We stopped by the McClure place on the way home.  Doc checked Linda and her new baby, then patched up Frank’s wound.  With that stop it was dark when we rode back into Durango.  The lights were out and except for a few places the town was dark.  I knew the saloons were probably open, but they were up a couple of blocks and then down the street.

       There was a light in Solly’s place and one in the diner, but I knew both were closed.  I stopped there and told Doc to go on home.  I knew he was frazzled and when he dismounted and started walking in the snow towards his place, he stumbled and fell, being stiff and half frozen.  I told him I’d take his horse on over to Vexler’s along with the others after dropping the bodies off at Parker’s.

       I glanced in the diner and saw Molly at the window.  She waved, then motioned for me to come down to the diner.  I tipped my hat and nodded, then headed up the street to Parker’s shop.  Paul had been the undertaker for several years now.  The sign in front of his shop read, Mortuary and Cabinet Maker.  I had to bang on the door several times before he answered.  He told me to take the bodies around to the back where he had a shed attached to the back of his shop.

       He had pulled on a coat, and met me.  “Got some stiffs for me,” he cackled, then added, “the pun intended.”  The bodies were not only stiff from being dead, but frozen from the cold with no blood circulating in their bodies.  “I’ll keep them outside and get caskets ready for them tomorrow.  Do you know who they are?”

       “Either myself or Doc Jones will be up tomorrow to give you some names.  Let me know the cost.”

       “Don’t know when I’ll get them buried,” he answered.  “The ground is too frozen to dig right now.”  

       I nodded, thinking that I wouldn’t want his job.  ‘Course he’d hire out the digging, but it would be quite a job even when it began to thaw.  After unloading, I then headed up to Vexloer’s.  The big door at the livery was closed, but I knew Moses would be up and most likely propped up by his little stove.

       He opened the big door and I led the horses in.  “You can have the tack, and I’ll talk with you later about the horses.  Take care of Star and Doc’s horse will yuh?”

       I saw him look over the horses then scratch his chin.  “Marshal, you used to think about raisin’ horses didn’t yuh?” he asked, but before I could answer he continued.  “There’s a couple of fine lookin’ mares there that would make a match with that thoroughbred stallion of yours.”

       Glancing over at Star, I looked at the two horses Moses was speaking of.  “Maybe,” I muttered, “but right now I’ve got to get on down to the diner.”

       It took a little time walking through the snow and ice.  It had warmed up just enough and for time to pass that some of the snow melted, but now with night and the temperature dropping it had turned to ice.  The door of the diner was unlocked so I went on in to find Molly putting some wood on the stove.  I also saw that she had the coffeepot on the stove and was warming up a plate of food.
       I took off my heavy coat and she came over when she saw me to give me a hug.  “Brrr, you’re cold.  Come sit by the fire.  I kept some of those enchiladas that you like warm for you.”

       First off, she poured me a cup of coffee.  It wasn’t fresh, but it was hot.  She was right, I was cold to the bone.  Then she placed a plate of enchiladas in front of me covered with sauce and onions.  On the side was a mess of pintos.  “Eat up, Mister,” she said, jokingly.  “That’s supper tonight and tomorrow night.  We haven’t been busy, but Emelda made up a bunch of enchiladas.”

       She poured herself a cup of the strong brew and sat down beside me.  While I was feeding my face, she was watching me.  “Rough time?” she inquired as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.  “Here, use the napkin.”

       I squinted up at her with a pretend frown, but then I just had to smile.  I sighed, “Rough time.”

       The last bite of beans was on my fork when she got up and headed for the kitchen.  “I didn’t forget you,” she said as she left.  A few minutes later she came back with a large piece of butterscotch pie on a plate.  With the heat from the stove, and my stomach now feeling warm from the food, I was in a much better frame of mind and soul.  But when she brought out that piece of pie.  Well, now there’s a woman that knows her man!

       There was only one lamp burning, off on the counter where you enter the kitchen and it was turned down low.  The only other light came from the stove.  She put her hand on mine as I ate at the pie, sipping coffee between bites.  “Want to talk about it?”

       We sat there, pretty much in the dark while I told her of Doc’s ordeal and what happened in the cabin with the Goss gang.  She told me that she let Marta off today so she could take tomorrow off.  “I know it’s too cold to do much, but I reckoned we could just stay around the house.”

       “Sounds good,” I replied.  “I will have to go down to Parker’s for a few minutes, but I want to talk to you about something anyway.  Moses mentioned that…”

I wish I hadn’t left the Greener in the scabbard,” I thought to myself, taking off my gloves and stretching my hands out to the fire trying to get the cold and stiffness out.  I could easily give him a thump.

     “Don’t worry about unbuttoning your coat,” stated the man sitting by the fire.  “You’re not stayin’ that long.”

     “You wouldn’t send a man back out into that cold to spend the night.  I told you I can’t make it to Mancos tonight.”

     “That’s the way of it,” he said this time with a snarl in his voice.  

     I had my hand on my gun now, away from him so he couldn’t see it.  “Give me a few more minutes, I’m almost frozen stiff.”

     He glanced toward where Doc was standing, so I took advantage of the opportunity to draw and point my gun at him.  “Mister, just keep your hands on the arms of that rocker where I can see them,” I advised.

     I heard a shout, then the man at the table yelled horribly.  Doc had grabbed a death grip on the man’s arm.  He was going for his gun, then I looked at the man back at the door who was bringing his pistol up to bear.  I shot at him, the bullet knocking him back against the door.  The man in the chair jumped up, groping for his gun.  He pulled it from his holster when I shot him from three feet away, his gun firing into the floor of the cabin. 

     Doc was grappling with the man at the table.  Who finally pushed Doc off him when he stood up.  His gun was out and he pointed it at Doc.  I didn’t wait, I fired twice at the man, both bullets striking him, putting him down on the floor.

     “It’s about time, Miles,” blurted Doc, “and you were mighty close with that shot.  I felt the bullet buzz by me.”

     There was a moan from the man lying on the floor next to me.  I bent down next to him after kicking his gun away, mine at the ready.  “You don’t give a man a chance,” murmured the man, his voice low and hoarse.

     “Mister, you had your chance.  I told you to keep your hands on the chair.  You didn’t listen–your choice.”  With that his eyes widened in fright and then went dull, lifeless.  He had passed on to his judgment.

     Standing I walked to where Doc was checking the other two men.  “I’m goin’ out to tend to Star, but when I get back I want to know what was goin’ on.”  Stepping over the dead man at the door, I stopped to turn to Doc.  “Is there a shed or barn around here?  I hate to leave the horses out in the cold.”

     “There’s a little stable behind the cabin.  Goss, that’s the man by the fire, didn’t want anyone to know we were here, so he had the horses put off in the trees.  They’re in that little grove to the right of the cabin as you go out.”

     Shaking my head, I went out the door and took Star heading around the back.  There was a little stable with plenty of hay.  It would be tight, but I reckoned six horses would fit in there alright.  In fact, being close together they might have a little more warmth.  There was ice in the trough, but I could see where it had been broken so there was water underneath.  I let him drink, then put him in a stall.  After taking off his saddle I rubbed him down making sure all the sweat was off.  Then gave him some hay.

     I went back to find the other horses and take care of them.  It didn’t make sense to leave them out.  Anyone passing by would know there was someone in the cabin so there was no need hiding them in the trees.  I was cold again by the time I got them taken care of and going back inside the cabin I was greeted by a wave of heat.  Doc had built up the fire.  The three men I’d shot were on the floor to the right of the door.  I noticed the blood on the floor where Doc drug them.

     This time I took off my coat before going to the fire.  As I was warming myself, Doc had a tin cup in his hand, and bent down to retrieve a coffeepot by the fire.  “Not sure how good this coffee is, but it’s hot,” he said, handing me the cup.

     I stood there sipping at the coffee, waiting for him to say something.  When he didn’t I asked, “Would you mind tellin’ me how you got in such a mess?”

     He didn’t tell me right off, but began by saying, “This is what’s left of the Goss gang.”

     “Dave Goss?”  I knew of Dave and Bill Goss, they had been wanted for quite a spell.  I had never seen either of them before, as they stayed mostly up north of Durango.

     “Dave’s the one you shot by the fire and that’s his brother Bill over on the bed.  They brought me to treat him, but when I arrived he was already dead.  The man you shot by the door was Benny Jarvis, a no-count bully, and the man I was working on with the shot up arm was Chuck Mason.”

     “Well, Doc, you picked a fine crew to cozy up to…”

Three riders approached the cabin, their horses riding through the tracks left by the men hours before when they left.  After dismounting, one man, seeming the leader, pushed Doc Jones towards the cabin.  “Take care of the horses, Benny,” he gritted, the cold making his face stiff.  Then he shoved Doc again, “Inside!”

       Upon entering the cabin, they were greeted by a blast of warmth coming from the fireplace to the back of the room.  To the right was a cot with a man lying on it.  Another man was sitting in a chair in front of the fire, his face haggard from pain.  The two men took off their coats, with a nod from one, Doc Jones moved to the man on the cot.  “Remember, Doc, he dies so do you.”

       Doc arrived at the side of the little bed.  Looking down, his eyes widened.  He then glanced over at the man near the fire.  Turning he started to say something, but the man at the fire quipped, “Too late, he’s already dead.”

       The eyes of the man, widened in anger toward the voice.  “You were to keep him alive!”  He drew his gun pointing it at the man in the chair.

       “Don’t Goss!  There was nothin’ I could do, not with my arm the way it is.”

       Doc Jones was bending down beside the man on the cot, examining him.  “There was nothing he could have done for this man.  His insides were all torn up by the bullet.”  The man leveled his gun then at Doc, anger filled his face when the door burst open.  The man called Benny entered.  Goss turned quickly taking a step toward the man, his gun now on him.  “Goss!” hollered the man from the fire.

       Something clicked in the man as he lowered his gun, then started walking to the cot, holstering it on the way.  “Get out of the way!” he snapped, pushing Doc Jones from the man.  Doc went to stand beside the man at the fire.  Goss knelt down at the bedside, grasping the hand of the dead man.  “Bill, you stupid fool,” he muttered in anguish.

       He sat there for several moments in silence, then stood drawing his gun again.  “I guess I don’t need you anymore.”

       “You’ve a wounded man here.  I need to check his arm or he could get gangrene or lockjaw,” shouted Doc.  “So don’t get hasty with that gun or another one of your men will die.”

       “Goss, for goodness sake, let him look at my arm.  It’s painin’ me something fierce.”

       Benny started moving toward the fire wanting to get warm.  “Dave, he’s right.  At least let the doctor look at Mason’s arm.”

       “Let’s go over by the lamp on the table.”

       Dave Goss grabbed the nearly full whiskey bottle that was on the table, then took the chair where Mason had been sitting.  He didn’t watch the two, only stared into the fire.  Benny leaned forward, “I’m sorry about Bill, I truly am.”  Goss turned his gaze momentarily to his comrade, then took a drink straight from the bottle.

       Doc Jones had cut both the shirt sleeve and undershirt off the man.  “Mister, this arm’s in bad shape.”  He looked over at Goss, “What happened for two of you to get shot up?” he asked, then hesitated before adding, “you must be Dave Goss.  Didn’t know you were in the region.”

       “Well, you know it now,” Goss snarled.  “Take care of him while you can still do something useful.”

       Doc looked at the man as he began to clean the blood from around the wound.  “Want to tell me what happened?”

       The man, Mason, looked over at Goss who simply shrugged his shoulders, taking another drink.  “Got shot in Cortez,” he stopped, looking at Goss again before continuing.  “Robbery went sour.”

       The man groaned as Doc Jones began his examination.  In a few minutes, he looked at the man shaking his head.  “Mister, that bullet shattered your bone, and that isn’t all it’s still in your arm.  Any movement could cause the bullet or one of the bone shards to cut an artery.  Son…” he was interrupted by someone pounding on the door.

       There was silence, but tension filled the room.  “Benny, see who it is.”

       Opening the door, a man stood there, “I saw the smoke and hoped I might come in to get warm, and maybe spend the night.  I was going to try to make it to Mancos, but my horse is plum wore out.”

       He didn’t wait to be invited in, but stepped inside the cabin.  “I hope I’m not a bother,” he said, nodding at the men, his eyes stopping momentarily on those of Doc Jones.

       “You best just go on your way, Mister,” came the voice of Benny at the door.

       “Can’t, my horse would never make it.  Let me warm up and I’ll go out to care for him.  If’n yuh have some coffee I sure could use a cup.  Don’t mind me, I’ll stay out of your way, I just want to get warm.”

       The stranger walked with assurance over to the fire standing to the right of Goss stretching out his hands toward the fire.  “Looks like you’ve had some trouble here.”

       “Mister, you don’t know the half of it…”

Edith was quite distraught.  Molly encouraged her to sit down and that she would make her a cup of tea.  Neither of us had seen her act like this before; it was an uncommon characteristic.  She was usually calm, stayed busy, and didn’t seem to have a worry-bone in her body.

     “Something has happened Miles, I can just feel it,” she agonized.  When Molly brought her tea she just held it between her hands and Molly had to coax her to drink it.  Finally, she sipped it, then took a larger swallow.  

     “We’re ready to close up here.  Let Miles walk you home while I finish up,” said Molly trying to encourage her.  

     She took another swallow, then nodded.  I put on my heavy sheepskin coat and led her to the door.  “There’s no use goin’ out tonight.  I’ll start out first thing in the mornin’.  If Doc should come home you be sure to tell me.”

     I waited until dawn before going down to the livery to get Star.  Hawk would have been my normal first choice for a trip like this, but he seemed to suffer some when I went looking for Johnson.  He was a much better bad weather and mountain horse than Star, but it would do the thoroughbred good to get out and exercise.  It was still below freezing, but it had warmed up some and it appeared that the sun would be shining today.  Maybe by the time I was on the road it would be melting some of the snow.

     Molly was waiting for me at the diner with some sausage and eggs sandwiches.  I wasn’t surprised to see Edith standing there with her.  Tipping my hat, I nodded, “I expect to be meetin’ Doc somewhere on the road.”  Then nudged Star and we started off at a walk since the snow was still fairly deep with a crust on the top.

     It was normally about an hour’s trip to McClure’s but halfway there I had to stop to rest Star.  The snow was deep and it was hard traveling.  I had really hoped that I would come across Doc along the road.  A couple of hours later I saw McClure’s cabin.  Smoke was rising from the chimney so I knew they were home.  There were no horses in the corral, but then again, I didn’t expect to see any.  

     Reining in at the front porch, I noticed several footprints around along with the tracks of three horses.  I dismounted telling Star that I wouldn’t be long; I disliked that I had to leave him out in the cold.  There was no answer when I knocked on the door.  I knocked again, “Frank!  Frank, it’s Miles Forrest!”

     The door opened slowly and I could barely make out an image in the crack.  Then Frank McClure opened it wide, “Come on in Marshal.  Go warm yourself by the fire.”

     I glanced at him and he looked a mess.  His face was bruised, he had a cut lip and a black eye that was swollen and partially shut.  Around his head was a bloody bandage.  “Frank, what happened?  Where’s Doc?”  Then I thought of my manners, “How’s Linda?”

     He pushed me toward the fire where he took a seat in a rocker there while I stood looking down at him.  “Linda’s in the bedroom,” he said, then smiled.  “A baby boy,” then he face grew serious.  “Two rough-looking characters busted in through the door and took Doc.  I, I tried to stop them, but they buffaloed me.”

     “Where’d they take him?” I questioned in a gruff manner.  I was upset, but there was no need of me taking it out on Frank.  “Sorry, Frank, I’m just upset.  Do you have any idea where they went?”

     He shook his head.  “I didn’t hear anything.  They hit me over the head and I went down.  Linda told me later,” he lifted his hand to his eye, “that one kicked me in the face.  That’s all I know.”

     I pulled on my moustache, then placed a hand on his shoulder.  “They shouldn’t be too hard to follow.”

     “They’re headed toward Mancos,” came a voice from the doorway.  Linda McClure was standing there, wrapped up in a quilt holding a bundle that I assumed was her baby.  Frank jumped from the rocker to rush to her.  Helping her to the rocker, he was chastising her quietly.  “You should be in bed.”

     “I heard voices, then recognized the voice of Marshal Forrest,” she replied then sat down in the rocker in front of the fire.  She looked tired, but she uttered, “ah, that feels good.”

     Turning her head up towards me.  “Marshal, they’re headed for somewhere outside of Mancos.  From what I gathered lying in the other room, they have a comrade that’s badly hurt.  How they knew Doc Jones was here I don’t know,” she paused, turning her face back towards the fire.  “Thank the good Lord, Doc had already delivered the baby.” 

     “You take care Linda, and take care of that little one.  Frank, you best take care of that head.  When I find Doc we’ll stop back by on the way to Durango.”

     It was over twenty miles to Mancos and I knew I couldn’t make it before dark.  There was a little community eight miles this side of Mancos, hopefully I could make it there before dark or closely after.  It was hard enough traveling in the light; I didn’t want to push Star in the snow during dark hours.

     Before mounting I broke the ice on the water trough and let Star slowly drink.  I didn’t want him guzzling ice cold water.  Then we headed out following the tracks making sure they were indeed heading towards Mancos.  “Lord,” I breathed, “be smilin’ down on my journey and be a-protectin’ Doc…”