Carlyle

"Hez, no. I won't leave you."

"Yes you will, Mattie. Knowing those two bastards, it'd be just like them to use you to get to me. I'm not stupid. I know I'd never be able to stop them. I stand a much better chance if you're not here."

With that said there was no more room for discussion. He swept her up in his arms and carried her to bed. As the embers in the stove burned down the embers of their love only burned hotter. Mattie's naked flesh was scorched with the passion of his every touch. "Yes, yes," she howled in euphoric waves of ecstasy as her loving husband reclaimed his wife.

Mattie awoke the next morning, still wrapped in her husband's arms. Sunrays pierced through the curtained window to announce the beginning of a beautiful day. Now famished from having no dinner, she tried to get up without disturbing her man. It didn't work.

"Where're you going?"

"To make coffee and some breakfast; how do you feel?"

"Like a new man," he said with a chuckle. "You?"

"Like a new woman," she replied with a kiss on his lips.

Mattie threw on her robe and headed for the kitchen. Hez got up and went for the wash bowl. By the time he joined her, coffee was made. They both sat, grinning to themselves in sated silence as they pondered on the previous night. Mattie's thoughts, however, wandered to his insistence that she leave. She saw the logic of what he said about having to protect her but she couldn't bear the thought of not being there for him. Well, she had all day to give it more thought but they would discuss it again later that night, she would make sure of it.

Business was picking up again and that morning was particularly hectic. The bell Hez mounted over the door to signal someone coming in never stopped ringing. Neither of them got a break from waiting on customers for three straight hours. It was almost ten by the time they could take a breather. Wanting to take full advantage of the short lull, Mattie was going to run upstairs and get them both a cup of coffee. She didn't even make it past the counter when the bell over the door rung for the umpteenth time. Hez's heart dropped when he looked to see who it was.

"There she is," Billy thundered with more than his usual brashness. He looked at the stunned face of his future victim and laughed. "Your misses and me got some unfinished business, store clerk."

Mattie froze in fear when she saw Billy approaching. Hez immediately scrambled to block his path while looking for Eric. He sought to divert the young man's attention from his wife. "Where's your big brother, Billy?"

He stopped long enough to answer. "Pa's got him doing some chores. Don't worry he'll be along later for sloppy seconds, then we're going to take care of you. Now get out my way," he said, pushing Hezekiah to the side.

Hezekiah stumbled back but was undaunted in the defense of Mattie. He sprang forward with fists flying and caught Billy by surprise. He was knocked to the floor but got back up in a furry. He whipped the gun from its holster and smashed the butt into Hezekiah's forehead. The injured man dropped to his knees as Billy hit him two more times on the back of the head. The last thing he remembered was the panic in his wife's scream as his vision darkened and he lost consciousness.

"PLEASE, BILLY, DON'T HURT ANY MORE, PLEASE, I'LL DO WHAT YOU WANT BUT DON'T HURT HIM!"

Billy smiled as he re-holstered his Peacemaker. Mattie tried rushing to her husband's side but Billy grabbed her and pushed her back against the shelves.

"Leave'em be. You and me got business. I ain't had me a woman since we left Dodge and I been thinking about you the whole trip," he sneered.

Mattie tried to push him away as he smashed his mouth against hers but he was too strong. She thought she was saved when the bell over the door rang out. She couldn't see who it was but when her abuser yelled to get out she heard the sound of the door closing as the bell sounded their retreat.

With all her might, Mattie started pounding at her would be rapist but was stopped by a backhanded slap across her petty face. Billy knew it had taken the fight out of her when he felt her body sag in surrender. He tugged and pulled, ripped and tore at her clothes as she cried with worry at the unknown fate of her husband.

Mattie's voice was the last thing Hezekiah heard as he blacked out, now the whimpering sounds of his lovely wife was the first thing he heard as he slowly regained consciousness. Through blurred and shadowy vision, he saw Billy molesting her. The bastard had torn her dress and had worked his way through her petticoat and camisole to expose her breasts.

Still very groggy, Hezekiah felt for something substantial and grabbed at the first thing he found. He struggled to his feet. Billy was way too busy, now sucking and biting at his Mattie's nipples. With all the strength he could muster, Hez took a swing at the back of the bastard's head. Blood splattered his face as the large wrench in his hand made contact with Billy's skull and a large piece of scalp flew to the floor as the young man dropped like a rock.

Mattie, who had her eyes closed to her attacker, recoiled in fear not knowing at first what had happened. She cried his name as she saw the blood soaked figure of her husband standing before her. In his weakened condition, she almost knocked him down again when she threw her arms around him. "Hez, oh my God, Hez, are you alright?" she sobbed.

He braced himself against the counter and dropped the wrench as he put his arms around her. "Yeah," he mumbled in a weakened voice. Still paying no attention to the crumpled body on the floor, they consoled one another with tears of relief.

Finally separating, Mattie tried to close her torn top the best she could as she noticed Hez looking at the lifeless form at his feet. She gasped and put her hands to her mouth in shock. It was the first she realized what had happened. "Oh my God, Hez, is he...is he dead?"

"I think so," he responded. "He don't look like he's breathing. We should get the doc over here though; just to make sure."

"Hez, no. We can't tell anyone. If this gets out old man Clayborn will kill you for sure. Lock the front door. We'll hide him for now then take him out and bury him in the desert tonight when everybody's asleep."

Hezekiah was still lightheaded. He sat on a stool to think. "We...we can't do that, Mattie. I...I killed a man. I have to take responsibility for that."

"He wasn't a man he was an animal—no better than a coyote. Hez, if you admit to this they'll kill you for sure."

Before Mattie had the chance to convince her husband of what had to be done their fate was determined for them with a ring of that damned bell.

Ever since he came back from Dodge alone, Hezekiah had been writing letters to various lawmen, trying to find one who would take the job as their sheriff. Just the week prior, he had received a letter back from Jim Roberts, a man of some reputation for being good with a gun and a survivor of the Pleasant Valley cattle war. In the letter he accepted the job of sheriff and told Hezekiah it would take him about a week to get there.

He rode into town just after daybreak but took time to board his horse, get a room and have a good breakfast before asking one of the town's people where he could find the mayor. He was directed to the hardware store.

Mattie and Hezekiah turned their heads toward the door as the tall stranger entered and immediately saw the body. He looked at Hezekiah as he reached into his pocket and retrieved his nickel plated revolver. He held it at his side as he quickly assessed what he saw. The woman's eyes were red and swollen, mostly likely from crying. Her dress was torn, showing a lot more than it should. The man sitting on the stool was bleeding badly from a cut over his left eye. There was more blood on his collar and down the back of his shirt. Without a doubt he knew the man had been buffaloed. Cautiously he announced, "My name is Jim Roberts. I'm looking for Hezekiah Jones."

Hez recognized the name right away. With everything that had been going on, he'd forgotten about his arrival. "I'm Hezekiah," he answered. He turned toward his wife. "He's our new sheriff," he told her.

Mattie's heart sunk. "New sheriff! Why didn't you say something?" she cried with tears flooding her eyes.

"Hell, Mattie, we've barely spoken to each other in the last two months." He looked back at the man still standing with a pistol in his hand. "This was one of the guys I wrote you about. He came into the store a little while ago, knocked me cold with his gun and tried to rape my wife. I came to and hit him with a wrench. I think he's dead."

Jim walked over and felt for a pulse. "He's dead alright." He noticed the wrench lying on the floor. "Is that what you hit him with?"

"Yeah," Hez said with a nod of his head.

The new sheriff picked it up. "You got an undertaker in this town?"

"Yeah, Austen Stricker, he's got a place in back of the alley between the general store and Walt's dry-goods."

"What about a doctor?"

"Two doors before you get to the alley."

"Can you walk?"

Hez nodded a yes.

"Okay, why don't you show me to the sheriff's office. Then you can stay there and write your statement while I go get them. I'll send the doc over to you and come back here with the undertaker."

"Are you arresting my husband?" shrieked Mattie.

"No ma'am. By the looks of him and...ah...your condition ma'am, I can see it's a case of self-defense but I still need him to write out a statement."

"Sheriff, you can't tell anyone about this. If word of it leaks out the Clayborns will come into town and kill him. Help me bury the body in the desert tonight, please."

He looked at Hezekiah. "Is that what you want?"

Hez shook his head no.

"Good." He looked back at Mattie. "I'm sorry, ma'am, your husband hired me to uphold the law, not break it. Something like you're proposing could cause a lot more trouble than facing things head on. What you think this Clayborn fella's going to do when his son disappears." He could see the woman was terrified so he tried to put her mind to ease. "Don't worry, ma'am, I won't let anything happen to him." He looked back at his new boss. "You ready?"

It was decided they would lock the front door and Mattie would wait for the undertaker at the back, away from the body. The two men walked a few doors down the street. When Roberts saw where his office was he told Hezekiah to wait for him inside while he went on his errands. He stopped at the doctor's office first and told him the mayor needed him in the sheriff's office. Next he found the mortician's office off the main street. After explaining the situation the two men met Mattie in the rear of the store. Roberts grabbed Billy under the shoulders while Stricker took his feet. Together they carried the body along the back of the buildings to the mortuary.

"Listen," Roberts told the man who was now in charge of the corps, "don't say anything to anybody about this until I get a chance to get a handle on things."

"Ah, okay, for a while but I'm not going to stick my neck out," Stricker emphatically replied. "This is Ezekiel Clayborn's youngest. He's going to want revenge."

"Yeah, I get it. I'm not asking you to stick your neck out, just don't go announcing it all over town."

As soon as Stricker agreed to keep his mouth shut for a while, Roberts made a B-line for his new office.

"How is he, Doc?"

"Well, he'll live but he's got some nasty cuts and bumps."

Hezekiah looked a lot better with all the blood cleaned up but his eye was starting to swell and it looked like he was going to have a really bad shiner for a while. "Did you get the body over to Stricker's?"

"Yeah. Can he be trusted? I asked him not to say anything for a while."

"Ah, I...I don't really know," admitted Hez.

Robert's looked to the doctor who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, Mayor Jones..."

"Oh please—just call me Hez. That's what everyone calls me."

"Okay, Hez, do you have a church in Carlyle?"

"Ah, yeah. It's down on the other side of town."

"Good. Does it have a bell by any chance?"

"Yeah, we brought it all the way from San Francisco."

"Okay, good. Are you done with your statement?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Why don't you go over and see if your wife is okay, then meet me at the church. Doc, don't say anything about Clayborn but can you spread the word that the mayor's going to hold a town meeting at the church in a little bit? Tell everybody it's very important they attend. Tell'em it's a matter of life and death. When I ring the bell that'll be the signal for everybody to come."

The doctor was just closing his medical bag and getting ready to go. "Yeah, I can do that," he said on the way out.

Hez was nervous. "What're you going to do?"

"Well first I need me some deputies. You know anyone you think would be a good candidate?"

Hez thought but couldn't come up with a single name. "The only ones around here any good with a gun are the cattlemen."

"I don't necessarily need somebody who's good with a gun, just someone with courage who won't back down. A shotgun with double-ought buck will usually discourage any gunman." Hez still couldn't think of anyone. "Okay, don't worry about it right now. I'll give you about ten minutes with the misses but then I need you at the church."

Hezekiah assured him he'd be there. When he got back to the store he was a little surprised the front door was still locked. Inside things were still as they were when he left. He thought she'd try to clean the blood from the floor but it hadn't been touched. He looked around the first floor then climbed the stairs to their living quarters. He found Mattie packing two suitcases.

"What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? We're leaving, Hez. We're getting out of this town. I don't care what you say, we're going back home."

When he walked over and put his arms around her she buried her head in his chest and burst out in tears. "Please, Hez, please come with me. I don't want you to be killed. I love you. Please, please don't make me a widow."

He tenderly laid his hand on the back of her head and stroked her hair. "Honey, this new sheriff knows what he's doing..."

"Oh please, Hez," she yelled, pushing him away. "He's one man. What the hell can he do? When Clayborn comes to town he'll have the whole ranch with him. They'll kill you, Hez. They'll gun you down and there ain't nothing that Roberts guy or anyone else will be able to do to stop them and you know it."

"Honey, I can't run. If I do I'll have to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. I can't live like that, Mattie."

"Well at least you'd be living. Damn you, Hezekiah Jones, damn you!"

"I'm sorry, honey. I...I have to get over to the church. The sheriff is having a town meeting and I got to be there. Please forgive me, honey. I...I've got to see this thing through."

Mattie watched from the second story window as her man walked down the street to the church. She knew their time together would be short-lived now.

Hezekiah was climbing the steps as the bell rung out. He went inside and talked with the new sheriff while waiting for the town's people. Roberts told him to simply introduce him and he would do the rest.

They didn't know what the doc said to get everyone to the church but it was filled to capacity and then some. The mayor spoke first and introduced Jim Roberts, hero of the Pleasant Valley War. Several people called out, asking what happened to his face when Hiz stepped up to the podium but he avoided answering. When he was done Jim got up to speak. After his initial remarks about looking forward to being a part of the town, he got down to business.

"When I rode into to town earlier today I was hoping for time to settle in but that's not what happened. A few of you already asked about Mayor Jones' face. Well, he was pistol whipped earlier today by Billy Clayborn. When Billy tried to rape Mrs. Jones your mayor went after him and killed him in self-defense."

Everyone immediately started to panic. Scared voices shouted above the roar of the crowd asking if Hez was going to leave town. Some of the women started crying. There were very few concerns for their mayor; everyone was too worried about what Ezekiel Clayborn would do to them and the town in retaliation.

Roberts yelled several times until they all settled down and were ready to listen again. "I know you're scared. Clayborn is a big man in these parts, I understand; but if we all stand together as a town he can be cut down to size, believe me. I've seen it happen.

"Now I'm going to need a couple permanent deputies. Anyone interested, stop by the sheriff's office and see me. That's not going to help the current situation; however, I need volunteers to stand with me when Clayborn comes for your mayor. Who knows how to shoot a rifle?"

He was sadly disheartened when no one raised their hand. "Okay, look; there's a difference between being scared and being a coward. Here's the deal. You can all go hide your heads and watch while Clayborn guns down me and your mayor or you can stand up and fight. The choice is yours but if you let him get away with killing Hez and me what, or who is going to prevent him from killing you next time, or raping your wife or daughter? You people go home and think about what I said, but I don't think it'll take long before Clayborn finds out what happened so you people better make up your minds. If you're going to stand and fight, come to my office and we'll talk about strategy.

"Thank you, everyone. Now go home. I only want to see you again if you're ready to use a rifle."

It almost seemed like they couldn't get out of there fast enough. Most of them looked at the floor as they left, a bad sign. No one could even look Hezekiah in the eye. Both he and the sheriff knew they were on their own.

***

"Dead! What are you talking about, my son can't be dead! What the hell..."

"I...I'm sorry, Mr. Clayborn. I...I saw two men carrying his body out of the back of the hardware store in town."

Ezekiel Clayborn collapsed into the chair from where he ran the Bar-C. He peered over the massive oak desk in front of him and stared at the ranch hand who had delivered the devastating news. "Ar...are you sure it was Billy?"

"Yes, Sir," he answered while nervously crumpling his hat in his hand. "I...I didn't get a real good look at his face because of all the blood but I got a good look at that Cheyenne holster rig he bought in Dodge with his new Colt. It was Billy alright, Mr. Clayborn. I'm sure of it."

"Where's Eric?" he muttered in a voice almost unattached to reality.

"Ah, I'm not sure, Sir. I just rode back from town. I came as fast as I could. Ah, Eric is probably still out on the east quarter where you sent him to fix the fence."

"Go get him," he demanded. "And round up everyone you can find. We're going to town. You said it was the back of the hardware store?"

"Yes, Sir. The store-keep has a real pretty wife. She was making eyes at Billy before we left on the drive. He kept saying how he was going to bring her back here for himself. I...I figure the store-keep bushwhacked him when he went to get her."

The shock was wearing off and pure rage was taking its place in the stone-cold heart of Ezekiel Clayborn. He wanted revenge! "Okay, go find Eric and the others. Meet me out front in two hours. We're going to kill a store-keep."

"Yes, Sir." The loyal cowhand turned and was happy to get out of there. His horse was already lathered from the hard ride from town but it didn't matter. He took off in search of Eric at a full gallop.

It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon by the time Ezekiel Clayborn and fifteen other men on horseback stood at the edge of town. Eric was at his father's side as they stared at the empty streets. The old man looked around for any signs of an ambush before riding in but saw nothing. It was almost ghostlike. "Do they have a sheriff?"