. “But I do thank you for being
so neighborly.”

“Let me at least get the merchandise off the
wagon before you leave,” Joe thought out loud.

With a concentrated effort, Joe, Tom and the
doctor unloaded the wagon in a snap.

Tom started back to the wagon, but turned
around. “What's the big fuss about in the barn, anyways?”

Joe winced. “It's Duffy. Seems like it's been
Duffy causing the stir for a while now.”

“Well,” he nodded. “You know where I am if
another pair of hands is needed for anything. Guess I'll go home
and see about that hot meal,” he winked at Hailee, hugging her as
he turned.

She waved a confused hand of good-bye to her
friend as he turned his wagon around and headed back down the
road.

“Alright, girl,” Richard placed a hand on her
shoulder. “You heard what Tobias said. Now get on up to your room
and stay put. And stay away from that window.”

Blonde curls turned in an obedient swirl and
the girl was off, skirt in one hand with an arm wrapped around her
packages. A couple steps away, she turned.

“Hey, Richard,” she hollered. “Make sure
nobody goes into the wash room. I may as well clean up while I'm
waiting for you men to finish up out there.”

“Good idea, I'll pass the word,” he
nodded.

Richard entered the barn and stood behind the
sheriff, who instructed a few men to help wheel Duffy into his own
bunk house for the time being.

“We'll roll him into his bed and keep the
doctor and two other men posted inside the house with the door open
so the rest of us can get this all sorted out and get things ready.
This is it, men. You did good!”

The sheriff gave a nudge of his chin toward
Tobias.

“Let's give Hailee time to finish up with her
bath before we hit her with the rest of this. She's had an awful
lot to digest lately.”

Nodding, Tobias had to agree with that
statement.

“How much does she know?”

“Well,” the sheriff scratched his head,
“seeing as how she was with the men while they were in town today,
I didn't see any sense in keeping the news about Duffy's being
brought into my office any secret from her. She seemed relieved to
have that burden lifted from the property, so I'm glad to have been
the one telling her about it. Now, as for any other information,”
he grinned, “I suppose that's coming right after her bath, don't
you reckon?”

Tobias reached out and placed an open palm on
the sheriff's shoulder.

“You have no idea how tickled she's fixing to
be,” he chuckled. “Why don't we head on over to my bunker and get
the rest of this sorted out? So you're saying we've got enough to
bring him in now?”

Excusing themselves to catch Tobias back up
to speed, Doc Amerley waved them along.

“I have this situation under control. There's
enough able-bodied men right here to take care of what needs to be
done,” he assured them as the wheelbarrow containing the still-limp
body of Duffy made tracks in the dirt as a couple of men pushed it
through the barn entrance and into the sunlight.

“Howard J. Duffman is no longer a threat to
the Red Bone; the man has finally come to the end of his proverbial
rope. So to speak,” Joe announced with a sense of relief in his
voice as he joined the others heading off toward Duffy's
bunker.

Chapter 29

W
ith eyes questioning his very sanity, Howard J. Duffman stood
frozen in the kitchen doorway; his left hand still gripped the
frame of the screen door and all the color drained from his face in
one swift movement. All he'd planned to do was barge into the
kitchen and raise Cain about who and what had clobbered him out in
the barn a few hours prior, but those plans died out the second he
hit that door.

“Good morning, Darlin'” Hailee mocked with a
huge smile on her face.

“Howdy!” called Tobias as he lifted a
hand.

Bruce hiked his thumb toward the stove where
Richard stood with both hands on his hips and a dirty mean look
scribbled across a clean-shaven face.

“Have a cup of coffee, Duffy. You’re gonna
need it,” Bruce almost ordered.

Duffy looked like he wanted to vomit.

“I...I...uh...good to see...you,” he was
barely able to choke out of his throat as a trembling hand raked
across his sweating forehead and through his hair in a nervous
attempt to cover the fact that he had been caught completely off
guard.

The kitchen fell into silence for a solid
three minutes as the trio at the table stared at him while they
drank their morning coffee and Richard continued flipping the flap
jacks.

Duffy shifted his feet and looked as if he
wondered if he should stay or leave, but opted to stick it out just
in case.

When Richard dropped a dish rag in the sudsy
bucket by the door, he gave a poke into Duffy’s shoulder and told
him to grab a plate of food.

“After all,” he said in a dry growl, “it’ll
be the last meal you ever eat on the Red Bone Ranch.”

With a forced look of surprise, Duffy began
to protest. He was cut short when Bruce reached under his chair and
produced the lead lines that had once been attached to and were
part of Tobias' equipment weeks earlier.

“Well, whaddaya have there, Boss? Just
exactly what is that?” Tobias questioned. He pooched his bottom lip
out and opened his eyes wide as his head turned toward Duffy. “You
see what we have here, Duff Man?”

His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed.

“Where in the...” he started.

Hailee raised a hand to her lips and flung
her eyebrows high.

“Why, Duffy! You wouldn’t swear in front of
your sweet little girl, now would you?” She cocked her head to one
side and continued with, “I mean, my poor heart would be crushed if
you’ve changed your mind about me!”

Bruce held out a hand, inviting him to shake
it.

“Well, well, well! Are you saying we might
have a wedding right here on the Red Bone? Why didn’t you tell me
you were pining after my daughter, Howard? It’s no wonder you got
so fired up on the cat hunt, what with planning a secret wedding on
your mind and all,” he forced a chuckle.

Full of disgust, Duffy stomped a booted foot
on the floor.

“I don’t know what any of you are trying to
pull here, but I ain’t goin’ for it!”

Richard walked straight up to him and stared
him in the eyes.

“I think you need to simmer down,” he
instructed.

In full compliance, Duffy took a step back
and shoved both hands into the front pockets of his dungarees. His
eyes never left Richard’s.

“Funny thing, what I found laying down in
Puma Canyon on the rocks. I believe these may be yours.” Tobias
told him with a reach into his saddle bag.