Ride for Rule Cordell by Cotton Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

ARREST YOU…STOP…REGRETFULLY CAPTAIN TEMPLE
    “That lady makes things happen, doesn’t she?” Bartlett said, shaking his head. “Wonder if the sheriff—and the judge—know this yet?”
    “Of course they do.”
    Checker’s hands went to his gun belt. “We still need to warn Emmett. You ride. I’ll try to delay Hangar and his posse.”
    “You think there won’t be a hearing?”
    “Not one that’s going to help.”
    Bartlett patted his gun belt. “You want to take ’em right here?”
    “No. We’ve got to let them have the first move. They are the law. It won’t help anything to challenge that right now,” Checker said.
    After seeing his friend ride off from the livery where their horses were stabled, Checker saddled his own mount, in case he had to leave town in a hurry. He expected the sheriff, with the judge’s support, to release Jaudon and his men—and deputize them to bring in Emmett Gardner. What should he do? What could he do? He was certain the two local authorities would already know the Rangers had been dismissed.
    What would Stands-In-Thunder do? The aging Comanchewar chief had become the father he had never known and the great warrior saw him as a son to replace those lost in war. They had met two years ago when Checker was trying to find a half-breed accused of robbing a bank and suspected of hiding on the Fort Sill reservation. He found the old man, but not the half-breed, and a strong friendship began. Whenever possible, Checker went to visit the old man, both enjoying the company of the other.
    Stands-In-Thunder would attack, he told himself. Attack.
    He rolled his shoulders, took a Colt from his saddlebags and shoved it into his back waistband. Then he pulled the Winchester from its sheath on his saddle. He hurried along the planked sidewalk toward the jail, passing several couples and one whiskered gentleman smoking a pipe, who stopped to watch him after he passed. Coming from the other direction was a harried Sheriff Hangar. Checker guessed he had just left the judge’s office.
    “Where are you headed, Hangar?” Checker barked.
    Checker’s voice jolted the lawman from his focused destination. He shuffled his feet and stopped. His hand began an instinctive move toward his belted handgun; then his mind rejected the idea.
    “Well, well, look who’s here,” Sheriff Hangar snorted. “You’re just in time to help me let Mr. Jaudon and his men go. Judge Opat ruled they’re innocent.” His smile indicated a return of his confidence. “Oh, and I’ve been authorized to deputize them. Your buddy, Emmett Gardner, is wanted for rustling Lady Holt’s beef.”
    “Since when does a judge have a hearing without the prosecution present?” Checker barked, closing the gap between them.
    Hangar forced a laugh. “Guess he didn’t think it was needed. You see that bunch of steers come in? They’re allLady Holt’s animals your friend stole an’ stuck his brand on.”
    “You know that’s a lie, Hangar.” Checker’s statement was a bullet.
    “You callin’ me a liar?” Hangar’s eyes reddened and his cheeks flinched.
    “What do you think I’m calling you?”
    Hangar hesitated, unsure of what to do or say. He was certain that to move for his gun was to die.
    “Turn around,” Checker ordered, “and bring the judge here. Do it now.”
    Biting his lip, Hangar spun and retreated his steps, yelling over his shoulder, “Won’t change nothin’.”
    Checker watched him go, then strode the remaining yards to the sheriff’s office and stepped inside.
    “ Sacre Bleu ! What the hell? Where is Hangar?” Sil Jaudon snorted, his heavy jowls shaking with the words.
    Without speaking, Checker strolled over to the growling stove where a blackened coffeepot gurgled. He leaned his rifle against the wall, took a cup from the gathering of mismatched cups on the adjacent counter. Looking around, he spotted a rag that had been used as a handle buffer. He poured himself a cupful; a thin line of