Bucking the Odds Page 7

  Staying alive became a major chore and he was trying to do just that when he came across two men hunkered down behind a big log. Heavy fire from the Rebs across a clearing was crashing all around them and they were fighting as hard as they could, but when ten or eleven of the Rebs started charging across the field, Lance started laying down a cover fire.

  He was one of the few men who had a Henry repeating rifle...Larry had bought the rifle for him as a parting gift, and now he put it into action again. His first four shots dropped four men, and the fire from the two men behind the log dropped two more, his fifth shot wounded another who staggered back across the clearing with the rest of his men.

  The two boys came out from behind the log and the shortest one spoke to him.

  "Too bad you came along when you did, you spoiled all our fun...we had then just where we wanted them."

  Lance looked at him for a minute and then he saw the big grins come on both of their faces. They both held out their hands and the tall one broke the awkward moment.

  "I'm Dobie O'Neil and this is my brother Don, and we're thanking you for saving our bacon."

  Lance took their firm handshakes.

  “Lance Whitcliff…you must be Irish, only an Irishman would think that he had the best of that battle."

  They all laughed and then Dobie got a serious look on his face.

  "We are Irish, do you have a problem with that?"

  Lance looked at them for a minute with a stern look, he knew how the Irish were being treated and some of the conditions they were forced to live in since coming to this country. They continued to stare at him, wondering what he was thinking.

  They had grown up facing the taunting and jeering of everyone outside the Irish Ghetto, which often led to fights, and they learned that fighting was the only way that they could gain respect.

  "No, I have no problem with that, in fact Ireland has produced some of the best looking women I ever met."

  It was something that all three agreed on, and a bond was building between them, a bond that continued to build for the rest of the war. Dobie and Don eventually both ended up with Henry rifles, which they had picked up from dead soldiers, and with the fire power from the three of them they gained the name of 'The Irish Wall'

  It started with the three of them laying down deadly fire with the three rifles and eventually others joined in with them until they had about ten men, and when they were put in a position to hold they never once retreated. . Lance did not mind being lumped in with the Irish, as a matter of fact he took it as an honor.

  When the war was over they travelled to the west together. Like so many young men who came out of the war, they were disillusioned and fed up with the killing and brutality, but there was no way they could return to their past lives.

  There came a great exodus of young men heading west, some in search of gold and others just in search of a way to forget the war. The three of them fell into the latter category, they had no interest in hunting gold...as a matter of fact they had no definite interest or aim at all, they just wanted to keep moving.

  The O'Neil boy's father, Shamus, had come from Ireland as a poor young man and worked his way out of the Irish ghetto in New York City. At a time and place when the Irish were treated worse than dogs he worked and scraped until he managed to study law and became a prominent lawyer, working mostly with his own people.

  Following his father's example, Dobie had completed three years of law school before the war broke out, he was the cautious thinker, he liked to fight but he was first to consider the odds, whereas Don was always the brash risk taker, quick to act, a trait that led him into many fights, no matter what the odds.

  When Don enlisted in the army Dobie could not see his younger brother going to war without him along to protect him, so he quit his schooling and joined up too. He made sure he was in the same outfit as his brother and they managed to stay together the whole war.

  Although they spoke little of their upbringing, Lance often wondered whether it was hard because the two of them were as hard as nails. They had the usual Irish humor and wit and also carried some of the other Irish traits, like hard drinking and fighting. Although Lance had changed his ways he had dragged them both out of many a saloon after their usual fight.

  Although they had no interest in going to Oregon, they followed the Oregon Trail along with the mass migration that was happening at the time, as a matter of fact they had no destination, and they just went from place to place. The years they spent working their way west were good years, and although none of them was afraid of a hard day's work, they soon found out that the best and most lucrative kind of work involved being able to use a gun.

  In a land where there was still very little law they often hired out as guards, stage drivers or other jobs that required a lot of nerve and the ability to use a gun. They all had a respect for the law, and they even wore the badge a time or two, but all they mainly needed was to make enough money to move on to the next place.

  Now Lance stopped to rest his horse and have a drink of water. It was what happened at this place that had led him to his job as sheriff in Medicine Bow. He and the boys were hired on at the Glory Hole Mine and their job was to take wagon loads of ore to the smelter just outside Medicine bow.

  He remembered their first meeting with Ian McDonald, the owner of the Glory Hole. They were looking for work as usual, and followed the road up to the mine when a shot was fired into the ground in front of them, stopping them in their tracks, and a man yelled at them.

  "This is private property! What do you want here?"

  All three of them just sat there being careful to keep their hands away from their guns until Dobie finally spoke up.

  "We are just looking for some work, but if you keep shooting as us we'll be coming up there and kick your ass!"

  Lance cringed waiting for the next shot, but it never came. What came was an answering reply.

  "Come on up...and you are welcome to try and kick my ass."

  When they arrived at the top of the hill they saw the biggest man they had ever seen standing there. Dobie was the first to speak as he looked the man up and down.

  "Well boys, maybe we should draw straws to see who is going to kick his ass."

  Don chuckled.

  "Well Dobie, it were your idea, so have at it."

  The big man watched them banter back and forth and finally spoke.

  "Why don't you three jackasses get down…it would take all three of you to do it. My name is Ian McDonald and this is my claim. I got enough miners digging ore out of the ground, but I could use some men to get it down to the smelter for me."

  When gold was discovered in Montana it started an unprecedented gold rush to the area, There were several areas that were rich in gold like Alder Gulch and Bannock, but mines were springing up all over the area and while there were those who sweated and dug the ore out of the ground, there were also those who waited and took what they wanted by force.

  Lance was looking around the place and didn't see any one else around, so he figured the other men were underground working. He was glad to hear that there were no miner jobs open because he had no hankering to go underground, but he was wondering why a job like that would be open with all the men looking for work in the area.

  "Just what is this job all about?"

  McDonald led them over to a small fire where he poured them a cup of coffee.

  "Well boys, I'll be honest with you. A lot of the mines around here, mine included, have been having trouble getting ore to the smelter. There's a gang of cutthroats working the area and bushwhacking the drivers and hijacking our ore. I got me an idea that it's the Riordan outfit who have a mine west of here a ways, but I can't get me no proof."

  Now Dobie broke in.

  "So you want us to get on a wagon and be a target for them."

  Big Ian McDonald looked at him for a moment.

  "That's about the size of it, but it shouldn't be so hard for a man who thinks he can
kick my ass."

  They all laughed again and he poured them another coffee.

  "I don't want to see any more men get hurt or killed making that run, but maybe there is some way we can outfox them."

  Lance was quietly thinking.

  "There might just be a way, if the boys are interested."

  They all listened to his plan and the boys agreed to try it with him. One of them was to be a rear guard and follow just far enough behind the wagon to be able to provide cover fire in the event of an attack. They drew straws for the position and Lance won. Although he was not sure he was the winner because he would rather have been riding on the wagon.

  Chapter 2

  They spent the night preparing for the ride down the hill and the next morning Ian had the team all hooked up and ready to go.

  "Boys, I forgot to tell you that the first part of the trip is just as dangerous as getting shot at. I have some wheel skids on the back wheels and it makes the trip down the hill nothing more than a controlled slide, and you don't want to go off the side."

  They had seen the steep drop-off on the last part of the road to the mine on their way up, but they figured if other drivers could do it they could too.

  Ian shook all their hands.

  "I'll be looking forward to you bringing that wagon back for more."

  Ian was right, it was a big wagon and the load of ore was heavy as it skidded along the trail, but they managed to get it down to more level country where they stopped to take off the wheel skids and rest the horses. Lance fell back when they started on, he had his rifle across the saddle in front of him, and he had the thong off his pistol, ready for whatever might happen.

  Things looked to be going good until they neared a big pile of rocks and a volley of shots rang out knocking both the boys off the wagon seat onto the ground. Lance, still gripping his rifle, jumped off his horse and as he slid behind a rock he saw five men on foot and a man on a wagon charging from the rocks.

  He started firing and three of the men fell under his fire, then he saw two more men and the man on the wagon go down from the steady fire of Dobie and Don. He started to move back to his horse when he noticed a movement off to his left, it was horses tied behind the rocks...there were six horses, but only five men were on foot, so that left a man somewhere unaccounted for.

  He yelled for the boys to stay down and then he took a chance.

  "Riordan, I know you're in there! Come on out! I got your horses and the back way covered and the boys got the front covered, so you might as well give up."

  He waited a long pause and then a voice answered.

  "Come and get me!"

  A bullet struck the rock beside his head and he bolted to the next boulder in front of him. There was no more fire, so he made another dash closer to get behind another rock. Now he was almost on top of the place where the man should be, and he started to move again. This time a bullet crashed into the rock beside him and ricocheted off knocking the rifle out of his hands.

  Riordan saw him lose his rifle and he stepped out and levered another shell in his gun. He never even saw Lance's hand flash up as two bullets from the pistol slammed into his chest. He was already dead when Lance walked by him to get to the boys.

  As he walked past the other wagon and checked the dead man on the seat, he began to understand how they worked. They were going to load the ore from Mc Donald's Wagon onto their own and then take it to the smelter. He hurried on around the loaded wagon to where the boys were, he knew they were alive because of their firing, but he was worried that they might be wounded.

  Dobie and Don were struggling to their feet and as Lance arrived they each cut loose a large iron plate that they had strapped on their chests. Lance noticed that one had three bullet strikes on it and the other one had two.

  Dobie was wounded high on the shoulder.

  "That was a good idea, we'd have been shot to doll rags without those plates."

  Lance helped Don, who was wounded in the leg, up on the wagon and then he helped Dobie up beside him.

  "Just give me a minute to load the remains of this vermin on the wagon and we will head for the doctor."

  When they rode into Medicine Bow the doctor's office was the first place he stopped, and when he had Dobie and Don in the care of the doctor he took the wagon down to the sheriff's office.

  The sheriff came out and looked at the bodies piled on the load of ore, as a crowd started to gather.

  "Here's the men who been hijacking all the ore wagons lately, unload them so I can get this ore to the smelter."

  When the sheriff looked at the men in the wagon and saw Warren Riordan among them he stopped for a minute, and Lance noticed the look on his face.

  As the sheriff carried the last man off, a man in a suit came to the wagon.

  "Son, my name is Gerald Hudson and I'm the Mayor of Medicine Bow, I would like to see you when you get that load delivered."

  Lance picked up the reins.

  "Ok Mister Mayor, but first I will be stopping at the Doctor's office to look in on my friends."

  Lance delivered his load and good to his word went the Doctor's office. There he found both of the boys bandaged up and resting on two cots, he also found the Mayor waiting for him. The Mayor let him have some time with the boys and then he spoke.

  "We have a real problem with law and order in this town, as a matter of fact some people are calling it 'Bad' Medicine Bow. I saw what you and the boys did to that gang of cutthroats and we need someone like you in town."

  Lance looked at him puzzled.

  "Well it appears you already have a sheriff, what's wrong with him?"

  This town is just as lawless and there are just as many killings as there were before we hired him."

  Lance waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

  "Then fire him!"

  That was all he said, but now the Mayor stammered.

  "It's not that easy, there is not a man in town who will go up against him, and he will not leave the office without a fight. It appears that his position has become lucrative for him, he has a house on the edge of town and spends a lot of time doing some heavy gambling in the saloons."

  Lance thought for a minute.

  "That would explain the look on his face when he saw Riordan dead on the wagon. He didn't seem surprised that it was him, and he looked like he had just lost his meal ticket."

  The boys had been listening to the whole conversation and now Dobie chimed in.

  "Go for it Lance, Don and I will have a cushy job at the mine now that the gang is gone."

  Lance looked at Dobie and then back at the Mayor.

  "Well Mister Mayor, the boys and I have ridden together for some time now and I don't want to break up the team."

  The Mayor thought for a minute.

  "Well Sheriff Blanchard had one deputy so I suppose we could hire one of them."

  Dobie spoke again.

  "No Lance, you take the job, Don and I will continue on at the mine for now. It shouldn't take you long to clean this place up and we'll be able to move on again."

  Lance looked at the two men laying on the cots.

  "Well since you two are going to be laid up her for a couple of weeks anyway I’ll give it a try."

  The Mayor beamed and held out his hand.

  "Thanks son, you can count on all the help I can give you."

  Lance took his hand in a firm shake.

  "Thanks Mister Mayor, the first thing you can do for me is to tell Sheriff Blanchard that he is fired."

  Lance watched the expression on the Mayor's face as it turned white.

  "Don't worry Mister Mayor, I'll be there with you."

  Somehow that didn't seem to comfort the Mayor much, but he mustered all his strength and headed for the door.

  "Well then let’s get it done now."

  On the way out the door Lance drew his pistol, checked the loads and slid it back into the holster. He had been practicing his fast draw since the war and he was confi
dent he could beat the sheriff to the draw if it became necessary, but being fast on the draw was not the most important thing, a person had to be accurate as well...and he was both.

  Walking down to the office behind the Mayor he was hoping he would not have to use his gun, but he was prepared for whatever happened. The Mayor entered the sheriff's office, and as he began to speak the sheriff stood up from his desk. His voice was shaky but he got it out.

  "Sheriff Blanchard, I have come to tell you that you are fired and this is....."

  Before he could continue the Sheriff stiffened.

  "You ain't going to fire me, I will leave this office when I am good and ready."

  Lance took a step forward.

  "Now that Riordan, your meal ticket is gone, I would think you would want to leave."

  That struck the sheriff right in the belly.

  "Why you young pup, you'll die for that!"

  His hand swept down for his gun, as the Mayor dove out of the way. His gun went off into the floor as a bullet slammed into his chest, and he fell back onto his chair. Lance walked over and casually took the badge off the lifeless body.

  As the Mayor looked on he wondered if he had just exchanged one problem for another, but he was soon to find out that was not the case.

  The town of Medicine Bow lay on the Upper Missouri River and was one of the major stopping places for the steamships bringing supplies for the mines and ranches in the area. Aside from the usual citizens that owned the businesses in the bustling town, there were a mixture of miners, ranchers, farmers and riverboat people all of who wanted a good time while in town.

  That meant that while most of the business owners did well, the saloon owners faired the best. There were no bigger spenders than the hard working miner or ranch hands who came to town to spend their wages, and most of that spending was done in the saloons.

  The biggest problem was that the miners didn't like the ranchers and the ranchers didn't like anyone, especially the farmers, so with a mixture of alcohol and guns, Saturday nights often ended up with a shooting and a killing. Lance's answer to this was to remove one of the ingredients of the problem, so he posted a law banning firearms in the town limits.